On the Beatles Abby Road album, there are three tracks which run together to form a great song. The three tracks, “Golden Slumbers”, “Carry that Weight” and “The End” are stitched together so well, that if you didn’t look at the album jacket, you’d never know they were three separate tunes. One song, “The End,” has a very powerful line that sort of has become my personal mantra: “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
Over a professional life which is longer than most of you are old, I’ve had the opportunity to work and associate with some very fine people. Most of them worked (and are still working) in a dangerous occupation in which there is much more personal than financial reward. I’m referring to the American military in general and the U.S. Marine Corps in particular. They don’t serve because they couldn’t hack it in the so called real world or were too stupid to get into college or weren’t smart enough to get away from a fast talking military recruiter. They serve because they chose to answer the challenge President Kennedy set forth almost half a century ago when he said, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” Answering this call, when they didn’t have to, doesn’t make them foolish or stupid. In my heart, it makes them heroes.
Some very talented men and women have paid the ultimate price so that some old dog like me could sleep in peace at night. Lately I’ve had to attend more funerals and memorial services then anyone ever should for young men and women killed in the service of their country. More than once, I’ve had a parent come up to me and say, “My child spoke highly of you.” I don’t think there is anyone who could hear a grieving parent say that and not be affected. And I am no exception.
But this journal entry is not about me. It is and has always been about the young men and women who every day are standing a vigilant watch in lands we couldn’t find on a map fifty years ago. This is about a female Marine Captain who was the pilot of a helicopter shot down last week. It’s about a Sergeant who was her crew chief. It’s about the five Marines and Navy passengers on the bird who also died that day. It’s about looking a parent, a spouse in the face this weekend and saying, “I’m sorry for your loss.” It’s about being told, “I know and thank you. But it’s what my son wanted to do.”
This entry is not about the politics of whether or not it is in the best interest of the country to commit its professional military to changing diplomatic objects. This is about recognizing that there is a price for everything. And there are some among us who awake every morning knowing today might be the day they have to make the ultimate payment. What amazes me about these people is that they are ready to do so without hesitation. And I am so proud of them.