Matthew 19:29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
425 soldiers have died this year in Iraq and Afghanistan. 46 in the first 8 days of August. It may not seem like such a large number to you. You may say that more people die every day in this country of car crashes and cancer. And you would be right. You may say that the tremendous loss of life from recent tornadoes and hurricanes was higher. And you would be right. You may say that no one forced these men and women to go into the military. You would most assuredly be right.
I, (NAME), do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
Yet each and every one of them left homes, wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and children to take a stand against evil. When they take the military oath, they are defending each of us. Whether we appreciate it or not, whether we agree with them or not, whether we like it or not. They will put themselves in harms way to protect anyone, american or not, slave or free, athiest or believer, when they are asked to do so.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
This weekend, as you sat in church, sat at the beach, sat in front of the tv, picnicked, swam, mowed your lawn, went to a concert, or just slept for 48 hours, a soldier stood in front of a bullet to protect your right to do so. When you raised your hands to God or whether you raised your fist to curse Him, a soldier killed someone who wanted to take that right away from you. When you sat glued to the television watching non stop footage of a pop stars suicide, a soldier's casket was carried to a plane with only the quiet tears of his fellow soldier to mark his passing. When you paid money to walk through the gates of a rock and roll stars ridiculously lavish mansion, the free cemeteries of the fallen are nearly empty of visitors.
This weekend 35 soldiers died. Today 35 soldiers volunteered to take their place.
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