Today on board my flight to Denver there was a young man on-board dressed in the full formal marine uniform (don't know what it’s called). As we approached our landing in Denver the pilot came on the intercom and announced that we had a special passenger, a marine who was escorting the remains home for his final resting place of a fallen compatriot from his platoon in Afghanistan. The pilot asked if everyone would remain seated until the marine exited the plane. As he got up and walked through the cabin to the exit you could feel uneasiness in the air, let me say with a lot of respect though, but an uneasiness.
Sitting next to me was a young mom with her two daughters 6 and 1 who were from Charleston S.C. where her husband is based in the Air Force and recently came back from a year tour in Afghanistan, you could see the emotion in her face hearing the reality of what that marine had come to do and that was lay to rest another young life who has made the ultimate sacrifice.
I pray that this is all worth it, that somehow all these persons who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan have truly given all for the protection and security of our nation. I will have to say I have my doubts and have believed from the beginning that both engagements were not worth the cost and this becomes more real in moments like this. It will take decades to make a real difference in these places where the terrorist look at their objectives from the perspective of a hundred or even thousands of years, were not that patient.
I believe the uneasiness that a number of people feel in these moments is that we have great respect for those who serve in the military and especially those who give the greatest sacrifice, but there is almost always this unspoken but… is it all really going to be worth it we ask ourselves. I think of the mom and the look on her face and it said I don’t ever want to be the recipient of that and I pray that she never is.
I do realize the reality and necessity of military conflict and believe as a nation it’s a priority to maintain a strong military capable of responding to threats around the world, I guess the question is and has been what is a threat to our security and when is it worth the cost. It’s days like today when we experience or see the reality of this cost first hand and not just another statistic that we ask this question from a different perspective.
