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| 30 NOV 2010 - Dawn Patrol |
This photo was taken in April, 2010 and shows a platoon of 173d Airborne soldiers moving out for a dawn patrol. Let this serve as an image of what our men and women are doing. Day in and day out, no matter what the weather, they are doing their job.
I have often struggled with the cliche' phraseology that we're out "protecting your freedom" or "defending the constitution". It's too easy to say and lacks any relation to the individual motivation of most of our troops. I certainly never felt that way at 18 when I first enlisted. I didn't reengage at over 40 years of age and deploy to Afghanistan with those sentiments at the top of my mind. BUT, I do have a better understanding of the truth behind those words. That is, by the very ability of our nation to harness the individuals of our society to engage in the responsibility to serve as part of a voluntary military force is what constitutes the fact that we are indeed "protecting your freedom" and "defending the constitution". In other words, there's not a direct line that you can draw from our actions in Afghanistan or Iraq or any other theater of conflict. But rather, its the fact that you do have these men and women voluntarily willing to do what their nation asks of them. They answered the call. They don't do it blindly. They question their leadership. They are not robots. They are people just like you and me, trying to earn a living and find happiness. This is what it means to defend the constitution. It means that you're willing to answer the call.
