Remembering Holy Ground

Well I can safely say that this Memorial Day, by far, has been the most difficult for me. I can only imagine that it is simply because I am no longer an active player in the fight. For nine years...I was there. For the last two and a half I trained the best gunners to set foot on the field of battle and now I'm simply another veteran looking back to by-gone times. I do not have my classroom, my own little fortress of solitude, anymore as an outlet for my insanity. It seems that the number of true machine gun zealots dwindle with each passing week and I cannot seem to go more than a few weeks without seeing the names of a few of my students on the casualty list.

I was actually watching the movie "Troy" this past week and it brought me out of this self-loathing rut that had took hold of me. I realized with a little help from Hollywood that there has always been survivors with guilt that extends far beyond where it should. Celebrated memories that we find in our history lessons and through our shared stories over one too many drinks should never sadden us. Stories like the Illiad and the Odyssey were meant to inspire greatness of action, not serve as a reminder of something lost. We really have written our own history in the sands and on the streets of Anbar province, and while popular society might never know of all the legends and heroes of our war. We Will. The last few lines of monologue in the movie are actually what brought me back around and put my head on straight. We the narrator states how the warriors left behind can say that they walked among legends in the time Achilles and Hector. I certainly feel that any of we few today should carry just as much reverence with the giants we walked amidst both living and gone. We fought in the days of Austin and Zembiec, Place and Skiles, Harrell and Beltran, Conde and Wroblewski and all warriors who walked the line and did right by their brothers when the situation was most dire. Our warrior legacy shines as brightly on our own hallowed ground.