Remembering 9/11

Walking through the halls of my high school that Tuesday morning I was a few years shy of the legal age to enlist. In retrospect, that was probably a good thing- I had a lot of growing up to do. The last ten years have flown by but that morning is frozen in my memory, with all the emotion I was filled with and the ever increasing desire to bring justice to our attackers.

Four years of college and two years of living as an adult went by and I couldn't shake the nagging in my mind that I needed to serve. This was my generation's war. I had friends go and place their lives on the line, yet I wasn't contributing. I stood over the gaping hole in New York City last year, and with tear filled eyes I knew it was still my duty, my personal obligation, to protect this nation.

The doors opened for me the minute my wife said, "go for it." I found a recruiter that said the military could still use someone my height and the rest of the story is in the pages of this blog.

I thank the Lord for the unique talents and passions he's given me and for the ways he's allowed me to live them out. Serving in the military is a privilege I didn't think I'd get to have so it truly is an honor to fulfill my duty to my country.

Ten years after that disastrous day I'm proud to be at Fort Jackson. I'm proud to finally be in the line of defense that keeps terror off our shores and it is an honor to be able to shout with my fellow soldiers that:

"...I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier."