Those who have served or are serving in the military, do you know how important you are,how much you are appr?

Question

Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard,
Reservists, in Iraq , in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan , in
the area near Afghanistan , in any base anywhere in the world, and your
famil ies:
Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the
backbone in the whole world right now and should be happy with
yourselves and proud of whom you are.
It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did
small errands like going to the bank to pay my mortgage, finding a new
bed at a price I can afford, practicing driving with my new 5 wood,
paying bills for about two hours. I spoke for a long time to a woman
who is going through a nasty child custody fight I got e-mails from a
woman who was fired today from her job for not paying attention. I
read about multi-billion- dollar mergers in Europe, Asia , and the
Mideast . I noticed how overweight I am, for the millionth time. In
other words, I did a lot of nothing.
Like every other American who is not in the armed forces family,
I basically just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic in my
trivial, self-important, meaningless way.
Above all, I talked to a friend of more than forty-three years
who told me he thought his life had no meaning because all he did was
count his money. And, friends in the armed forces, this is the story
of all of America today. We are doing nothing but treading water while
you guys carry on the life or death struggle against worldwide
militant Islamic terrorism. Our lives are about nothing: paying bills,
going to humdrum jobs, waiting until we can go to sleep and then do it
all again. Our most vivid issues are trivia compared with what you do
every day, every minute, every second.
Oprah Winfrey talks a lot about "meaning" in life For her,
"meaning" is dieting and then having her photo on the cover of her
magazine every single month (surely a new world record for egomania).
This is not "meaning."
Meaning is doing for others.
Meaning is risking your life for hers
Meaning is putting your bodies and families' peace of mind on the
line to defeat some of the most evil, sick killers the world has ever
known.
Meaning is leaving the comfort of home to fight to make sure that
there still will be a home for your family and for your nation and for
free men and women everywhere.
Look, soldiers and Marines and sailors and airmen and Coast
Guardsmen, there are six billion people in this world. The whole fate
of this world turns on what you people, 1.4 million, more or less, do
every day. The fate of mankind depends on what about 2/100 of one
percent of the people in this world do every day and you are those
people. And joining you is every policeman, fireman, and Emergency
Medical Technician in the country, also holding back the tide of chaos.
Do you know how important you are? Do you know how indispensable
you are? Do you know how humbly grateful any of us who has a head on
his shoulders is to you? Do you know that if you never do another
thing in your lives, you will always still be heroes? That we could
live without Hollywood or Wall Street or the NFL, but we cannot live
for a week without you?
We are on our knees to you and we bless and pray for you every
moment.
And Oprah Winfrey, if she were a size two, would not have one
millionth of your importance, and all of the Wall Street billionaires
will never mean what the least of you do, and if Barry Bonds hits
hundreds of home runs it would not mean as much as you going on one
patrol or driving one truck to the Baghdad airport.
You are everything to us, as we go through our little days, and
you are in the prayers of the nation and of every decent man and woman
on the planet. That's who you are and what you mean. I hope you know that.
Love,
Ben Stein

anti-war girl, so what is you & Rosie O's usggestion to an alternative to the war on terror? If you are going to spout off, then at least back it up somehow??

Please share & pass on to others. The more we let the media & the war haters know that there are some with integrity that appreciate integrity of courageous soldiers the better!!!

Answer 1

CO Blonde, No, I haven't been feeling the love, but thank you. Also a hearty thanks to Ben Stein. With all the ungrateful expressing their opinions, it is nice to hear from the grateful. I'm stateside these days and have questioned whether the American people are worth the risks we take. It is people like you and Ben Stein that make the risks worth it. It is our families that make it worth it. The rest of them, the ungrateful and disrespectful, merely share in the benefits.

Answer 2

Thank you.

Probably more than 90% of the people participating in YA were not yet born when I did my stint in the U.S.Army.

What really ticks me off these days is when some self-serving dweeb trys to make a case for being against a war being the same as not supporting the people in the military.

When you strip that argument down to bare bones it means 'If you loved them, you would want more of them to be killed or to kill'.

I'm not a nice person at heart, I'd follow a more violent and less selective method, bomb the crap out of them all. Since that would kill a lot of innocents and many friends, the other solution, having a real plan, and pulling out, might be the better option.

Answer 3

anti-war girl just what is your issue?

I have a suggestion: Put on an orange sweat suit and offer yourself up as a hostage for one of the hostages the whacko Islamics have right now. You'll see just how popular a woman is with them....your stay will be infinitely less pleasant than any man's before your head is cut off for the whacko Islamic world's pleasure. By the way, not all Muslims are whacko Islamics.

MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR BUTT!!

Answer 4

I don't know about all that but I will say I appreciate what they are giving up (their family lives and some times peace of mind)so that we as a country can survive another day. Thank You and I hope your journey is safe and that you make it home safely too. God Bless You and keep you safe

Answer 5

My husband is active duty Navy and in Iraq. We have friends deployed to Iraq, and we have lots of active duty and veteran military friends all over this world... On behalf of all of them, I want to thank you for sharing that beautiful letter from Ben Stein (who is an all-around great American).
Major dittoes on the entire thing! Thanks... :)

Answer 6

Ditto

Answer 7

Truly inspiring. I wish there more people like you that supported our fellow American's who put their lives on the line everyday so that we can live in freedom. My husband is a veteran and my brother and sister-in-law currently serve our military. I'd like to pass this on to them if it's alright with you.

Answer 8

I never knew someone that had no affiliation with the military cared that much!

Thank you on behalf of my Husband, who is active duty Army, and his friends, who are also active duty Army, for posting this letter. It's nice to know that someone on this website supports the troops and understands the sacrifices they make on behalf of our nation =)

Answer 9

I do not know if that was a question or a statement but thank you.

Answer 10

im in air force auxilory