Yesterday was Thanksgiving, because I'm up late writing this. But for my family back at home, now is turkey time; football's on TV, turkey's in the oven. Here I am, out in the Pacific, crossing another timezone as we head toward the Strait of Malacca.

But worry not for me, for I am not without family here. I had my Thanksgiving dinner with several thousand of my brothers and sisters. A family of purpose, of service, of loyalty. We eat overcooked turkey as just another sacrifice to the duty we have chosen. And that's the great thing about the all-volunteer military, no one is here because the majesty of the state forced them to. We choose to give our time and our blood for loyalty, for love, for duty.

So I give thanks this day. Thanks for a eighteenth-century experiment in republican government, thanks for the philosophy of the Enlightenment, and even thanks for the politicial horse-trading following the Vietnam war. This place, unpleasant though it may be, is exactly the place I choose to be in.

Posted by: Boviate at 02:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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