Forty-two Ways in Forty-two Days- Our men and women of the Military

I am very proud to have been a military brat. We have quite the military history right in my own family. Both my dad and Jim's devoted over thirty years of their lives to military service. Jim did two years and my baby sister did four. The grandfathers also served their country. At this moment I have two very dear friends serving overseas, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I know firsthand what sacrifices our men and women make when they commit to Uncle Sam.

For most of the last decade we have been involved in the war on terrorism. During that time our soldiers have spent months and sometimes years away from their families and homes. They have traded nightly hugs and kisses for occasional phone and video calls. They trade their warm homes and beds for dorm style living in the desert. They trade home cooked meals for chow halls and MRE's. They trade the sounds of the familiar for the boom of mortar fire or the blaring music from the mosques. They don't do it for glory, they don't do it for fame. They do it for us. To protect us, to keep us secure. And while they are gone- their families are back here, keeping things going in their absence.

Whether you agree with our presence in the foreign countries or not, our women and men are over there keeping you and I safe. They don't choose to go- they go because they have to. When they enlist in the military- they take the following oath:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Each and every night I give thanks for the men and women who defend and protect our country, whether they are overseas or at home. Whether they acknowledge it or not- they truely are heros.