Perhaps this is appropriate during a week to celebrate American patriotism:
Our nation’s heroes speak countless languages, ascribe to a rainbow of
faiths, and wear badges bearing crosses, hydrants, serpents and swords.
From veterans to warfighters, medics to firefighters to police officers,
they stand vanguard over us — and how I wanted to stand among them!
I dreamed of West Point as a boy, but without knowing where life would
lead post-college, I instead vowed to respond if ever America needed me.
Not many people know this, but
on September 11, 2001, I enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve. My country
was crying, so I stood to fight, and more importantly, to help: I was
training to be a Field Medic, but due to a disability I returned home earlier than expected. Things have worked out since then, but it’s not the future I planned.