Who Is Standing in the Gap for Me

At the first part of every week on Monday, I feel compelled to post the names, rank and the ages of the young men and women that have fallen in the line of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Facebook. I am compelled, because they gave their lives fighting there, so I, my neighbors, house and friends, don't have to fight here.

In the early and late eighties, I seriously questioned whether our nation could fight and win a world war like the greatest Generation did while World War Ii. I knew that I, and the friends I grew up with, would all step up if called, but we were all getting past that prime age and bodily conditioning required to come to be a Warrior for the land we call America. If you will recall, the cold war was still a concern, the nuclear race was in the news and the 2 super powers, each had sufficient stockpiled and pointed at each other to blast half of the planet back into the 18th century. Well, Ronald Reagan was elected, he was able to bring down the Berlin Wall and the rest is history.

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My son Stephen and daughter Jessica, were both born in the eighties. As Stephen grew up, the understanding that he might be called to serve, is all the time a concern in the back of a new father's mind. I wondered if he could hold his ground and fight to the end, regardless of the marvelous odds he might be faced with on the battlefield. I brought him up respecting America, and we remembered Pearl Harbor Day, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day. We thanked the veterans and those that gave their lives for our freedoms and liberty on all the other holidays and made extra mention, on those leading days.

I was all the time a part of Stephens activities growing up. I coached him in petite League Baseball, Scouts and school activities. I was able to look at Stephen, and the other kids colse to him, as well as the parents who were raising them. They were all good people, but I wondered if these kids and the kids after them, could stand their ground in the face of marvelous odds, and be that sentry on the wall standing in the gap for liberty and freedom for America?

I am from Texas, and all throughout my education, being from Texas and studying in Texas, we learned about the Alamo. If you don't know the story, in 1836, the Alamo was a Mission in San Antonio, that stood between the massive armies of Generalissimo Santa Ana and freedom for Texas. The qoute was, that we had volunteers, but they were settlers and shop keepers, not finely tuned, battle tested Warriors like Santa Ana had. Normal Sam Houston, needed time to train the Army of the Republic of Texas, in order to have any chance of defending Texas.

From February 23 - March 6, 1836, a group of approximately 100 volunteers from San Antonio called Texians, and the Volunteers from as far away as Tennessee, fortified and held their ground inside the walls of the Alamo, hoping for reinforcements, that never came. Why would person with families from Tennessee, come to Texas and fight what, they had to believe in their hearts, to be a losing battle? For liberty and freedom that's what for. Santa Ana despised the habitancy of Texas and what the Republic of Texas represented. He wanted to take the land and reign over it with an iron fist. If not for those 100 volunteers standing in the gap, against all odds, on the walls of the Alamo, the shape and form of what we call America, would be dissimilar today.

Can the young men and women in America today stand in the Gap? I met some of them when my son decided to join the Us Navy right out of High School in 1998. He went through boot camp in Great Lakes, Il, went on to serve aboard the Amphibious assault ship Saipan and later aboard the Iwo Jima. I met Sailors and Marines, so young and green, I wondered about them standing in the gap. I also met Seals and experienced and battle tested Marines, and at that time, I was proud to say yes, they would stand their ground for liberty and freedom for us all.

Then 911 happened, terror came to America. We entered a war unlike any we have ever faced. A war with no fronts, no lines, just "good" fighting "evil" door to door in the deserts of the Middle East. We are fighting an evil force, not afraid to die. So far, I am proud to say, the young men and women are volunteering to stand in the gap to profess freedom and liberty for us here at home.

Each week, when I post their names and ages in Facebook, it makes me sad and proud at the same time. I am sad they have died and understand their families sense of loss. I am proud because they stepped up and stood in the gap, between us and the soldiery of evil, and they are not backing down. They keep volunteering and keep showing up, to do the job. As I all the time say, they fight there so we don't have to fight here.

What compelled me to write this record about freedom and Liberty, was looking this straightforward Budweiser commercial posted by a friend in Facebook. The commercial was done well, crafted by experienced artists and was high-priced to produce. It was only aired 1 time, because Budweiser said they would not behalf from the misery of thousands of our friends and neighbors that lost their lives while the most horrific, deadly and cowardly assault on America since Pearl Harbor. They created and aired it to make a statement about their enterprise and how they felt, following the attack.

Liberty and freedom are two suited words, men and women have died for, to keep our country strong.

Our country is in the midst of some troubling times, and it is going through some reinvention of itself. whether that reinvention is good or bad, unmistakably depends on your politics, and your point of view. Remember, where we come from and what made this country great, as you go through the process of reinventing yourself.

Who Is Standing in the Gap for Me

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