Making the ultimate sacrifice

Imagine a time in your life when you felt trapped in a place you didn’t want to be. Everything about your surroundings made you miserable.

Maybe you didn’t like the weather. You didn’t like the food. You missed your family. You felt like you were in a bad dream – one that didn’t end upon waking. Things just weren’t right and day after day, all you wanted to do was go home.

This may sound like a bad vacation or a rotten trip to summer camp where you can go home after a week or two, but every day, for thousands of soldiers, it is a sad reality. They’re stuck in a place they don’t want to be. For many, this extended trip away from home can continue for years.

I often wonder if these brave men and women realized what an incredible contribution they were making when they enlisted in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. Did they understand that they would be sacrificing time that could be spent with their spouses … children … family? Sacrificing their safety. Sacrificing their lives.

I’m sure that even the people who thought they knew what they were getting into had no idea how this was going to affect them and their families. Imagine how many parents out there have missed significant moments in their children’s lives. All the mothers and fathers who didn’t get to witness their children’s first steps, first words, first days of school.

Moments they can’t get back. Time they traded to put themselves in harm’s way.

Soldiers risk their lives every day so that we can have freedom. Freedom to do everyday things … like standing up here and giving a speech – no matter how difficult that seems to be. In comparison, we are very fortunate. If we’re lucky, our biggest worry tonight is about how nervous we are, if we’ll stumble on a word, or some such trivial thing.

While we’re struggling with our own little problems, there’s a soldier out there somewhere worried if he or she will make it home alive.

Until a few years ago, war didn’t have much of an impact on me. Maybe that’s true for many. It sounds selfish, but you can’t control your feelings and I wasn’t truly affected until someone I love was sent to war.

My best friend, Wes, is going to Iraq for the fourth time next month. He is a chief warrant officer in the Army. When he enlisted 15 years ago, he was a kid just out of high school. He knew that he risked leaving his family for months at a time, but he didn’t realize to what degree deployment would change his life.

Given what he knows now, he insists that he would do it all over again. He would still give away all the time that he has missed with his wife and son. He’s typically away from home six to eight months out of every year, but it’s worth it to him to do something that he believes this strongly about.

I worry about him every day that he is deployed. I thank God that he’s made it home alive and unwounded the last three years, but I’ll still worry about him every day that he’s gone until he returns home safely again. He’s actually one of the lucky ones. There are thousands of soldiers that have been away from home much longer. Some, only teenagers, who have literally signed a large portion of their lives over to the military.

They are often uneducated, living in poverty, and looking for the means to a better life. Recruiters tell them that they’ll receive an education, get great benefits, be able to see the world. Unfortunately, many soldiers aren’t receiving an education, benefits are continually being cut, and for many the only part of the world they’re seeing is the Middle East.

Some people are surprised when they hear that the number of people enlisting in the military has decreased, but why on earth wouldn’t it?

According to cnn.com, as of June 17, 1,902 soldiers have died in the war in Iraq. According to the Pentagon 12,896 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in action.

It takes a special person to put their life on the line for their country. To fight for people they don’t know. To risk it all for a cause that might not even make sense to them.

If it weren’t for people like them, where would our country be today?

We owe them our undying support, a lifetime of remembrance, a world of thanks for all they have given, all they will continue to give – until they return safely to our land of freedom. Free … because of them.

Like many Americans, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, I’ve come to question our administration and their motives in this war.

Some people wonder if it’s justified. They don’t believe we should be in Iraq, but that doesn’t mean we don’t support each and every soldier there. No matter what we think, one thing is certain, at least to me, the people fighting this war are heroes. Our heroes.

I wonder what makes seemingly ordinary people do extraordinary things? Their dedication is beyond what I can comprehend.

These men and women do their jobs without asking why. They serve so that we don’t have to. They offer to give up their lives for millions they don’t even know. What an amazing gift. Even more amazing is that they don’t ask for anything in return.

I believe in our troops and hope they know that America is behind them 100 percent. Not necessarily supporting the war, but always supporting them.

Trish Hansen, of Bangor, is a student at Husson College.