In all of the years that Phillip has been in the Idaho Army National Guard, I had never been to see what he does, my bad! On his last guard weekend, Stan and I went to see him. He is a Gun Chief and this is the gun that he is in charge of.
This shows how big the gun is.
Phillip is a big guy, but his gun is a lot bigger.
I have always felt fairly tall, but Phillip dwarfs me.
We all climbed in and he showed us how things were done. It's not a very big space and there are three men inside doing their jobs. He says that he has slept in there several times when they were out on practice.
His chair is a metal fold down thing. This is where he sits doing what needs to be done.
One of the young men we were on a mission with in Ukraine went to Washington DC for the inauguration. On facebook he commented that he was surprised at how emotional and patriotic he felt at that time. I have to say that as I have watched Isaac, Alex, and Phillip, I have felt that emotional patriotism every time that I have seen them in uniform. I know that in many ways they, and Stan and I, feel that this has been a 'calling' for them. I don't know of anyone that really desires to leave their family and go into harms way; but I know the determination and committment that my boys and their families have to doing what they know they should be doing. It is a sacrifice, it is hard.
I had just had surgery when Westside High had it's homecoming. Alex and Phillip were asked to be part of the flag ceremony. The year before they had dressed in their camo uniforms, this time they were in their dress blues. I sat in the truck and watched the ceremony, not being able to be on my feet at the time. It was an emotional time for me, as it always is. It was getting dark and neither my camera or Brydie's was able to take good pictures of the event. There were several cameramen there with large cameras and lenses to take pictures of the football game. Brydie asked them if she could purchase pictures of the flag ceremony. All three of the them said, "We didn't take any, were we supposed to?" How sad it is to me that the important thing in their minds was to try and get those 'football' pictures, no thought was given to the importance of the ceremony at the beginning of the game. Those who have worn the military uniforms of this country are a lot of the reason those of us in this country can do the things that we do, and so many take them for granted, not thinking of the price that has been and continues to be paid.
Why should we take pictures, it's just a ceremony?
1 comment:
Verrrrry cool guys. I felt the same way about Trent in the Sheriff's Dept. Maybe not on the same level as in the military, but certainly in "harms way" daily on Special Task forces to hunt down drug lords, verrrrrry bad, bad guys and having a gun in his face on more than one occasion. His undercover experiences still when under a great deal of stress give him flashbacks. He decided when they were pregnant to raise his kids and had confirmation of the spirit to do so, and got out. He is missed by the force. He got several commendations. But when it is right to go, you go. Thanks to all of you guys that try to keep us all safe. The world is better off because of you.
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