Memorial Day

To all the veterans of the past, present, and future, happy Memorial Day! I hope all of you were able to get some rest and relaxation in, think about some of your experiences as soldiers, and be able to look forward into the future.

This picture was one of the many that I've taken from my tour in Iraq, and I'm sorry to say that I don't remember who the people in the photo were, but I do remember the circumstances to which we had gotten there. It was in a part of Mosul, Iraq, and we had driven in a convoy to a local school to distribute supplies, as well as say hello to one of our guys who was not stationed with us but at another Forward Operating Base (FOB). These two guys were simply chilling between tasks and entertaining themselves with a harmonica.

I thought about posting some really patriotic pictures that I could find on google images, and then I decided that I'd rather just pick one or two that came from my experience as a veteran. There are other pictures which did not depict the nice and easy going scenes....and I'd rather not focus on those.

To tell you honestly, I don't really feel that much like a veteran, one reason is that I am still serving in the reserves, and another reason is because I didn't want to become one of these people who just cannot leave that part of that experience or live at peace with their experience in the military. I treat my experiences in the military as a part of my life, like a school that I've attended, and the like. There were good and bad times that I've had, just like with all things in life.

I am proud to have served, and I still am, even if I don't usually get dramatic about it.