It's time to proudly wave and wear red, white, and
blue, eat BBQ, and celebrate the United
States of America and her birth. It's time to give thanks for our freedom, pray
for our country, and sing our favorite patriotic songs, like The Star Spangled Banner and America, the Beautiful.
America, with her spacious skis and majestic mountains, is
beautiful. But as a selfish person, I need to look at the third verse of America, the Beautiful, which not only reminds me of how we won our
freedom but also urges me to remember how we keep it.
Oh Beautiful for heroes proved In liberating
strife
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life.
While we sleep soundly in America, the Beautiful, there
are those whose mission is to place "us" before themselves, and they
deserve our praise, so I asked my favorite Veteran, my cousin, retired Army
Sergeant First Class David Brown Crawford, to share his service.
When David entered the army in 1988, he said the Army didn't
actually do that good of a job instilling Country First or Selfless
Service. It was talked about, but he
joined with a generation who grew up with a sense of patriotism. They had recited the Pledge of Allegiance in
school and respected the flag of the United States of America. When a soldier acted selfish, they were
berated a bit with physical activities and taunting, "It's all about
Johnny, isn't it?" Then, everyone
else was punished for a soldier's self-serving attitude.
The majority of the guys I served with almost regardless of
background had at least the basic building blocks of "America biggest and best" concept
instilled in them. Through my 22 years
in the Army these building blocks were rapidly eroded, and more and more new
soldiers only were in it for themselves. Combine this with "the mass
punishment is cruel" mentality and the "Me, Me, Gimme, Gimme"
attitude of the modern day youth, the Army had to improve their messaging. So toward the end of my career (2004-2009 time
frame), the Army began to develop things like the "Soldiers Creed,"
Army Values and Warrior Ethos.
The Soldier's Creed begins and ends with I am an American Soldier with eleven
statements in between, among them, I
serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values, I will always
place the mission first, I will never accept defeat, I will never quit, I am a
guardian of freedom and the American way of life. The Army's Core Values are Loyalty, Duty,
Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. Selfless Service: Put the welfare of the
nation, the Army and your subordinates before your own. This messaging is now a large part of Basic
Training. Along with posters and
paintings on the walls, recruiters teach their recruits these sayings before
Basic Training, keeping these ideas in the forefront of a Soldier's daily life.
Soldier's Creed http://www.army.mil/values/soldiers.html
These are strong words, but if you don't believe it, and at
some point give yourself to cause then the tendency to continue to put yourself
first will remain and reflect in how effective you are as a Soldier.
"He grants a treasure of common sense to the
honest. He is a shield to those who walk
with integrity." Proverbs 2:7
David served twenty-two years, including three tours in
Iraq. Toward the end of Desert Storm, he
was part of "Operation Provide Comfort" in Iraq and Turkey. During his second tour in 2004, he joined his unit already in country twelve months and
ready to redeploy. With temperatures
reaching 110 in Kuwait, his men were ready to recover their gear, load the
boat, and "let the freedom bird swoop in and take us home to our families,
comfy beds, good chow, and no more sand!!"
But, that didn't happen. Because of troubles with Shite Militia in
Eastern Iraq, their time was extended ninety more days.
I feel certain each of us were having deep conversations in
our heads dealing with Love of Country, Selfless Service and Mutiny at that
time. We did what we were told, packed
up and went back to base and got our heads down. The next morning my battalion
commander had the task of telling the unit we had to go back. He was choking up as he told us, and we knew
we were all getting a huge gut check from the lowest ranking to the highest
ranking. In the end I knew I couldn't complain at all. My guys had been there much longer and would
have cut me no slack if I was to complain at all.
David's last tour in Iraq, 2007-2008, was fifteen months. Many
guys he served with had already spent close to five years in either Iraq or
Afghanistan.
We knew there was little you could do to make it go
faster. It was not a race. You just had
to literally lean forward everyday and put one foot in front of the other just
to get through it. We all knew we could die but we knew we were good at what we did, and if we continued to do what we knew how to do then as a group we would survive.
My family all agree that it was a good luck day when David
met Anja while stationed in Germany.
Taking care of two children with a husband overseas and moving every
three years wasn't easy.
It was probably tougher on her than me in many cases, but
Anja's level of motivation and responsibility always amazed me and allowed me
to do my job without having to worry that the kids were not being taken care of
or other household duties were not being accomplished. I owe more to Anja for
keeping our family together during those times than I could ever put into
words. Anja and our kids (Josh and Hanna) were very supportive during this process. I think they have a sense of duty because of the
environment they grew up in.
The Army's Core Value of Selfless Service states The basic
building block of selfless service is the commitment of each team member to go
a little further, endure a little longer, and look a little closer to see how
he or she can add to the effort. David said,
"Accepting 'you can't just quit' attitude is the only way to get through
it."
With an adventurous spirit (always), David enjoyed the travel the Army provided. His job as a helicopter mechanic was challenging, but "learning and managing a complex piece of machinery was exactly what I needed." His mom, my
Aunt Gladys, always said he spent most of this childhood taking apart and
putting back together anything and everything.
But, David also served as a recruiter for a few years and was as honest
as possible with new soldiers.
Sacrifice
was part of my pitch, but I didn't really focus on it. Anyone who goes into the
Army not taking into account that they are going to have to give themselves to
the process at some time usually didn't make it. Those who were unable to
relieve themselves of "me first" mentality and give into the "I
am here to serve a cause that is bigger than me. My buddies are in this with
me, and what I am doing matters" at some level did not fare well in the
Army environment.
Even though he doesn't agree with the path we are taking and
believes our situation will worsen before it improves, David would serve
again.
"I feel very fortunate to be an American. I always think back to what it took to win
WWII and wonder if we would have the intestinal fortitude to win that type of
fight again. Oddly enough, if I had to
do it all again, I would still choose to join the Army and serve my
country. The level of camaraderie and
respect I have for the Soldiers I had the privilege to serve with is enormously
important to me, and I will value that
until the day I die.
How much do you love America, the Beautiful and our freedom? Thank our Soldiers. Your welfare comes before their own.
Happy Independence Day,
Katy
I could never express how proud the Brown family and I are of our Soldier, David. After twenty-two years of career
military, we were relieved to have him safely home in the country he served and
protected. Thanks, David, for your
willingness to share your service and thoughts.
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