Warrior Airman
When I enlisted in the US Army back in 1980 (yes, June 17 will make 30 years since my enlistment), the Armed Forces had been a volunteer fighting force for a mere 7 years and it showed. Morale was low and esprit de corps was even lower. Looking back now, I wonder if the pain of the Vietnam conflict, only 5 years over by then, manifested itself in a fighting force with a self-esteem problem. Maybe it was only found in the US Army and then only where I was trained and stationed. But, then again, I don't think so. Since then, the US Armed Forces have celebrated many victories and now even though the main stream media often struggles to do so, citizens and corporations are celebrating our warriors. It now seems more "cool" to be courageous and perfectly appropriate to be a patriot. This is what I witnessed as our son Lewis graduated from Basic Military Training in Lackland AFB, TX this past weekend. The picture is of him and his friend Sam Dixon in front of the Alamo