I came across this article while going through the Early Bird, which is a .mil site that compiles articles from various publications in regards to the Defense Department. Anyways, the article is from US News & World Report and I thought it was something everyone should have the opportunity to read, but may not necessarily find it. As a member of the military I believe what I do is a noble thing--maybe the noblest of things: to be willing to lay down your life in defense of your country. It certainly doesn't feel like that's what I'm doing most days, but this is the basis of why it is I serve. That and I believe we are all called to certain paths in our lives and those of us that do serve, whether for 4 years or 40 it doesn't matter because there are those of us in this country who do not and there's nothing wrong with that. But keep in mind it is a great thing we do. So when I have to deal with some idiotic, annoying issue at work and then read a story like the one below things are put back in perspective. I know it's long, but please take the time to read it and get an understanding of life over in the desert right now. People throw around the word hero a lot these days and I would tell you most of the people that come back don't consider themselves to be heroes--maybe just the lucky ones. And I would tell you if SSG Griffin were alive today he wouldn't say he was either. But those of us that serve certainly do--he paid the ultimate sacrifice and for that we should all be thankful.
I actually got an email back from the author, Alex Kingsbury, thanking me for posting the article. It's really me who should be thanking him for writing such a great piece. With more articles like this we win more and more support for our troops and hopefully put pressure on Congress to pass a funding bill with the understanding it only helps maintain and improve our capabilities. Thanks to Alex, I have a link that I'm going to post on here instead of the entire article, but I'll leave the first paragraph up to give you an idea. Please go read the article!
If you click on the title of the article, you can go to the page and read it in its entirety.
E-Mails Reveal A Fallen Soldier's Story
By Alex Kingsbury
Four days before his death, Army Staff Sgt. Darrell Ray Griffin Jr., an infantry squad leader in Baghdad, sent an E-mail to his wife, Diana. "Spartan women of Greece used to tell their husbands, before they went into battle, to come back with their shields or laying on them, dying honorably in battle. But if they did not return with their shield, this showed that they ran away from the battle. Cowardice was not a Spartan virtue... Tell me that you love me the same by me coming back with my shield or on it."
A few days later, Diana replied. "Are you ok??? I haven't heard from you since Sunday and it is now Wednesday... I know you said you were going on a dangerous mission... I get so nervous when I don't hear from you... phone call or e-mail... I just hope and pray your ok honey... "
It was an E-mail Griffin would never read.
2 comments:
Felix,
Thanks for posting my story. I'm glad you enjoyed it. One slight correction though, that the story is from the cover of US News & World Report not Newsweek.
Best,
Alex Kingsbury
PS: If you get a chance, could you throw up the link to the story too? The more web traffic we can get, the more likely the magazine will be to run stories like this in future.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070513/21soldier.htm
SSG Darrell R. Griffin, JR. ("Skip") was my son. He was a great son and a great soldier. We would spend may hours discussing philosophy, religion and many other topics. He was strong mentally, physically and spiritually. I miss him in so many ways. As I said he was an incredible son.
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