Tyler Allgood and Colton Smith and indeed all young men and women who join the military should be congratulated and applauded.
Defending this country’s freedom and our way of life is no mean feat today nor has it ever been.
The task they are about to undertake offers to borrow a line from Churchill offers toil, blood, sweat and tears.
We know from experience that they will not realize just how special and selfless their actions are.
While there are a great many reasons to join the military, anything from a desire to see the world to testing oneself under fire the under laying motivation that supersedes all others is as simple as it is pure: Patriotism.
And like all pure and simple things patriotism is impossible to define, but it is beautiful to behold.
Lessor men and women will on occasion seek to deflect their own obvious faults by searching for faults in these heroes. And yes there are a few bad apples in every barrel. But on the other hand the number of soldiers, sailors and marines with feet of clay are few and far fewer than the general population.
Take this test for example you are a clerk at a convenience store held up at gun point and there is one other person in the store if you could pick just who would you have be that bystander: a college student, a businessman or a marine?
For us the answer is simple because while a marine may find himself a bystander he or she will not remain one when lives are on the line.
As for rewards we warn both of them that they will be few, far between and probably never except for this; when you are old men, say 50 or so, and you gather with others and speak of the past one way or another your service in uniform will come up. And when it does even the most liberal, antimilitary nut job will look at you and pause.
As Shakespeare said:
“And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.”
Welcome to the club Tyler and Colton, you make us all proud.