I’m so sick of ‘Supporting the Troops’

Are you sick of hearing ‘support the troops’ yet? The yellow-ribbon bumper stickers on the cars, the American flags on the houses in the neighborhood, signs in the windows, TV news announcing troops are leaving/coming home from the war. Are you sick of it all yet? I’m sick of it, and I’m a troop!

However, I will give you the same advice that Derrick Ramsey (yes, the former UK star and NFL standout) gave me when I was complaining about being ‘tired of going to college.’ You know what he said to that? And I quote: “Steve, get over it. I haven’t had a summer off in 25 years and neither will you.”

Not exactly the encouragement I was looking for but he made his point.

I know how some people feel, though. They feel bombarded with the ‘support the troops’ message everywhere they go. Well, get over it.

It makes me sad to realize that some people really feel this way. You can move to another country. It’s perfectly legal, I researched it for you! That’s why this country is so great! You have that luxury to just go!

Fox news actually had a guy on TV recently who flat out said he ‘did not support the troops because they were overpaid!’ Really? Try telling a deceased service-member’s parents that they were overpaid. I dare you.

So you’re on TV announcing your beliefs against the American soldiers’ payscale. Guess what, you’re able to speak your opinion so freely because service members like the ones overseas and at home are defending that right for you. It wasn’t free. It still isn’t free. You think gas is expensive? Try paying for freedom in blood.

I saw a bumper-sticker once that read “If you can read this thank a teacher, if you can read this in English thank a Soldier.” (To include the mighty Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.)

Freedom has a different taste when you are here as the protector of it, than when you’re home as the protected with it.

America really needs to reassess some major issues. I won’t bother getting into the ‘prayer in schools’ issue here. You can say that there is no prayer in school but as I heard someone say once, as long as there are ‘pop quizzes’ there will be prayer in school. “God please let me pass this quiz. Amen.”

I’m starting to lose track here, what I’m driving at is the sense of entitlement issue and the forgetfulness of us as Americans to just be thankful with what we DO have. We are absolutely saturated with ‘stuff.’ That in the end has no intrinsic value. Your Blackberry will most likely not be in the afterlife waiting for you. America has a real problem with ‘me-ism’ (ethnocentrism). Movies have shown this for years. The pretty American girl in the foreign country being told ‘no’ for something and then screaming, ‘you can’t do this to me I’m an American!’

I used to find it funny. Now I’m realizing some of it’s very true. However, it’s a part of everything we are right now.

Couples who have a baby praising God and saying ‘look what the Lord has done!’ Then the same couple, fifteen years later, are on the Maury Povich show because they can’t handle their child who is acting ‘crazy and misbehaving.’ What’s even more mind-boggling is that they don’t believe as parents they had any part in this either?! Are you kidding me?

Or the married couple who pray for each other and love one another to begin their marriage and now they want them gone because they ‘can’t stand them anymore.’

You know every Sunday you’re not doing God a favor by going to church, God has done you a favor by having a church standing there for you to go into and fellowship. Freedom of religion is pretty nice huh?!

I’m part of the entitlement problem too, don’t get me wrong. My wife and I are shopping for a home and the one we like didn’t have a dishwasher and I told that to CSM Cowan. You know what he said? ‘Be thankful you have dishes to wash, some people here don’t.’ He’s right.

America’s sense of entitlement has made her greedy. All of us have become greedy with her.

You know what, though, we bought that entitlement with blood, and now it’s time to be thankful for what we have again. The economy is down, the housing market crashed, gas prices are high, and all you hear is ‘support the troops’ blah, blah, blah, and now you want answers from somebody! After all this can’t happen to us – we’re Americans!

So you want my advice?

Get over it, and get back to being the America that made us great.

Roll-up your sleeves, put your head down, stop surfin’ the internet, and get to work America.

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Well, my unit’s doing it. The service members all over the world are doing it. What are you doing?

And one last thing – Support the troops.

‘I love you Lindsay and I’ll see you in less than a month hopefully:)!!!’

- Steve

‘PS – Happy Birthday Taura! You’re the best sister a brother could have!’