I decided a few days ago to adopt a soldier. Someone on Facebook said that they did it and it was kind of the culmination of a series of things that were going on for me.
One afternoon I spent a good 15 minutes looking at the list on Mollie's door of soldiers that have died the past two weeks in Iraq and Afghanistan. She posts a new list every time one is available and it keeps a running total of how many have died since the war started. They are all so young, usually under 22 or 23 years old. I decided to try to find some way that I could be on the listserv that does the same thing (her's is through the Episcopal Church) and while looking I found a website that has the picture of every soldier killed and links to articles in the newspaper about them. I probably spent an hour looking at their faces and learning about them. It is devastating to me that kids that young are being killed--and for what? I have no clue for what, but the whole thing got me thinking.
In the past I haven't been the biggest fan of the military. In general, I think those in the military are paid decently for what they do, have generous benefits, and are sometimes given undue attention for being heroes--if you're joining and doing what you do to be a hero, in my eyes, you aren't one. However, there definitely are people in the military who are heroes.
With all of that being said, after seeing their faces and then being presented with the opportunity to do something, I decided to do something. So I adopted a soldier. Essentially I email back and forth with them and send letters and care packages if I want to. I accidentally got assigned to two even though I only wanted one, but it's cool. I really look forward to getting to know them better and being able to see the military from the point of view of someone who is in it. I feel good about it.
One afternoon I spent a good 15 minutes looking at the list on Mollie's door of soldiers that have died the past two weeks in Iraq and Afghanistan. She posts a new list every time one is available and it keeps a running total of how many have died since the war started. They are all so young, usually under 22 or 23 years old. I decided to try to find some way that I could be on the listserv that does the same thing (her's is through the Episcopal Church) and while looking I found a website that has the picture of every soldier killed and links to articles in the newspaper about them. I probably spent an hour looking at their faces and learning about them. It is devastating to me that kids that young are being killed--and for what? I have no clue for what, but the whole thing got me thinking.
In the past I haven't been the biggest fan of the military. In general, I think those in the military are paid decently for what they do, have generous benefits, and are sometimes given undue attention for being heroes--if you're joining and doing what you do to be a hero, in my eyes, you aren't one. However, there definitely are people in the military who are heroes.
With all of that being said, after seeing their faces and then being presented with the opportunity to do something, I decided to do something. So I adopted a soldier. Essentially I email back and forth with them and send letters and care packages if I want to. I accidentally got assigned to two even though I only wanted one, but it's cool. I really look forward to getting to know them better and being able to see the military from the point of view of someone who is in it. I feel good about it.
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