Beneath the Air Force Memorial

These are fields of honor spread out beneath the Air Force Memorial.

There is a great deal of history here, a great deal of valor and sacrifice, stretching back through the corridors of time to the Civil War itself. The trees are peaking in their color and once again the seasons shift as time progresses. There is in the midst of the passage of time, something timeless about Arlington - the values that lead men and women to serve country even with the risk that such service may call forth the ultimate price. It is humbling to be part of what Arlington is about. Arlington is far more than the trees, and the green fields; the new crisp stones and the weathered ones; more than the view. As I share in each service, "this is hallowed ground, hallowed by the service and sacrifice of those who are buried here."

Hallowed is an ancient word, far older than Arlington, but likely not more ancient than war and struggle to defend oneself and one's loved ones against oppression and tyranny. Hallowed means to be set apart and above for a special and unique purpose. In religious though it pertain that which is sacred and of the realm of God. But there is a hallowedness to military service as well. For military service is first and foremost service. For the Air Force, this expressed in one of our core values "service before self". Arlington is ground set aside to recognize, honor, and inscribe in stone the remembrance of those who gave their life in that service. In my opinion, the honor is not bestowed through burial here, but recognized. The honor is bestowed in the faithful service of those who buried here.

I am blessed to work along side every day some of the most dedicated and honorable people I have ever known. I'll also admit than when I walk or drive through the pathways of the cemetery, I smile when I see the arches of the Air Force Memorial rising up over the treeline of this ground - for each arch reminds me of a core value that I truly believe are more than just words for the Air Force - but are truly lived by our service members every day: integrity, excellence in all we do, and service before self. Those arches remind me of why I am here. They challenge to rise and meet their challenge for service.

Profound Honor

There is a part of our honors ceremony that is most profound to me - the most profound 3 seconds of my day. It comes after I have presented the flag to the next of kin, and having risen, look down at them and execute a 3 second salute of that very flag in honor of their loved one's service to our nation.

Every salute, the same motion, the same honor - but a unique family, a unique pair of eyes that I look into, a unique story, a unique contribution.

Last weekend I traveled with our honor guard to Pennsylvania to pay that honor to young man who lost his life in Iraq. Irwin PA is a beautiful town full of beautiful patriotic people. All over town the flags were at half staff. Members of the Patriot Guard came from all over to pay tribute as well. Local law enforcement and fire were out in force. It was a cold crisp day and I am very proud of the job done by the young men and women of the Air Force honor guard. They were precise and incredible. I was honored to stand by their side to conduct the graveside services. After the service I stopped to grab a cup of hot coffee to warm up at a local convenience store. Still in uniform, I had a number of people approach and thank me for the service our team rendered. I was very moved by their loving words of support not just for the family but also for the troops and airmen who remain fighting the war. Sometimes I wonder if our people really get this war, what it is about, why it has to be fought, and why it has to be won. But I'm convinced the people I talked to in this small town get it.

Last Tuesday, I conducted graveside services for for another young man, whose family had come to Arlington to bury him here in these fields of honor. He died in the same blast as the man I buried on Saturday. He made the same sacrifice. Once again, it was a profound honor to serve his wife and children, to serve his fellow airmen who grieved his loss. I read with deep appreciation a comment the man himself had made not long before his death about the importance of his service and the job he was doing and how the tide turning and we are winning. I journeyed to Andrews for the funeral and rode back with the family in a motorcade to Arlington. Here too law enforcement had turned out in mass, the thin blue line showing tribute to one of their own who happened to serve in the military.

That is one of the big things I like about the Air Force. We are professional. We are good at what we do. We get the job done. He know about -- we live integrity, honor, excellence, service. But we are also family. We surround one another and care for one another. I shared with both families that today or years from now, if they need us to reach to us - their Air Force family - because we will not forget. And we will not fail.

These days I remind myself quite often when I listen to the news and comments of some various folks, the works of Rocky Balboa in the latest installment of the Rocky series: "It's not about how hard you can hit... It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward... that's how winning is done."

pacis ex victoria

Thanksgiving Day Interview

Thanksgiving Day Fox News radio is going to have an news special about troops and their life in forward deployed location including a segment with an Air Force chaplain. I look forward to hearing this, but I have to laugh thinking about it.

Monday night I checked my email for the first time in several days. To my utter shock and surprise I had an invitation to be interviewed by Fox for this segment. I had read an article by one of their correspondents about how he was in the process of loosing half his body weight, something I myself had to contend with 20 years ago today. (Yep, believe it or not - I topped out at 320 when I was 22). I had written him a quick note to encourage him to keep with it and he had written back that they wished to find an AF chaplain for this segment. They were taping at 1400 (2pm) yesterday, so I informed and secured the permission of my supervising chaplain, and from Public Affairs in my chain of command. IN the midst of this I was attending a meeting for my supervising chaplain and a uniform fitting for cold weather over at Bolling. But everything came together like clockwork. My colleague having graciously took my funeral, and I was arriving at Fox having made my way through DC traffic, (almost as difficult as loosing the weight so many years ago) when I received a call from the Air Force Chief of Chaplains office explaining that they had arranged for a phone interview with the command chaplain who is currently deployed for CENTAF and that I didn't need to report for the interview. So I made my way back out of downtown and experienced once again the joy of trying to figure out how to get back to where you came from with all DC's one way streets. I finally wound up over on the east side of the belt way before I found something I recognized. That is one nice thing about the belt way - if you get disoriented you will eventually run into it somewhere. It was a hectic day. I had a nice cup of cappuccino once I got home.

I do look forward to hearing the segment especially to compare how things are going now compared to how they were going when I was deployed with the troops last Thanksgiving and Christmas. I recall Thanksgiving fondly, because that night we were being shelled. It was after the service and we were still locked down from the shelling and a handfull of us were still there, including some who have become my friends from the EMEDS unit. We sat around finishing off my wife's famous fudge and singing Christmas carols. It truly was a grand time. I was glad to have my friends with me as a box of fudge is a huge tempation to an ex fat guy.