HORRIBLE TASTE OF REALITY

 

  Today's post does not include one of my images.  It instead is an image of a young Marine named Frankie Watson that I copied from a Facebook post and pasted in the post.  We received a phone call yesterday afternoon that Frankie had been killed in Afghanistan.
  Now I knew Frankie but could not say that I knew him well. Every time I came into contact with him, whether it be refereeing his rec. league basketball game, announcing his name at the football games on Friday nights, or just running into him at the local Wal Mart he seemed like a fine young man. The fact that he was a United States Marine can sum that up all by itself. Not only is he a marine reservist, but he is also a Policeman in the Madisonville Police force. This was a young man who in all aspects of his life was not afraid to put his life on the line to protect other people.
  The one thing that really hits home with Frankie's untimely death is that since the war on terror began in 2001, this is first casualty of the war that I can actually say I have known. I've known many who have been over in the war, but all them up until now had come back safely.
  Frankie played 3 years of high school football with my son Shea. Those two, and another friend, Kyle Day, all joined the Marines with in a couple of months of each other. After enlisting, Shea spent a lot of time with these two and lot of time at Frankie's house.  When Frankie was at basic he sent letters to Shea and Kyle telling them how horrible it was and prepared them for when they arrived there. They became much better friends than when they were in high school together.
  Boy what a horrible taste of reality for us and especially for Kyle and Shea. Up until now, being in the Marines has been a lot of training, shooting, and learning. Other than basic training, it has been more like a job and in some cases similar to the video games the boys used to play with them getting to shoot guns, drive combat vehicles, and use equipment in the comfort of a Marine base here in the states with no threat of an enemy firing back. We hear names and the numbers of soldiers getting killed in battle every day, but because you don't know the name(s) it still doesn't register as reality until days like yesterday when the name is someone you know or are good friends with.
  I honor every man or woman who voluntarily enlists in the armed forces. There is no greater honor than to lay your life down for your country. But when you have a son in the Marines and something like this happens, it scares you and makes you realize just what could happen to your own soldier and makes you hope and pray that GOD's plan for him as a Marine allows him to return home safely from where ever he is or will be.
  Frankie I honor you and hope you rest in peace and our prayers and thoughts are with your family at this time. We are also praying for all the other men and women in the Armed Forces where ever they are and what ever they do and hope that you arrive home to your families safely.