When the Troops Come Marching Home.

Yesterday, I had a Facebook conversation with an old high school bud who stands as far to the right as I do to the left. We were talking about the soldiers, sailors and marines who are returning from the Iraqi conflict.  He made a point that many of us forget. These young people went over there and gave their lives, their time and their talents to allow us to be able to disagree openly and in public. For that we should all be grateful.

You see, it doesn’t matter which side of the argument you are on, when it comes to the men and women who fight to preserve our freedoms, we are one.  It is their services that give us the freedom to disagree. And we will never agree fully on every issue.  Never. I mean my friend likes Bob Seger music, for God’s sake, but we can still celebrate  together the success for which our troops who worked so hard and sacrificed so much.

I was at DFW airport yesterday picking up my better half from a business trip and a planeload of Army soldiers disembarked.  There was a rousing greeting for these heroes.  People applauded and cried and hugged.  It was well worth the time to witness this homecoming.  Unlike Vietnam, we have not forgotten these service people. They were white and black – Asian and Hispanic.  Men and women, young and (well, not old but certainly seasoned, how’s that for being PC toward the officers?) They came from every walk of life and they served in the same uniform under the same flag.  Old Glory waved proudly over these troops.

Perhaps it is because they were standing so close to me and the emotion was running high, that I felt moved to ask one how it felt to be back in America?  He looked at me, smiled and said, “Hell I’m from Kansas, this is just Texas.”  We laughed and I realized that there is a lot of humor among “Yanks.”  And that’s a good thing.

I think we need more humor on the plains of debate and less shouting in these days.  So for my part, I am going to try and be a bridge from now on. – a thermostat trying to lower the temperature of discussion.

Sure, I will still point out when Fox News is lying through their teeth, but to those who hold a different political point of view, I will give them the right to be heard.  A good number of young people sacrificed a lot for that privilege.  But I will just have to be reminded when I get into it with some of my friends, “This isn’t America…it’s just Texas.” America is big enough for all of us. Even those who live in Kansas.

As we say on Facebook – LOL

Ya’ll take care, now. Ya hear.