Change of heart

I went to the funeral of a soldier today. No, not anybody we know. My aunt posted a message on that the funeral for a young soldier was being held in Waxahachie this afternoon, and the folks from Westboro Church were planning to demonstrate. I had heard of some instances where bikers would show up at services that the Westboro folks had targeted, and simply line up next to the protesters with engines running, drowning out the chants. I figured, the baby has a nice, deep voice, so why not ride down and see what's going on. When I got out to the bike, it was misting, but i decided to go anyway. Actually, I was kinda hoping for a run-in of sorts, and I wasn't going to miss the chance.

I rolled up on the parking lot, and I was pleased to see lots of people, and lots of bikes. This was going to be good. I parked and walked up to the building, looking for the Westboro folks. The driveway from the street to the Waxahachie Event Center was lined with people, standing in the cold and wind, holding American flags. The crowd was largely silent, and I couldn't hear or see anything that even remotely looked like a protest. As I stood watching the crowd, a lady waked up to me and said "If you want to go inside, you can sit with me." I wasn't sure what she meant at first, but I said "Sure", and turned to follow her into the service. As we walked, she explained that she had driven in from Ft Hood. Her husband was deployed in Kuwait, and all of her friends were suddenly 'busy' and could not come with her. She had spoken with her mother earlier today, and found out that here younger brother is to be deployed to Afghanistan in December. She obviously didn't want to sit thru the service alone, and I actually felt honored to sit with her. I suppose there was another purpose in store for my trip

Inside the auditorium, there were few empty seats. Lots of military, and lots of just plain 'ol folks that came out to honor the fallen soldier. It was a pretty somber atmosphere, as you might imagine, but it wasn't overpowering. A little about the soldier. 23 years old, with a young daughter. He had been active since 2008, I think, and was an exemplary soldier. One of his buddies from his unit described him as a natural leader, always concerned with the 'new guys' even though he was a newbie himself. His parents work at the local high school, and students by the dozens turned out to support the family and pay their respects to the fallen soldier.

As I sat in the service, I thought about what it takes to volunteer to serve in the armed forces. These folks don't have to join, there hasn't been a draft for a long time. There's a better that zero chance that they will be placed in harm's way at some point. They are working to protect freedoms for lots of people that they don't know and will never meet. Many of the very people that they are risking their lives to protect don't particularly like them simply because of their chosen profession. Yet, they are willing to go where nobody wants to go to do the jobs that nobody wants to do, and they do it with pride. Now I'm not saying that the armed forces don't have their share of bad apples. Pick a group, and there will be good and bad. But, all in all, these are a group of pretty special people, and they deserve our support. If you ever get the chance, tell a soldier, a sailor, or a marine "Thanks", and say it like you mean it,

I don't know if the Westboro folks ever showed, I never saw them. What I do know is that I went down for one reason, and came back with an altogether different reason for going again.