God Bless the Soldier!

That soldier on the left is my oldest son, Thom, with his best buddy from Boot Camp, Mikey. Thom, the "old man" in the class, took a liking to Mike like a younger brother. This pic was taken on 'Family Weekend' last year when we could visit them at Boot Camp in Ft. Knox, the weekend they were awarded their berets.

Today, although details are still sketchy, we learned that Mikey was killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber. This young man was barely old enough to vote, not even old enough to legally enjoy a cold beer and so young that he still used a "y" at the end of his name. But he chose to enter the Army to make a better life for himself (and his brand-new wife and a baby due to be born any day now) and get away from a potential life of drugs and gangs. Thom often wrote to me about how much he admired Mikey for pulling himself out of his surroundings. They were truly brothers-in-arms.

Please Don't Weep

If from this conflict I do not return,

Do not cry and weep for me,

But know that in God's plan,

His Heaven is where I should be.

I know that God did not wish me harm,

Or this wound inflict upon my frame,

But long before the earth was formed,

The Father knew my name.

I choose the path that I would take,

Of my own precious free will-

It was the one that I had to take,
And I would choose it still.

It matters not that I went sooner,

Than some would wish for me,

For all of you I dearly love,

Will join me for eternity.

I made the choice to be the one,

To offer my life this way,

In order to protect the land I love

And keep the enemy far away.

                     -Thena Smith

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand, Mikey!