I was sitting in the second position on a C-130 aircraft flying over Fort Benning, Georgia. As the door of the plane opened, I froze. I was about to exit a perfectly good airplane and place my life in the hands of a round parachute. In the number 1 seat was a major, a chaplain. I looked at him and said “Father, I don’t think I can do this.” He responded “Lieutenant, one way or another, you are leaving this aircraft.”
My journey to the Army is a bit complicated, but I left the comfort of a position at a large law firm in Kansas City, to jumping, or, more accurately, falling, from a plane. One of my best friends in college had been bugging me to join the Army JAG Corp, telling me it would make me a better trial attorney. One night my wife said, “why not.” It was the best time of my life and he was right, it trained me to try cases as well as many other intangible qualities I don’t think I could have learned anywhere else.
Fast forward to 2016. My partner and I just finished a two week jury trial in Dallas county. Trial attorneys know that the hours are long and I was gone from the house for the better part of six weeks. When I got home, my wife said, “I am either taking up golf or getting a dog.” Fortunately for both of us, she chose the latter and Malcom arrived in our lives. She and he trained to be a therapy dog team. Our first Christmas alone (empty nesters) she announced we were going to the VA Hospital to take Malcom around to the patients. It was incredibly rewarding, but also sad as many of these vets were alone. On our way out, we encountered a woman crying who had just lost her father, a former Vietnam veteran. I was saddened to think that there died a man, who had served his country, and absent his daughter, he would have been alone.
As we head into Veterans Day, we are reminded that less than 1% serve in the armed forces. 1%. Yet, we owe our freedom to these brave men and women who could potentially sacrifice all for our freedom. They don’t do it for the money, the fame or the accolades. They do it for a higher call. As we watch the last of the “Greatest Generation” fade away, we are reminded of the many wars that have occurred since WWII. Veterans Day is a day where we honor men and women who answered the call and sacrificed so much.
In 2014, I was invited to join the North Texas Board of the Folds of Honor (the “Folds”). The Folds is an organization that raises money for education tuition for the families of fallen or wounded service members. There are many other very notable and honorable organizations that attempt to meet the needs of veterans. It is easy for us to say “thank a Veteran” today, but I urge you to find real ways to show appreciation for those men and women who sacrificed so we could sleep under the blanket of freedom. At the Folds, we like to say “Freedom isn’t Free.” It’s not. But, I am grateful for those who paid it for us.
Happy Veterans Day.