Because they cared so much

You may hear a Marine say they joined to kill some bad guys, and you can walk away believing all they wanted to do was kill without ever wondering what would make them want to risk their lives to do it. If you wonder, you'll find the answer soon enough. They wanted to "kill the bad guys" to save others.

The talk now is about Osama and how he was killed. If Osama had not ordered the deaths of as many people as possible, innocent people just showing up for work, the day he was killed would not have been an issue. Osama was not satisfied with what he had done. He wanted more innocent people to die. The SEALS stopped him from being able to kill more. The evidence found with Osama told a story of more attacks planned. Not on military targets but on civilians.

The troops were sent into Afghanistan because of him. They were sent into Iraq for? It didn't matter to the men and women sent because most of them joined because of September 11th. They were told it was because of our security. In other words, to save the lives of us.

The National Guards sent are another example of why they do what they do. When a natural disaster hits their community, they are the among the first people showing up to help.

Some people can't understand why so many of these men and women end up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What they see, what they have to do, what hardships they have to endure, stays with them. These are not selfish people. They do what they do because they care. It is because they care so much they end up paying a price for the rest of their lives.

A soldier deployed for a year becomes a veteran for their lifetime. They come home profoundly changed even if they are not haunted by PTSD. This is very clear when you listen to older veterans, especially Vietnam Veterans.

At the Veterans Reunion in Melbourne FL, yesterday it was more clear listening to these veterans talk. They walked around looking at patches on vest and hats telling a story. They'd stop, reach out a hand and say "welcome home" as memories took them back 40 years. Where were you? When were you in? They knew what happened and when it happened just as they remembered what happened to them.

They came home, returned to the world the rest of us live in. Working jobs, having families and carry the same worries the rest of us have, but these men and women carried the burden the nation put on their shoulders everyday. Just because they were back home, it didn't mean they were back home all the way. Too many came home so changed by what they had to do they find a piece of themselves is still back there. It comes back to them in their dreams and flashbacks, in the hearing of a name or reading it on the Wall.

How you see them depends on what you know of them. If you honor what they did for us, then make sure they have what they need because veterans carry the burden for the rest of us all their lives. Some carry it deeper because they cared so much.