When you don't hold a job but it holds you

When you don't hold a job but it holds you
Chaplain Kathie

There are days when I get up too early, start searching the headlines and then wish I had stayed in bed a few hours longer. When you see just a few posts on this blog, more than likely it was one of those days or like yesterday, I just tied up with projects for Digital Media. Today began like one of those days when the headlines looked great but the stories ended up being written as if the reporter regretted having to cover the story. I saved a few I found then started to search for pictures for a new project. I found the above picture, being a sucker for dogs, especially puppies, I followed the link to the story. I was stunned and happy I got up early this morning.

This is a job that I do not hold. It is a job that holds me. There is no walking away from it. I didn't get a gold watch when 25 years of marriage reminded me of how long I've been doing this. But there are many more people in the country with jobs holding onto them instead of the other way around.

This puppy wandered up to Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, in Afghanistan in January, and later starred in a video about 1/6 that has gone viral on the Web. (Photo by Cpl. Charles Mabry/Marine Corps)

Less than a week from now this nation is supposed to be remembering all the men and women willing to lay down their lives for the sake of this nation. Usually I am in Washington DC but this year I will be at the Navy Exchange for their 65th anniversary celebration. Many of my classmates will be going away, having parties, taking very little notice of what this day is for. That is why I thought this article written last year holding a video from a Marine giving a speech to his men was so powerful. These young men and women, serving this nation, know full well what Memorial Day is for and Gunnery Sgt. Brian Walgren speech reflected the fact some in this country have no clue what it is like to have this job.

The real story behind the John Glenn speech to Marines in Afghanistan
NOVEMBER 10TH, 2010
POSTED BY DAN LAMOTHE
Times were tense before the initial February assault on Marjah, Afghanistan. A narcotics hub and Taliban stronghold, it was expected to be booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices and filled with insurgents waiting for a fight.

Obviously, the Corps took control of Marjah within days. It’s still a dangerous place, but one where Marine officials say they see hope, at least.

Before the assault, Gunnery Sgt. Brian Walgren, the company gunny for Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, fired up his troops with a gritty, heartfelt speech.

”Howard, I can’t believe you said that. I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I went through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions.

”I ask you to go with me as I went the other day to a veterans’ hospital, and look those men with their mangled bodies in the eye and tell them they didn’t hold a job. You go with me to any Gold Star mother and you look her in the eye and tell her that her son did not hold a job.

”You go with me on Memorial Day coming up and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends than I like to remember, and you watch those waving flags, and you stand there and you think about this nation and you tell me that those people didn’t have a job.

”I tell you, Howard Metzenbaum, you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men – some men – who held a job.”

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John Glenn speech to Marines in Afghanistan