Thank you for another year of encouragement

I can understand being too busy, especially this time of year. My neighbors are putting up their decorations and lighting their homes, spending hours of their days on making displays. They do a great job. Shoppers are finally getting to the malls with their lists in hand searching for the bargain on what they think will make someone else happy. Christmas cards are starting to arrive in mailboxes from friends we hear from once a year but think about off and on during the year. It is almost as if these are all reminders of people we care about.

For me, this semester at college has been, to put it bluntly, kicking my ass. I can't believe the hours it takes to deliver projects and study for just two classes! I have been so focused that yesterday I had to call my Godchild to wish her happy birthday because I forgot it was already December. Humiliating for me but she got a kick out of it knowing her "Godmother" is usually out of her mind.

While most people don't take the time to think about what is going on in the military or with our veterans, some people take the time everyday to keep informed.

In four years this blog has had over 400,000 pageviews. For a blog like this covering just the military and veterans, that proves people do care about what is going on and they don't get the coverage from major media outlets. Some of the best reporting going on in this country is done at the local levels with small newspapers and TV stations caring enough to devote some time to these men and women. I am doing my best to be a reminder of people we care about. If you are reading this, then you must be doing it because you care about them as much as I do.


One more indication of this is when Stars and Stripes did a fantastic report from FORWARD OPERATING BASE PASAB back in August I posted the link to it with a powerful image. I was stunned by the pictures in the report but this one stood out.

For Those I Love I Will Sacrifice

Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry, of 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Infantry Regiment, 1st Heavy Combat Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, who was injured in an improvised explosive device attack near Haji Ramuddin, is treated by flight medic Cpl. Amanda Mosher while being transported by medevac helicopter to the Role 3 hospital at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan on June 15, 2011. Laura Rauch/Stars and Stripes

Since this post went up, over 28,000 people have read it. A month after the post went up, Time Magazine did a follow up for what happened to Kyle Hockenberry "No Idle Boast: A Soldier's Tattoo Becomes Truth" and you can read more about it at the above link. Why? What caused so much attention?

We've seen thousands of reports since the troops were sent into Afghanistan ten years ago. On this blog we've tracked stories of veterans giving back as well as getting into trouble, suffering and overcoming, stories about heroes and the homeless. I believe this post reflected the fact that while most of us just get on with our own lives, we know there are many risking their lives everyday willingly. They do it for each other.

To the readers of Wounded Times, I want to thank you for your encouragement. It has been a struggle to stay up on all that is going on while in college. If I didn't have you reading what I post, there would be no reason for me to do it. I believe that the public cares about this topic but no one is reminding them of people they care about but don't think about. If you know someone not paying attention, send them the link to the story Stars and Stripes did and remind them during this Christmas season there are loving sacrifices being made everyday by the men and women serving this country.