A VERY DIFFERENT LOOK AT ST. MARK'S

My adopted hometown paid tribute to a young man who lost his life in Afghanistan a week ago. It was doubly sad because his friend from high school, also a Navy Seal, died in the same shooting down of their helicopter. I didn't know him or the other young man or their families, but I know several people who knew one or both of them, so by extension I feel a deep sense of loss. And though I didn't attend the service, I did drive by to witness the tribute being paid. A nearby church, King's Highway Christian, offered their parking lot for the service time, and a two-block stretch for each of the four streets north of St. Mark's were blocked off for parking. Here's the newspaper's write-up.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110814/NEWS10/108140336/Navy-SEAL-CPO-Rob-Reeves-honored?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

As I stopped at the traffic light at the main intersection next to St. Mark's I watched a young man in uniform, wearing a beret (sorry, I'm not familiar enough with Military uniforms to identify which branch) pushing a stroller with his younger child in it; following was his wife, also in the same uniform with beret holding the hand of their 3-4 yr. old daughter wearing her Sunday best on the way to pay tribute to their fallen brother. It broke my heart to think that someone else might be leading those children into a similar service for their parents sometime in the future.

I don't know what these wars are about anymore. How do we know what the objective is? How do we know when it is achieved or lost? How long do we just keep killing or being killed? What's the point?

Russia must be laughing and saying, "They learned nothing from what happened to us."

I do offer all my respect to those who offer their lives to protect and defend our country and hope those who command them hold them dear as well.