Memorial Day Murph 2016

"All gave some, some gave all".

Anyone who has served has sacrificed, however some unfortunately have died while serving.

Memorial Day is about remembering those we've lost, and honoring them by recalling how they lived.

The origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity.

The Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that applies today, to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in our nation's wars: "Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men".

This holiday, to me, is about esprit de corps and the bigger picture.

This is about honoring those who sacrificed their lives for the benefit of others.

For those who have lost someone in combat, I want to close with this quote:
"I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom." - Abraham Lincoln

For more information - http://convictiontraining.com/ctfs-murph-challenge

Comments

My safe space (perception of vulnerability)

I was a medic in the 5/20th Infantry battalion, I was with Bravo Company, and we were in a Stryker brigade. I was on the line the whole time I was in the battalion, and most of that time was spent in the stryker, either driving or sometimes as the vehicle commander. I recently recorded a podcast with a buddy, Craig Hysell who is the owner of Conviction Training Facility, and co-host of the Conviction Strong Radio podcast. This particular episode we were discussing vulnerability, how vulnerability can be a tool, and how it can allow us to grow beyond our current situation. For me, the situation of speaking about vulnerability is an onion of sorts; it's multi-layered. In order to have an honest conversation about vulnerability, it is necessary to speak from personal experience, to be vulnerable. As I was talking about vulnerability on the podcast, and relating it to my service as a medic in an infantry battalion, I was pretty uncomfortable giving details about my service; I was ...

Strange thought

I'm taking college classes these days, full time. It's good for me, it gets my head focused on things I'd naturally avoid. The kids on this campus are something else, alien-like. I was walking from my car to the library this morning when I passed a kid who was leaving the library. He was a small kid, maybe 17-19. He didn't look to weigh much, maybe 120, he was wearing his baseball hat like an asshole with a flat brim. He seemed innocent enough. I was walking and enjoying the crisp air in my nose and lungs. Without prompting or warning, my brain went to a time when we were back in Baqubah, Iraq. The short story is that we were one vehicle in a cordon made up of our own trucks and some trucks from another unit. That unit had Bradley's for vehicles, one Bradley took a catastrophic hit and the guys inside were severely injured. They needed to be pulled out and evacuated back to the nearest Combat Support Hospital (CSH or cash). We moved our vehicle up, the casualties we...

Naivety, confusion, anger

Anger makes you sharp/tight/focuses the senses. Use anger as fuel, to the next level, to kill or to do extraordinary. Anger beats the drum when tired, morale has vaporized & it's raining. Anger fills the moat between you, your brothers & everything else. Anger feeds the fire to keep getting better. Anger makes you strong, tempers you like forged steel. Anger suppresses fear to do unimaginable tasks. Anger allows you to turn around & roll right back out. TRANSITION TO: STATESIDE - CIVILIAN - THE MALL - RHETORIC How/where/when do you constructively/sustainably let go of anger? How do you allow vulnerability/honesty/compassion in? How do you let it in and maintain balance? How do you let go of tried & true tools to pick up new & adapt to them? How do you learn to trust again; where do you start? (Just some drivel from my brain one afternoon)

Veteran Mettle

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