Unsung Heroes Need to be Sung About.....

 Dear Fishes-

       Recently, within the last couple of months I went to "Taco Amigo" for the first time with my fiance. I had always heard good things about it, but had never ventured to its delicious locations. While we were waiting for our food, there was a man in what looked to be his 50's or 60's sitting down enjoying his food. I inquisitively asked if he liked "Taco Amigo" and he replied that it's his favorite. Our food came out and then I continued my line of questioning about the restaurant because I was curious. He was a die hard Taco Amigo consumer and loves it over Del Taco and Taco Bell (not hard to beat really). 

      It eventually came out that he breaks horses in and that's what he does for a job, but I could tell there was far more interesting things in this individual than met my eye. He had this gaze about him that was soul piercing and you could tell that he'd been in the service at some point, just because of how intense his eyes were. I told him about how my father had been a GS-13 at the height of his career and that we moved around a lot because of the Army and then because of the government jobs my dad held. My dad would have been a higher GS level had he not gotten stricken with Parkinson's disease (which my family is still convinced it was because of noxious chemicals he worked with in Germany, for the Army, during the 1980's). 

      This Taco Amigo lover was down visiting his mother because she had just sold her house and was going into assisted living and he was overseeing her and making sure the transition was a smooth one. He never told my fiance or I his real name, but he did use a nickname (which I won't write about to protect his identity). We'll call his name "Bob." We began talking politics and how we were disgusted with the current party's lack of couth and ability to defend our nation against foreign invaders seeking to destroy what we hold near and dear. 

       Bob eventually let it slip that he was one of the first twelve that went into Afghanistan after 9/11/2001 to go after osama bin laden. He and the other eleven special forces soldiers were allowed to use whatever means necessary to wrangle the beast and foes in Afghanistan. He told my fiance and I that he had served five tours in the Middle East on top secret missions that were about us maintaining our freedoms in America. He also told us that there was a documentary on Hulu about him and the other eleven men that made huge strides on the ground in Afghanistan. I had told Bob about my Uncle Sarge serving three tours in Vietnam and how that he was never the same after it. He also got brain cancer from being exposed to Agent Orange. "Bob" then showed us where he had been shot by enemy fire in his neck. 

       I thanked him for his service and told him that I appreciated what he did to uphold our freedoms in this land. He said he had never really been thanked before nor was he sure that people really understood at what sacrifice he did, to serve his country and his God. He had stated that he wondered quite frequently if people actually cared about what he had to do in order to maintain freedom and liberty here in the states. He then told my fiance and I that he had to stop talking about what he was talking about because his neck was hurting where he had been shot. Obviously PTSD was a factor in this soldier's life and he was still dealing with the effects of five tours of special forces missions. I was honored to meet this man and I have a deeper affection for those that serve our country at great personal sacrifice. "Bob" lives in Utah, but I won't divulge where to maintain his privacy. 

       Freedom isn't free and anyone telling you otherwise, is selling you something that you should be weary of. I'm appreciative of people like "Bob" and my Uncle Sarge (who is now deceased) for their sacrifices foreign and domestic. Without those that serve in the Special Forces, the world would be a lot scarier if we knew what the gatekeepers kept out of the public's viewpoint on a daily basis. I'm sure Bob had to do interrogations and thus why he had such a piercing look to his blue eyes. He told me to watch the documentary, but I haven't yet--it's on Hulu apparently. Remember to thank those that deserve to be thanked, especially the ones that are forgotten about--those are the true heroes that should be given accolades.  

See ya in the sea anemone, 

B.