Jeff's Commentary - 3/1/10 - Our Heroes

I was reading the Saturday Arizona Republic and I came upon a story in Section A15 with the following names: Matthias Hanson, Eric Ward, J.R. Salvacion, Marcos Gorra, Adam Peak, Christopher Eckard, Michael Cardenez, Joshua Birchfield, Gregory Stultz, Jeremy McQueary, and Kielin Dunn. I paused as I read each name and the short information about each person and flipped to the next page and story.

As to the rest of the news that day...the Waste Management Phoenix Open has been going on this week to huge crowds. The Olympics are concluding in Vancouver with great fanfare and applause. The U.S. had its best Winter Olympics ever and is bringing home a lot of gold, silver, and bronze. Spring Training is beginning in Florida and Arizona...bringing back the "Boys of Summer." We're still worries about whether Tiger Woods will be able to figure out his addictions in time to save his endorsements and marriage. Sheriff Arpaio and Andrew Thomas continue to get rebuffed on their grand conspiracy tactics towards the Board of Supervisors. The City of Mesa is fighting for a tax to be implemented to keep the Cubs in Arizona or the new billionaire owner (Tom Ricketts) will take his new toy to Florida. All the news that is fit to print and read...and forgotten.

Later that night I attended a service at an inner city church called Fire & Water. Meadowlark Lemon, of Harlem Globetrotters fame, was the guest speaker and quietly talked about something special at this Church...a spirit of life that is now gone from many grand buildings of worship. He then talked about new accountability, one that comes from your own heart...to have a dream...a vision...and get out and do whatever is necessary to make that vision happen...as he had done many years before. He talked about adversity, poverty, and the ability to still have a faith that we can all survive and be as one in the community. Achieve a level of excellence that sets an example for others to live by...a code of respect you live by.

I went home and opened the paper back to Section A15 and re-read the names again. For these were not just names of ordinary people. These were not the names of sports stars or Hollywood actors. They were not the latest gossip newsmakers or for that matter politicians.

They were people who gave the ultimate sacrifice for you and me. People we never knew but should...lives we will never read about again. They will not be at the next Phoenix Open as spectators or viewers of the 2012 Olympics. They will not worry about Tiger Woods or whether the Cubs stay or go.

They have already given what most of us would never think of giving...their lives. You see, the names: Matthias Hanson, Eric Ward, J.R. Salvacion, Marcos Gorra, Adam Peak, Christopher Eckard, Michael Cardenez, Joshua Birchfield, Gregory Stultz, Jeremy McQueary, and Kielen Dunn...are all U.S. soldiers who lost their lives this past week in Afghanistan. These brave soldiers were fighting for us to be able to do all the things we read about in the paper today. They are the ones who had a vision to be accountable...they chose service among all else and paid the highest price...their lives. They did this so that one day there may be unity in the world we live.

We take life too much for granted. We are off to the next story in the paper. Because we don't often see the tragedy of war, we are willing to turn the page every day to the next story with little to no remorse. I will say an extra prayer of thanks tonight for the unknown few who cared to have a service committment in hopes that one day our vision is reachable because of their sacrifice.

Jeff