The other day, last Sunday to be exact, I had the privilege to help with a Wounded Warriors event in Decatur, Alabama. This is an event put on in North Alabama for wounded veterans from around the country. What I saw and heard there really got me to thinking about things.
Some of us have a tendency to think of our military men and women when they are actively serving. Lots of times they’re shown in uniform, working on a military project or maybe fighting someone who wants to do us harm. But there’s another side to all of it that I want to talk about this week.
They are military men and women who wear different hats. They are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and a whole host of other things. But most of all they are HEROES. Not everything they do relates to the military. They wash and iron clothing, go to the grocery store and attend Little League games with their kids. Once these men and women return home and are discharged from their units most of them live pretty ordinary lives.
Of course, the wounded ones have it tougher than the others. That’s a tragedy, one that’s hard for anyone to fix. Still, it’s no longer a military thing with a lot of them. They live their lives chasing the same dreams and goals that the rest of us have.
I was struck with that thought last week when I saw so many hurt men and women who were just going on with their lives. They didn’t complain or even mention their injuries. They just tried to catch fish like the rest of us who love this sport.
They did what they did when they were on active duty. They do what they do now. They expect very little in return. All they really want is the same thing the rest of us want — to live a good life and have fun doing it.
I know I’m generalizing a little bit here but that’s my opinion.
Far too many of us take them for granted. Sure, we do things on Veteran’s Day and we sometimes acknowledge them when we’re speaking in public. But the truth is, by all accounts, we should tell them thanks whenever we see them, in or out of uniform and regardless of what they may be doing. That thanks should come with a big smile and an outstretched hand.
It wouldn’t hurt if we did more than that, either. Maybe the next time we see some of them in uniform or out, doing military stuff or going about their everyday lives, we could take a few moments to think about what their service means to us and say a prayer for them after we tell them thanks and shake their hand. What we do doesn’t always have to be fishing or hunting related.
Follow Chris on Twitter and Facebook or visit his website, www.chrislanefishing.com. Chris Lane’s column appears weekly on Bassmaster.com.