Moral Authority

The world, or at least the one that circles me here in the U.S. is looking for answers. Answers they believe that only Veterans can give. Because as Veterans we have walked ground not occupied by civilians. A life where leaving a video message on your laptop for your wife and children to watch in case you die outside the wire is simply standard operating procedure. One in which you have traversed the IED laden roads of a foreign land and dodged RPG’s and small arms fire from multiple directions. We Veterans understand that we have faced life and death and that when you do that people want to know what we think. In one sense we are able to carry that moral authority but in another we don’t want to be cornered into using it. If you want to know how we feel, please get to know us first. Build a relationship with us. We were formed, each one of us, in a crucible of trust. To know each other like we did was to know we would die for each other. If then you want to know our thoughts, then do so within that crucible redesigned. Where we can trust you to love us regardless of what happened, that you listen to us without opining or offering unsolicited advice, even if the words are hard to come by, promise to learn from us when we finally share our pain with you about what is currently going on, pledge that you will do what you can to lessen the effects of what we have been through “over there” by not pressuring us and insinuating that we are all one big monolithic robotic force who all have the same feelings, and finally, lead. Lead knowing that we have always lead as a team. Will you choose to stand shoulder to shoulder with us? Help us carry the burdens we have so that together we might find a light in this current darkness.