Yesterday morning while approaching the train stop, I noticed a soldier in full battle fatigues, boots laced and carrying a full pack. Undoubtedly headed off to Iraq or Afghanistan.  On the heels of hearing that July was the deadliest month of the Afghan war, I was compelled to walk up and say thank you.

As I shook his hand I was struck by a few things. First was how young he looked. He looked like he could be right out of high school (probably was). Still had the roundness in his features that showed his youth. Second was how strong his grip was and the conviction of his hand shake. This kid, not more than 18 or 19 years old had nothing but pride and conviction not a fear in the world. Third was the fact that this soldier was about to head off to a war zone, put his life in harms way for me, my family and my country.

Now, I don’t care where your politics are and frankly don’t care. The fact that this guy is willing to jump on a plane to some god forsaken place at the drop of a hat so we can all enjoy our lives deserves our gratitude.

So as I looked him in the eye and said.
“Thank you for your service to our country.”
His response was:
“Thank you for saying so.”
Classy and humble response. Thank me.?

With that he boarded the train. The next few moments I sat thought about my wife and kids and how fortunate we are that God makes men like him.