Fort McClellan--Wash Rack, Salute, and a Hug

Fort McClellan, Alabama in the summer time for boot camp was not just hot by the temperature but also in finding that the recruiter wasn't quite honest about what to expect at least in the mind of the recruit. What they left out was how they were going to look like the videos. Well, let me restate that, the recruiter showed great pictures and gave wonderful testimonials, just not the more difficult challenges that would be experienced.

Back in the day (about 35-years ago), a young woman sat in the recruiters office and was shown videos of the soldiers in crisp uniforms, women sitting in make-up classes learning techniques. Then there were the brochures and more pictures of traveling the world, sightseeing and being part of the bigger picture. What young woman wouldn't want to take part in THAT? Especially when the place you currently reside, a city that was THE place to live was now all but dead. Yeah, sign me up.

This is the true story of a friend who proudly signed up to be a U S Soldier. This is just one of the many funny stories of interpretation and what truth really became. You heard a little bit about her in a previous blog, but today I focus on Sargent Worthey's first weeks in basic training at Fort McClellan.

Coming from a line of African-American soldiers--both Air Force and Army, she joined the ranks. With the last name starting with a "W" she was last in line for most things, and at 5' 3"
by the time she got to the quartermaster to receive her uniforms and boots, most of the small sizes for women were gone. She got the fatigues okay, but the boots were a bit too large, so they put her in the men's shoes to try to get a better fit.

"They didn't tell us that those nice, crisp looking uniforms we saw, that we were going to have to iron and starch them to have that crease and stand up look".

"If you really wanted to have the bed that you could bounce a quarter off on, you just didn't sleep in the bed."

"And that makeup class, not even close. They had little classes sponsored by one of the major makeup companies, but not the type of let's do hair and makeup we were expecting."

"After make-up class they sent us to the gas chambers. What a sense of humor, we go from putting on makeup and looking really nice, to choking and gagging, our mascare running."

One day she said she had enough and wanted out. Her unit had a short break and she went immediately to a pay phone way at the other end of the yard. She was talking to the now retired Command Sargent Major of the post, better known to her and the family as "Uncle Ray". And as he was giving her a "hang in there", Worthey turned around to see her own sargent walking towards her. The result was not pretty.

A few weeks later Worthey was taken by some soldiers and told her she was to report to the wash rack. It was one of those places you didn't want to report to. Oneof the worst places you could be assigned! Thinking that talking on the pay phone couldn't have been that bad, but here she was and with an escort. She just followed orders. Behind the buildings, in a back lot was a car and as she approached her escort stopped and she continued on--out stepped "Uncle Ray".

What a difference a salute and then a hug can make to a homesick soldier. She didn't only make it through basic training but went on to be come a top sargent.

Moral of the story? We can all be in a challenging condition. Maybe its not one that we considered could happen because it wasn't what we expected--we might even had hoped for something a bit different. But what a difference one person can make to help us change our attitude and direction.

You make a difference to somebody--make a difference today. Somebody might be in a place of saying I've had enough--are they waiting to hear from you with a word of encouragement?

I'm going to have to tell you about "Uncle Ray" ... I adopted him as somebody I look up to and have a picture of him in his uniform on my desk. A soldier's soldier that never said "quit".

Thanks to Navy, Marines, Coast Guard Veterans Week

Thanks to everyone who has visited during my tribute to Veterans. It has been an exciting and interesting week for me. I found some facts I didn't know, and great discussions with friends, some of whom are currently serving around the world and others who recall their days of active service. Today, however, my thank you goes to the Navy and Coast Guard through all the wartime and peacetime surveillance of the waters of the world. Talk about having no place to run when you're in a battle.

Fleet Week in New York City is always a fun week. Going down to the harbor and Museums is a great get-away if you're a tourist or a local.

Now we know that many battles raged on the seas and the loss of lives have been many. We look at the Pearl Harbor Memorial as a tribute to WWII and being caught unawares. Those more recently on the USS Cole in the Middle East. The awesome place of PT boats during WWII and victories at sea. If there was one thing I would love to see is getting youth interested in history.

So to the men and women present and past of the Marines, Navy, Coast Guard, Navy Seals (you guys have my attention!) you have my Thank You today and always, along with the whole military.

Freedom isn't won in an armchair watching. It starts with people in leadership who hopefully has the right intelligence briefings to make the right decisions. War is costly in terms of body counts, shattered lives, grieving, and character. I wonder what would have happened if the soldiers who came home from WWI and WWII, even Korea would have told what really happened to them, what the real "on the ground" fighting and their experiences--would we, as a world society, allowed leadership to behave in the manner it has with the lives of our citizens?

Would we or our previous generations simply given a silent approval to the things that have now shaped our today society? Will we the current world population, go quietly into the next long night silent? Or will we speak as our Generations XYZ, have now begun to do for change and better yet, what is the change we are now headed into? Will it result into a long dark night or a brightness we cannot comprehend? Something to think about as we make decisions daily--not just for ourselves but for our neighbors and our generations.

Vietnam War From A New Perspective

Growing up during the 60s was an interesting time. As youth we were moving from respecting our parents to we're going to do it our way. We had become intolerant and stubborn. Unfortunately, the Vietnam War was also going on and we didn't know quite how to filter that through the lens of duty to country and patriotism. Our graduating class was the largest in history at the school. By our senior year, with the war going full strength by 1965-1967 we had many who got married, left the country heading to Canada and those who went to serve their country; some returned alive, while others did not. Then there were the rest of us.

Some went about life as usual pretending life was beautiful. Others protested the war with great outbursts of emotions and marches. The Vietnam Era was really an "Era of Mass Confusion". President Kennedy had been assassinated, President Johnson thought he knew how to get a victory, Robert McNamara was running the show. Johnson knew he wasn't going to win and left the White House instead of running for a full term. You know its bad when even the government that is supposed to running things and telling you all is well bails out.

In retrospect, we were at a point in life of just falling apart socially and literally. Our moral values were being shredded with the hippy scenes of Haight-Ashbury and the Jesus Freaks in their vans. Music of Bob Marley, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Stones, Grateful Dead were some of the hot groups of the era. And then there was this war that was in the way of avoiding the new roll-out of our generation. What we have come to realize--the Vietnam War helped define our generation. We were not Generation X, Y or Z ... we were the Vietnam/Hippy Generation.

Television played out the war for us every night on the television. The continual lines of body bags with young men and women forever silenced. Film in military hangers with flag-draped coffins of these same soldiers now back on US or their country's soil. It is painful to remember how so many hated the war and put the hate towards those who were fighting. We hated the government, we hated those fighting the war, we hated our parents, and we hated society that was trying to keep us in line. The 60s was a time of sex, drugs, and rock and roll; finding Jesus through tie-dyed guru's, and hating the world in general. We were extreme brats as a generation, generally speaking.

Laughing through a smile when kids in school come and ask me, what it was like living through that old war, you know, Vietnam, I realize that life has come full circle. Telling the stories of hero's that stood in the jungles of Southeast Asia, booby-traps to kill wonderful people, horrible disease brought on by Agent Orange that men had to suffer for decades with upon return. And then tell them that this is the price for freedom. Then I tell them of the Vietnamese neighbors I had as an adult, one man had been a military leader, tortured just before he and his family escaped on one of the last military flights from Saigon.

When we sit and discuss the current war in Afghanistan and say the same things, "we shouldn't be there". All I have to do is look at the people who made it out at a time when their life was truly about to be taken from them and ask myself, "What is the role of mankind, if not to help others?" Does war help? Such a personal question and as many people that respond, I'm sure there are as many answers.

Hug somebody today, especially a veteran. Tell them thanks for fighting a war when maybe not a lot of people thought it was correct to do so. Write to a veteran or active military person, let them know you care and are thinking about them and the sacrifice they are giving to you and to me.

"All we need is love. la la la la la All we need is love la la la all we need is love, love.... all we need is love."

Let's get the right kind of loving moving on this planet before we kill it and ourselves.

Veterans Day 2008 A Nation Says Thank You

Today is Veterans Day here in America, and I especially want to thank the veterans of foreign wars which gave their lives--literally and figuratively. Our hearts are turned towards Arlington Cemetery where the wreath to the Unknown Soldier is laid against the tomb representing so many who have fallen in the supreme sacrifice to our country. I think of those who fought both the war against a foreign enemy and those who have fought against their comrades for equality during WWII in which they were all fighting.

During Vietnam, so many of my friends in high school didn't live long enough to have a one-year anniversary of their graduation, but died on the battlefield. And those who came home but were never the same. My heart goes out to those who are suffering so much from post traumatic stress syndrome of the current Iraq/Afghanistan Wars. To some of them and their families, it is like not making it completely off the plane. Some of us do understand and pray for your lives to become whole. To those who are deployed--we love you!

I'm also old enough to remember as a child my uncle coming to say goodby on his way to the Korean War. I was too young to understand, only that he might die and not be back. My grandmother had just died so it was very scary. He did come back and for that I am very grateful. He didn't laugh and play like he had before--even as a child I knew war changed people.

My father worked in a steel plant during WWII and was drafted. He and his brother went to the enlistment center together. My uncle was taken immediately, and my father instructed to go back to the steel plant. That was more important to the war effort than him to carry a rifle. My uncle went to Camp Williams Training Grounds, trained with a wooden stick, and never shot a bullet until he was on foreign lands fighting for his life. He died there. The military didn't have enough equipment to supply the troops for training so they sent men to fight without real training. That was WWII -- we have equipment now, but wonder if the troops have enough on the foreign lands to keep them safe?

To all the moms, dads, brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, grandsons and granddaughters, wives and husbands who are currently serving my heart goes out to you. If you see my son and his buddies, give them a high-five from mom. For my friends whose sons and daughters are currently deployed--I cry with you and I'm proud of them along with the nation.

If you would like to do something nice for somebody--think of a service person today, write a letter and tell them thank you. Join with the groups of us who write, send packages through organizations and by all means, give some encouragement to those who are waiting at home. Its tough for the family on both sides of the uniform.

Pray for the leadership of the country, the military, the Joint Chiefs of Staff that their decisions will be in the best interest of not only the country's safety but our family members as well. We know that we are on the edge of expanded military actions around the world. We pray that sane and level headed leaders prevail.

And no matter what the leaders do to our money --- for me it shall always be
'IN GOD I TRUST!"

Salute To Veterans Week - Leaders Don't Hesitate

This is a week I would like to spend some time Celebrating the Military Veterans and a big thank you!

For those of you with military experience may have had some of these experiences. I have a minister in our organization that was in the National Guard for about 15-years. She is 5' 3" and one of the "baddest Sargents" they had. She entered the military at a time when most African American women from this area did not. I love to hear the stories of her military experiences. Her medical training and driving a duce and a half fully operational medical clinic, which came in handy when deployed during the many snow blizzards in Buffalo, New York. But today, I want to take you on a journey when she had been selected for Officers Training School.

Running the obstacle course she was fast and accurate. She was competing with men much taller and stronger, but she held her own. She was coming down the wall and headed towards a 2x4 piece of wood that stretched across a deep gully. Leaders were not supposed to have any hesitation--in anything. Approaching the small board, she hesitated., a split second thought of her fear of heights. The sargent called her over and said, "Worthey, you've got great skills, leadership ability, and you hesitated. I saw it. Now go back and do it again." She did. He later explained why gettting over the 2x4 without hestiation was so important.

She further explained to me that leaders who hesitate on the battlefield sometimes end up in "friendly fire" because one person can mean the difference between everybody getting killed or making it out a extreme danger alive. It made me think of the corporate boardrooms I have been in, as well as other leadership roles and venues. And the ones that were easy to follow and those I had to move away from.

Currently she is a corporate trainer for an international corporation. And our ministry's International Director of Youth Development and Biblical Financial Literacy Programs, and board member. We have been doing ministry together for almost 15-years and I cannot tell you how valuable her experiences have been in our development. The military trained her in skills that continually serve the world for the glory of God.

As a leader in the military you cannot show any hesitation. You are responsible for the men and women under your command. If they see any weakness in you, means their life is in danger. What an imporant lesson we could all learn from that as we go throughour life experiences.

As parents, corporate leaders, and mnisters--do we flinch and show hesitation in the important decisions. Do those under us sense our fear or hesitation? How do they respond? Have you taken inventory of it until now?

Our journey and thought today is that everybody is a leader because somebody is watching you and your reactions--you lead somebody somewhere whether you know it or not. Do you hesitate or move boldly in your decisions after careful consideration? Where in your experiences do you still have a deep gully with a 2x4 as the route across?

To all the men and women who are currently serving in the military, and to all of those who have proudly worn the uniforms of their country we add our biggest THANK YOU. Without you we would not be blogging and having the right to write our hearts thoughts on the pads of cyberspace, printing them in newspapers, and speaking them on the street.

Let us never forget that those who help keep us free, are the ones allowing us to blog--many of our counterparts in other countries are killed or imprisoned for the freedom we have to speak.