Five years ago today the ultimate price was paid at HKIA in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26th, 2021.
I know many of us spent the day watching the news unfold & this day has been a spark that has relit the fire of pain in our community.
Remember to say their names, tell their stories, & check in on your friends.
We will never forget.
SSgt. Darin Hoover
Sgt. Nicole Gee
Sgt. Johanny Rosario-Pichardo
Cpl. Hunter Lopez
Cpl. Daegan W. Page
Cpl. Humberto Sanchez
LCpl. David Espinosa
LCpl. Rylee McCollum
LCpl. Dylan Merola
LCpl. Kareem Nikoui
LCpl. Jared Schmitz
HM3 Max Soviak
SSG Ryan Knauss
Tennessee lost one of the greatest Tennesseans to ever live today.
Dolly Parton was so much bigger than the music.
She helped families rebuild after wildfires and floods. She gave millions to disaster relief, hospitals, medical research and scholarships. She supported veterans and military families.
But the Imagination Library is personal for me.
I was a young Marine raising a family without much money. We signed our daughters up, and every month a book showed up at our house.
For free.
Back then, I didn’t understand the scale of what Dolly had built. I just knew those books mattered to my family.
Millions of families have their own version of that story.
When Tennessee hurt, Dolly showed up.
When Appalachia hurt, Dolly showed up.
When families needed help, Dolly showed up.
When kids needed books, Dolly showed up.
There are celebrities. There are icons.
And then there are people who leave this world better than they found it.
Dolly Parton did that.
Rest easy, Dolly.
And from one Marine family who once needed those books
Thank you. ❤️
BOOMER: "Nobody wants to work anymore."
YOU: "I work 50 hours a week."
BOOMER: "Doing what, on a computer?"
YOU: "Yes. It pays $58,000."
BOOMER: "I made $18,000 and owned a house."
YOU: "That's the whole point."
BOOMER: "We didn't complain, we just worked."
YOU: "You worked one job and got a pension. I work one job and get a 401k match if I'm lucky."
BOOMER: "Nobody handed me anything."
YOU: "College was $600 a year. Your first house was 2x your salary. Your employer covered your family's health insurance."
BOOMER: "That was normal back then."
YOU: "Exactly. It was normal. Now it's impossible."
BOOMER: "So what do you want, a handout?"
YOU: "I want what was normal."
BOOMER: *silent*
You didn't outwork us.
You just lived in the version of the country where working was enough.