After I separated from the military, I continued to deploy as a contractor. Many don't realize that we often claim to have no boots on the ground in a given theater because we have no uniformed troops there. But we do. Their uniform is 5.11 cargo pants and black zip-up fleeces. I know. I was one of them.
I didn't ask to stop deploying. I was forced into it.
I got a bad neurological report. Spinocerebellar ataxia, type 14. Never heard of it, right? It's one of the rare ones. I think of it like a slow progressing ALS.
It's characterized by a steadily deteriorating sense of balance and coordination. It makes things that used to be easy, difficult. It makes things that used to be difficult, impossible. It's not going to shorten my life, God willing, but it will make my later years look different than I had hoped.
I obviously couldn't keep deploying. I did my final tour - one last hurrah to the same desert where I had earlier met Lucy. It was a much safer place this time. I made a point to stop by our old camp and visit the spot where I had once played with my dog when she was a sad faced pup in the desert.
What I didn't know is that a short time later, I'd be out of a job, a casualty of Biden's vaccine mandate. As someone rendered non-deployable, nobody went to bat for me. In those uncertain times, they wanted to retain the people they could use as boots on the ground. So I was shown the door.
It felt like Uncle Sam had spat in my face.
At the same time, @Herb_Minstrel's music school closed on orders of the Virginia Health Department prohibiting in-person music lessons. In the blink of an eye, our family's source of income had disappeared.
But Lucy remained a source of comfort. When I deployed, I felt better leaving my wife and kids knowing she was home to protect them. When I had to stop traveling, she kept my experiences alive; a living, breathing link to the past.
D.C. once took away my livelihood. Richmond took away my wife's. Now, the county is trying to take away our dog.
We can't let them.
#SaveLucy
@danturrentine@TheMeyerLansky@MarkHalperin@2waytvapp@seanspicer@danturrentine listening to the episode. I am sorry to hear that people are being so mean & degrading. I think you are an incredible add to 2way. I love that you are so level-headed, honest and truthful vs always spinning. It is one of the reasons I fully trust you. Thank you!
Caitlin Clark’s extraordinary play this season has been the catalyst for growing women’s basketball, with record-breaking viewership throughout the tournament. She deserves her flowers and I want to congratulate her on an incredible collegiate career! 💐💐💐 @CaitlinClark22
“Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: ‘For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.’”
Michael W Smith
@CamillaTominey I watched your IG live..the thing that stood out to me was when you talked about the RF not really knowing what to do with spares...but then I had a thought that broke my heart... Harry could have fixed that for Charlotte... and carved a path and stopped it from happening again.
@Olivia_Beavers This is ridiculous and not a good look for the Republicans. Good grief Republicans, get it to-bloody-gether for the good of the country