Sacrifice

Syndicated columnist Jack Kelly has a blog named Irish Pennants wherein he posts some of his thoughts.

His post for July 19 brought me up short. It made me again appreciate how much we owe the men and women who have fought and died in this country's service.

Here's the post:

Light posting today. I had to attend the funeral of Staff Sergeant Joseph Goodrich, 32, a Marine Reservist who was killed in Iraq a week ago Sunday.

Goodrich had been a cop, and the St. John Lutheran Church in Carnegie was filled to overflowing with cops and Marines who had known Joe, who apparently was a truly wonderful man.

I've been to too many of these things. At each of them I wonder at the cosmic justice that has me stumbling around alive while such remarkable young men as Joe Goodrich are taken from us. If I could have traded my life for his, I would have. But he was too busy giving his life to protect all of us here. Too bad the MoveOn crowd will never appreciate it.

Go read the comments, too.