Up here at the Old Place, most of the children are
grandchildren, not all, but most. When summer rolls around the bangs and hisses
of bottle rocket wars and young 'uns playing army resound through the woods
around the lake. So when an article popped up about a six-year-old Arkansas
girl with an idea to honor our military, we noticed. The youngster's name is
Vivian and Miss Viv is being praised for her initiative in requesting that
toymakers add Green Army Women to their packages of little toy soldiers. Vivian
sent a letter to several toymakers explaining why this was important to her.
You see, Vivian's close friend has a mother who is in the Army. When Vivian realized that all of the green
toy soldiers in the packs were men she realized that her friend's mom and all
the other women soldiers needed to be represented as well.
I showed the article to Ruth, our retired Marine who runs
the general store. She dashed off a letter to Vivian herself and learned that
apparently, young Vivian is one heck of a recruiter. From now on, female
soldiers will be included in at least some little green armies. Well done Miss
Vivian!
So Col. Jim, what's
it got to do with safety? It is about preserving life. While I like the idea of
adding little green plastic women to bags of toy soldiers, out there in the
real world women in the line of fire have been a reality for some time. I
personally know women in three branches of our armed forces. Rose Ann, a
now-retired US Army ground pounder did two tours in Afghanistan and two in
Iraq; Liz, a Naval Aviator flew F14s in the first Gulf War; our own Ruth,
taught combat arms in the Marines, and "Step" flies rescue choppers
for the Coast Guard. Now, make no mistake, I am proud to be beholding to our
military personnel and am grateful for the peace and freedoms their service
affords me and my family. Thank You, ladies, thank you for Your service!
Safety, just this. The fact that there are Ladies out there
on that wall in the freezing snow, the scalding sun or on a pitching deck ready
to die, for me, frankly makes the ole Colonel feel as though he has failed at
something. Maybe it is the dad in me or maybe it is just the natural male
compulsion to want to shelter and protect our girls. I don't know. I do know
that the call to serve comes from deep inside, "down where you keep your
guts boy!" 1. I imagine it is similar to the call one receives to the religious
life. Man or woman, that call is extremely personal and should not be denied.
In trying to resolve
this in my heart, it has always puzzled me that God chose to create Adam first.
So what difference did that make? Only this, for the first and only time, in
the history of creation, God caused another person, Eve, to be brought forth
(Born?) of a male! From that point forward, woman has been God's vessel with
whom He shared His power to create another human being. The man was created to
defend the family from predators, slay the deer, and to carve out the cave. The
woman was created to make that cave a home, a haven from the outside world, a
place to rest, to bear and raise children in safety. The female then was given
life in order to create life not destroy it. Her safety must be paramount.
Sitting in a rocker
at the Old Place I am, Col. Jim.
1. The movie, Iron Eagle
