I had good intentions of writing a New Year's post this weekend, but there is something else I need to write about first. Just before the New Year, I saw posts on Facebook about the death of Air Force Capt David Lyon, killed by an IED in Afghanistan. I didn't know him, but Facebook has a way of showing you connections you never knew existed. One of my friends who is in Afghanistan had seen David's group just hours before the IED hit the vehicle. Another friend from SOS (AF Capt training class) this past summer mentioned that David's wife Dana, also an AF Capt, had been in our SOS class. Another friend had known both David and Dana at the Air Force Academy.
Here are a couple stories about David and Dana:
http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/223/Article/467849/af-officer-former-academy-athlete-killed-in-afghanistan.aspx
http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140102/NEWS/301020033/Fallen-captain-remembered-protector-athlete-loving-husband
The saddest part is, there are too many other stories like this. When I started going to Crossfit classes here back in September, I spent some time on the official Crossfit website reading about the program. I already knew that some workouts were named after military personnel who had been killed in combat, but when I got to the page listing these "Hero WODs", I had no idea there were going to be so many. As I scrolled down the page of pictures, and kept scrolling, and kept scrolling, tears started flowing as I realized just how angry it made me that I was still scrolling. Too many husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, friends who were no longer with those who loved them.
Here is the list of Hero WODs:
http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html#WOD1
Yesterday morning, our "parent" unit at another Kuwait base did one of these Hero WODs, in memory of a JTAC named Bradley Smith who was killed in 2010. Only a couple people from the unit had actually known Bradley, but the fact that he was "one of them" is a fact that hit home for everyone. I wish I had been there to do the workout with them, but his story impacted me all the same. Here is the Bradley Smith Hero WOD: http://crossfitdrippingsprings.com/may-18-hero-wod-bradley/
Also, just a few days ago, Crossfit HQ posted a video on Youtube with the "Best Crossfit Moments of 2013". Most of the video is fun or silly, but the middle part caught me off guard, as it was a tribute to military Crossfitters who were lost in 2013. Some were pictures in combat gear, while some were smiling in pictures with kids or wives or friends... people who would have never guessed they'd be looking at their loved one in a remembrance video instead of making holiday memories. I read an article a few days ago that mentioned both David and Dana Lyon were Crossfitters, so David will probably be memorialized in next year's video.
So why am I writing about all this sad stuff? For me, I think it has been a reminder of how ungrateful I can be for the people and things I have in my life. While I was sitting in a sports bar with my husband last weekend, Dana Lyon was sitting next to her husband's casket, escorting it home. While I was laughing on a plane with my group of JTACs, I never thought about how Bradley Smith could have been one of them. Yes, I'm deployed, but I'm so far removed from the real fight going on, it's easy to forget that we are still losing people, and we're going to continue to lose people as long as we are in this fight.
I'm not a political person, and I knew what I signed up for when I joined the military, but times like this, I just have to hate the reality of what we do and the consequences that come with it. But at the same time, I believe in our country and what it stands for, and I believe we have to fight for it... just like David Lyon, Bradley Smith, and everyone on that list of Hero WODs believed.
I thank God for all the people I have in my life, and I know I need to work harder to show them how grateful I am. I don't believe in living life in fear of losing someone, so that you don't enjoy the present for fear of the future. 1 John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." The only perfect love is God's love for us, and the love we show others as a result. So my goal this year? Think about showing that love in everything I do, so I don't have to fear what may come.
I hope that heroes like the people I mentioned are never forgotten, as well as what they stood for. Sometimes I worry about where this country is going, but I have to remember that the real war has already been won, about 2000 years ago. I pray that the families who have lost loved ones are blessed this year with the love of God, family, and friends... and that I can love others like I have been loved.
Here are a couple stories about David and Dana:
http://www.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/223/Article/467849/af-officer-former-academy-athlete-killed-in-afghanistan.aspx
http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140102/NEWS/301020033/Fallen-captain-remembered-protector-athlete-loving-husband
The saddest part is, there are too many other stories like this. When I started going to Crossfit classes here back in September, I spent some time on the official Crossfit website reading about the program. I already knew that some workouts were named after military personnel who had been killed in combat, but when I got to the page listing these "Hero WODs", I had no idea there were going to be so many. As I scrolled down the page of pictures, and kept scrolling, and kept scrolling, tears started flowing as I realized just how angry it made me that I was still scrolling. Too many husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, friends who were no longer with those who loved them.
Here is the list of Hero WODs:
http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html#WOD1
Yesterday morning, our "parent" unit at another Kuwait base did one of these Hero WODs, in memory of a JTAC named Bradley Smith who was killed in 2010. Only a couple people from the unit had actually known Bradley, but the fact that he was "one of them" is a fact that hit home for everyone. I wish I had been there to do the workout with them, but his story impacted me all the same. Here is the Bradley Smith Hero WOD: http://crossfitdrippingsprings.com/may-18-hero-wod-bradley/
Also, just a few days ago, Crossfit HQ posted a video on Youtube with the "Best Crossfit Moments of 2013". Most of the video is fun or silly, but the middle part caught me off guard, as it was a tribute to military Crossfitters who were lost in 2013. Some were pictures in combat gear, while some were smiling in pictures with kids or wives or friends... people who would have never guessed they'd be looking at their loved one in a remembrance video instead of making holiday memories. I read an article a few days ago that mentioned both David and Dana Lyon were Crossfitters, so David will probably be memorialized in next year's video.
So why am I writing about all this sad stuff? For me, I think it has been a reminder of how ungrateful I can be for the people and things I have in my life. While I was sitting in a sports bar with my husband last weekend, Dana Lyon was sitting next to her husband's casket, escorting it home. While I was laughing on a plane with my group of JTACs, I never thought about how Bradley Smith could have been one of them. Yes, I'm deployed, but I'm so far removed from the real fight going on, it's easy to forget that we are still losing people, and we're going to continue to lose people as long as we are in this fight.
I'm not a political person, and I knew what I signed up for when I joined the military, but times like this, I just have to hate the reality of what we do and the consequences that come with it. But at the same time, I believe in our country and what it stands for, and I believe we have to fight for it... just like David Lyon, Bradley Smith, and everyone on that list of Hero WODs believed.
I thank God for all the people I have in my life, and I know I need to work harder to show them how grateful I am. I don't believe in living life in fear of losing someone, so that you don't enjoy the present for fear of the future. 1 John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." The only perfect love is God's love for us, and the love we show others as a result. So my goal this year? Think about showing that love in everything I do, so I don't have to fear what may come.
I hope that heroes like the people I mentioned are never forgotten, as well as what they stood for. Sometimes I worry about where this country is going, but I have to remember that the real war has already been won, about 2000 years ago. I pray that the families who have lost loved ones are blessed this year with the love of God, family, and friends... and that I can love others like I have been loved.
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