So, now that everyone knows the
BIG NEWS and has had a day to reflect, I wonder what the blogosphere thinks about the reactions they have seen from others out there. Personally, I watched the news in shock. I was out in my driveway talking to our neighbor when I got a text from a friend who is dating an Army man, and literally lost my breath. Instantly all of us ran back inside and I yelled at BE to hurry it up and find the news. Sure enough, there it was in big red letters on CNN - Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by U.S. Navy Seals yesterday. My first reaction was total and complete shock. I just listened and listened to the news reel, and swore I was dreaming. We have been waiting for this day as a nation for so long. After that, I felt joy; joy that all of those families of people killed on 9/11 and all the troops killed in the war since then, can finally say that a huge mission was accomplished, and that they have (at least a small bit) been avenged, even though I know that they can never get their loved ones back and nothing can ever, ever replace that or take away that portion of their pain. I'm sure that even a decade later it is still hard to wake up in the morning and bear. Then, I'll admit I got a little scared. What about retaliation? Obviously there are going to be some realllly pissed people over there. Then came the questions, Will my husband be deployed? Will they speed up his training? What about our troops over there now, are they safe? What will the next step for the country be? I know everyone has their questions, but at the end of the day, I had to realize that there's really nothing I can do about any of those questions. If they call, my husband will go, proudly and quickly. If they speed up his training, oh well, not like anything else about his military career has stuck to its original timeline anyway. I gave up being Type A a loooong time ago. Our troops, of course they are in a dangerous place, but then again they have been in that same dangerous place for years now, and I have ZERO doubt about their competence, so I know that they will take care of each other and do the best job they can do (like they have been for the past ten years already). As for our country, I don't know what the next step will be. I know security is already heightened, because all the bases moved up to FPCON Bravo yesterday (my husband was wondering why he got that message yesterday afternoon). As much as I sometimes disagree with what our political leaders do, I'm sure that they have thought of a possible retaliation and have taken measures to prevent it. Our military makes it possible for us to lay our heads down peacefully and sleep every night, and they will still be doing the same thing every other night. Last night when I was getting worried about everything, my husband just turned to me and said, "It seems crazy right now, but everything will be all right. Don't you have faith in God? Don't you have faith in us [the military]? Just trust them. Pray and trust them." I was so calmed by that!! It's true. We have a great God and a great military, both of which I trust immensely.
I am reminded of Matthew 8:26, where Jesus said,
"You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Please take the time today to thank any servicemen and women that you know - it is because of them that we can say we live in the mightiest of nations, and because of them that we could go about our daily lives today as if nothing had ever happened. And, pray for them, and for our political leaders. Because,
"Where two or three gather in my name, there I will be in the midst of them." -Matthew 18:20. GOD BLESS THE USA!!!!!!! (p.s. and a HUA to our troops! love, your ever-faithful Air Force milwife)
Great post doll!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have seen a lot of comments stating how the Navy is the "best service" or was the "only one" who could have handled being part of this mission. It is SO IMPORTANT to remember that all of our military members can't be a part of every event. The Seal team (which are not usually made up of ONLY Navy seals, but also members of other elite force squads as well as CIA and FBI) was just the correct one for this particular mission. Without the support of the other services, no one service could stand alone, and be successful. Here is an update from CNN blogs that reinforces my point: other services were a part of the mission too.
ReplyDelete[Updated 11:09 am. ET] As the assault on bin Laden's compound commenced, the United States had a number of U.S. aircraft flying protective missions, according to a senior U.S. military official. None of the aircraft entered Pakistani airspace but they were prepared to do so if needed, the official told CNN.
These included fixed wing fighter jets that would have provided firepower if the team came under opposition fire it could not handle. There were also armed and unarmed Predator drones providing additional firepower as well as surveillance. The Air Force also had a full team of combat search and rescue helicopters including MH-53 Pave Low and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters flying.