Recently, sseveral of my FB friends have posted messages like this:
Dear Santa: This year for Christmas I'd like; no wait... Forget that. Get in your sleigh, go to Afghanistan, get our soldiers and bring them home. They deserve to be with their families on Christmas. Post this as your status to show respect, and a special prayer for those soldiers who won't be coming home for Christmas. ♥
First I want to say, that yes! wouldn't it be great if everyone got to spend Christmas with their loved ones? Of course it would. And yes! those men and women that have been away from their families for so long do deserve it, and much more.
Here is where I get annoyed with these posts. It says "show respect" and, to me, showing respect is having respect for them. Respect that they feel a sense of duty and commitment to their country and value their personal sacrifice. Most of these men an women feel that what they are doing is important, important enough to miss Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.... And to just wish them all home because we miss them, makes all the deaths and sacrifices loose value.
Instead, I suggest that if you must post something like this, say this:
This year for Christmas, bring to the men and women serving our country, our sincere gratitude. I want for them to know that their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their brothers and sisters who have left this world, are not meaningless or forgotten.
I don't know, maybe I get a little too "spun-up" as Chief says. Or maybe you think it's just semantics, maybe it is....
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