Since the beginning of time, there have people in this world, who have always needed some one to make sure they stayed in line, to keep them in check.  These “said” people have always been a threat to our way of life and have always needed to be bullies to get what they want.  The people they have threatened and have been bullying around have always had the need to be protected and watched over by others.  What was left was a select few who have taken it upon themselves, for the most part, to be a part of something greater than themselves. A small percentage of the population decided to become a watchdog for threats in the midst and a servant and protector to the rest of the great people of this world.

THESE MEN AND WOMEN, ARE, HAVE BEEN, AND ALWAYS WILL BE WARRIORS.

These men and women have, and always will be there when you need them most.
No questions asked. Period.

These men and woman are your Marines, Soldiers, Airman and Women, Sailors, and Guards.  They are there for you, so you don’t have to be. “That’s nice of them.”

As long as they are there in our stead, why wouldn’t we do everything we can do to assure that they are taken care of when they return home.  “It’s only fair”.

For many, many years our military has made the ultimate sacrifice and traveled abroad to risk life and limb in order to defend our right to do what we do.  Whatever ever it is that we do.  They have put themselves in danger’s way on a daily basis so we don’t have to.  Sure, some of us aren’t in a great place right now in your lives, but for most of us, we probably wouldn’t trade places with them. Not now, not ever.

As more of our military takes to the world on missions to save lives, and destroy the enemy, more and more troops are coming home tired and ready for a well deserved break.  Thank God.  Not that I don’t think they’re supposed to be where they are, I’m just glad more and more are making it home alive.  Put the young troops in, they’re ready to go and want to go.  Send the tired one’s home.  Give them a break and congratulate them for their service and their sacrifice.  In any case, they’re coming home alive and that’s great. My love and my infinite gratitude goes out to those who unfortunately perished while doing their job so we didn’t have to.

Many different organizations that support veteran affairs at any level are working on overtime.  Think about it, the more and more we come home, the more and more resources are being depleted.   We need more and we need a lot more!!  I don’t think I’m going to hold my breath while waiting for our government to take care of them.  God bless em, they’re trying as hard as they can, but it’s just a lot for them to take on in such a depressed economy.  Hopefully our government realizes what sacrifices are being made by these men and women, boys and girls in many cases, and they start to focus on that instead of making sure that a bank or two don’t go out of business.  (Just a thought)

Anyway, our economy in all it’s depressed glory is our fault. We did it, and we need to take accountability for it and move on.  Stop blaming the government, stop blaming the car manufacturers, stop blaming everyone.  We all did it.

But our troops did not.  They were too busy saving lives and taking names to screw up our economy. Remember?

Why should they have to continue to sacrifice? It’s our turn to take care of them.  Sounds like a good idea to me anyways. Why should they be left without any support when they come home because we screwed up our economy while they were away. Imagine coming home from all of that “WAR” and you can’t find a job.  You have just spent the last year or two in the desert  and now you have to come home to the United States of America and live on the street because you can’t find a job and there’s no support from good ole’ Uncle Sam.  Now imagine you are disabled, because of your efforts abroad. Not on my watch.

I know this article is a little off topic from my typical babble, but I found this to be extremely motivating, so I had to talk about it a little. I hope that’s cool with you.

I want to say a couple of words because I am guilty.  Guilty as “not charged”. I’m charging myself for not paying attention to this. I charge myself for not doing my part other than going to a veterans day parade and getting all charged and patriotic when I’ve had a couple of drinks.

See, I to, have been there. I too have stepped on those yellow footprints on Parris Island.  I have been deployed all over the world and spent my first year as a twenty one year old, in the Middle East during Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  (no beer there).  I’m not trying to gloat, I’m just trying to bare my embarrassment of not doing my part for our new troops.  When I was over in the Middle East, we would get boxes upon boxes and bags upon bags of random mail and care packages.  We were getting fan mail from all of you back home.  Hoards and hoards of schools would send us letters and packages full of things from Cassette tapes (yeah that’s right, cassette tapes), to pictures, to snacks.  If you’re reading this I bet you remember doing that as a kid or as some one’s parent.  We got more random mail than we did our own mail. Our mail took forever and a day.  (No internet back then, no FaceBook, no phones).  That was a long time ago though..

Basically my point is that if your reading this and remember writing those letters or filling those boxes, then our military must be full of those kids that were sending me letters and telling me how proud they were and how wonderful they thought what we were doing was.  Now it’s them out there and I am embarrassed to say that to some degree I have abandoned them.  Shame on me.  So thank you twice. Thanks for helping me through my time and thank you for your time. For that I can never repay you.

Luckily there are folks out there that are doing their part and doing it in a huge way.

I just heard about a guy who is walking 7,000 miles across the US in honor and in service of our returning troops. “Don’t I feel like a tool”.

SPC Troy Yocum, has decided to take a stroll across the United States with one intention, one Mission. “To further spread the word that our American Heroes are fighting just as hard at home as they do overseas.” They hope to provide a peace of mind and lay the foundation for military families in need to help them succeed. Troy will literally put one foot in front of the other, crossing the great states of America to reach people and help spread the importance of helping our military families.

Troy and his dog, Emerson Elaine Eskridge the Superdog “Emmie”, will hike 7000 miles across America while drumming to raise a goal of $5 million for struggling veterans.
On April 18th, 2010 Troy will begin a journey throughout Kentucky that will take him to several well visited areas. Troy will be hiking the bases at over 20 MLB/Minor League Baseball stadiums with the help of Louisville Slugger and Bionic Gloves and hopefully many more.

The journey will take 15 months passing through 30 states and 38 large cities. Troy will have to average over 20 miles a day while enduring each season. The idea for the hike has been evolving since Troy joined the Army in 2001 but it is now when our economy is struggling and military families are in most need that he will put one foot in front of another. STEPPING UP TO HELP.

This next excerpt was taken off of Yokum’s website:

“Our soldiers are ready at a moments notice. They don’t pick their battles, but when called to service they respond. Keeping our enemies at bay. Our heroes are champions of freedom not eager for war but willing to sacrifice.

One for the need of many. Many veterans live by this military code and have done so when our country needed it the most. Now it is our NATIONAL HEROES who need our help and its time that we all stand by them with honor.

While one soldier may miss holidays, a birthday, or a birth of a child, others may suffer mentally and develop anxiety, depression or PTSD. Some even sacrifice much more by being injured by road side bombs, being shot or taking shrapnel. Some have even had to pay the ultimate price.

In any case, we ask a lot of our men and women in uniform and when in their time of strife, who can they call on?”

That pretty much says it all as far as I am concerned.

I would personally like to thank Troy for what he is doing for the men and women who have defended our rights and will continue to do so regardless of how they get treated back home.

Twisted Stone is going to contribute 100% of all proceeds from this campaign to Troy’s mission.

If you would like to do your part in helping Troy with his mission and helping the families of thousands of veterans throughout the nation please visit Troy’s website  and make a donation of either time or money. That is up to you.

However, we will be contributing 100% of all proceeds of the Twisted Stone/Drum Hike campaign.

Anyone who buys one of the T-shirts below will be helping families of veterans throughout the US.

Again all proceeds go to Troy. We get nothing.

If you have any interest in the shirts below please click on the appropriate link, otherwise please find it in your heart to help out the cause directly and follow along with Troy and Emmie on this wonderful, dangerous and very honorable mission which they are about to embark upon.

Thanks again Troy from all of us and hopefully when you’re heading through Michigan, we will get a chance to meet up.

To Donate Directly On Troys Website Please Click Here

To Follow Troy and Emmie on their Journeys Click Here