Stripes or Bars?

For two mornings in a row, on my way to work I have heard the Angel Flight song. It is a beautiful song and it reminds me of a dream I had about a year ago. But before I get to that I have to give a little background.

I always thought I would marry a cowboy, but it turns out I fell in love with a guy who wore combat boots instead of cowboy boots, BDU's instead of Wranglers. Between the time we got engaged and got married, Saddam Hussein decided that Kuwait was a plum little target and we got into the first Gulf War. My husband immediately volunteered to go to the sand box, but the US military decided keeping an eye on the Russians was more important for his squadron of AWACS. It was at that point that I realized what it meant to marry a man who had taken an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States, someday he may have to make good on that oath, and could I live with it? I realized then, as I have with many choices that you have to determine that course of action ahead of time. I could live with his decision, it wasn't my first choice, but it was necessary for the bigger picture. I was reading Thomas Paine a few weeks ago, he basically said, "I fight, so my children won't have to".

About a year ago I had a very vivid dream, I got a call telling me that my son, Erik, had been killed fighting in Afghanistan. Scott and I went to a base in the Midwest to collect his personal belongings. We were told how he had been killed, given the military flag, and went through the whole thing. I wasn't upset, only resigned. That was his choice, just like his father's. I was sad but realized the necessity of sacrifice. (I don't know if I will be that stoic in real life if it ever came to that)

When I woke up I told Scott my dream, he laid there for a few minutes and then said, "Was he wearing stripes or bars?"

So now when I hear that song, I always think of that dream, and what Thomas Paine said. I don't want to make the sacrifice of a loved one, but I can't ask others to do what my family isn't willing to. May the Lord bless and keep all those willing to sacrifice, regardless of stripes or bars.