We all read yesterday of the incredibly tragic loss of not one but two military aircraft.
The first loss was an F-18F Super Hornet crew recovering from an in-flight emergency in Florida. The jet was a part of VFA-213, “The Black Lions”, out of NAS Oceana, Virginia.
The second loss was in Iraq when an HH-60G PaveHawk of the US Air Force crashed near the Syria/Iraq border tragically killing all seven crew members on board.
I’m saddened that the majority of Americans are disconnected with our nations’ warfighters. They are more concerned about what is on Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, or Instagram versus what is going on in the many dangerous corners of the world where our nation is decisively engaged and our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsman, and Civilians are defending our freedoms.
I think it’s important for my non-miliary friends and colleagues to understand something. Please understand, that even after 17 years since 2001, these losses hurt all of us – a lot.
The losses are tragic, whether they are safety or combat-related, and we all feel the pain to the core – no more so than their families, their loved ones, or their unit members.
For many of us with a lot of deployed time, we feel the soul-crushing sadness and heartache that these families feel. To a person, we wish we could make it all go away for the families. We wish we could carry the burden for them. We wish we could bring back their loved ones.
And I wish that the Nation would be more connected to our military members.
We all will think of our Fallen this weekend, and every weekend, and the families of the fallen that continue on showing us what true bravery really is… and… we will never ever ever forget.
