Spending time with Soto and Hesco the Cat

"A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough
to be given a square deal afterwards. More than that no man is entitled, and
less than that no man shall have." - Theodore Roosevelt

Words cannot describe what it is like to serve in the company of such amazing men and women. They come from all walks of life and varying backgrounds. They all have different reasons for serving sans one - they all love their country and volunteered to serve our Nation. Teddy Roosevelt got it right when he made his speech to Veterans back in 1903. His words are still true today. Over 100 years has passed since he made that speech. Yet what was fact then is still fact - the men and women of our Armed Forces are our Nation's best. I cringe every time I hear somebody who has never served nor spent time around our military try to claim that the only reason people serve is because they can't find work or that it was their only option. I invite any person reading this who believes that bullshit to come walk a mile in my shoes. Pick up a rucksack and a rifle and come man the parapets of Freedom with those whom I trust my life to. Only then will you know how wrong you are when you denigrate our military into a bunch of derelicts who were down to their last option. And even then we won't let you hang your head in shame or even expect you to apologize for being wrong. Your very right to feel one way or another is preserved by our sacrifice.

USO tours are a constant treat here. They represent an opportunity for the Soldiers to spend time up close with celebrities. And yet it is the celebrities who are always humbled to be around such amazing men and women. The night of our patch ceremony the Latino jazz group Soto came and put on a show at COB Speicher. My Battalion has a very large number of Soldiers of Hispanic heritage and they were out in force. After the show my CSM asked the group if they would be willing to pay us a visit the next day. They wholeheartedly agreed. The next day when they arrived we had an MRAP and a HETT on display with Soldiers ready to give them a tour. The members of Soto were like little children when they found out they could climb onto the vehicles. They were more excited to be around us than we were at having them visit. Later they sang several songs for us, signed autographs as long as anyone was still waiting for one, and took loads of photos. Even CSM and I were asked to pose with them on the back of a Maxpro MRAP. I figured that as long as we were having our photo taken I'd throw my camera in the mix as well. There were lots of handshakes, hugs and sincere tears when they left. Soto was genuinely touched by being around all of our Soldiers. Thank you again to all the members of Soto from the Soldiers of our Battalion!

As the sun was going down and I was leaving my HQ I heard a friendly greeting to my right. Out of the shadows emerged a cat. He approached me and chatted with me all the while. Cats always sense that I am their friend. After all, I am The Cat Whisperer. I chatted with my new friend for a few minutes and bestowed him the name "Hesco." He joins ranks with cats from all over the world who've befriended me. I'll look forward to talking with Hesco again soon. The presence of a friendly cat always makes everything better. Thank you Hesco for introducing yourself to me. You gave me one more thing to look forward in my days here.