Armed Forces Day

At an Armed Forces Day event a few years ago.

Probably most people reading this didn't even realize that it is Armed Forces Day. I did. And I wanted to use this as an opportunity to tell Jason how proud of him I am. He probably won't even read this as he is out of town. Jason and I met just a few days before he left for Basic Training in 1997. I know that for him the Army can be a hassle and sometimes a pain in the you-know-what. But I have to say that I have always been proud of his service in the Army Reserves. We have had to make sacrifices and we are soon about to make a major one with his upcoming deployment. But despite those sacrifices, I have always been proud that he has made this decision to serve our country. These days it is not as common as it once was. This past week I bought a yellow streamer with a blue star and the word "ARMY" on it to fly with our flag. I just love watching my Army streamer fly in the wind along with our beautiful flag. I don't think I have ever been quite so proud of our flag as I associate it so much with Jason's service.

On Monday morning (like 4:00 am) we were taking Jason to Salt Lake for this trip he is on we stopped in at 7-11. While Jason was inside the store Ian suddenly got very excited and exclaimed "Look! There's an Army guy in there!" I looked and realized he was talking about Jason.

Growing up my dad worked for the Utah Air National Guard. He worked there until his retirement a few years ago. I had those same feelings growing up of my Dad's service to his country. I was always proud to say what my Dad did for his job, because even at a young age I recognized that it was special. So to Jason, my Dad and to the Opperman's: Thank you for your service and Happy Armed Forces Day!Jason is on the left. This is for fallen soldier ceremony he participated in a lot that summer.