Thank God for These Men

In the spirit of the season, I want to address one object of my prayers. In a time where so many paint murals of moral equivalency between us and those who attack our people in Sadr City, Fallujah, and Bagdad, hear this story from the latest issue of Marine Times, a weekly magazine for Marines and their families.

"The insurgency in Iraq is arming children in Fallujah with fake plastic firearms... Intelligence has informed us that al Qaeda is handing out realistic toy weapons to the children of Fallujah in hopes that a US service member might mistakenly shoot an Iraqi child... [The] 1st Battalion, 24th Marines were visiting an all girls school in the city when a young boy ran down the street with what appeared to be a real handgun... The Marines stopped the boy, discovered his weapon was a toy, then traded him a soccer ball for it."

Can there be any clearer picture of the difference between our boys and our enemies? In the name of Allah, thuggish Islamists hand out plastic toys so that the US press can pillory any American service member who reacts to the presence of a "weapon" and fires upon the child. (and don't say "just don't shoot children." We learned in Vietnam and in several conflicts since that children are often combatants and that hesitating frquently means you and your team members die) Our side shows restraint, stops them and trades them for a soccer ball.

Outstanding, Marines. You make us proud.

I am also thankful for the life of Cpl. Jason Dunham. Jason was only 22 years old when he and his team were manning a checkpoint near Karabilah. Cpl. Dunham received word that a Marine convoy had been ambushed. He led his squad to the site of the attack where he stopped the killers as they tried to escape. One jumped out and grabbed him by the throat. During the hand to hand combat the insurgent dropped a grenade and Dunham quickly jumped on it to shield his fellow team members. The grenade pierced his Kevlar and helmet, a shard of shrapnel entering his skull. Still, he cared for his team members' wounds and continued to fight until he expired from his grievous wounds.

Lance Corporal Jason Sanders, one of Dunham's team who was wounded, said, "He knew what he was doing. He wanted to save Marines' lives from that grenade." Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) wrote to the President asking that he award the Congressional Medal of Honor -- the first awarded to a Marine since 1970 -- to Dunham posthumously. He wrote that Dunham's actions "embodied the courage and fortitude that have made the armed forces of the United States the most respected in the world. I can imagine no clearer case of an individual soldier exhibiting the ideals that the Congressional Medal was established to honor."

It is the second CMH awarded for the Iraq war. The first one was awarded to Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith who gave his life by continuing to move and fire against an overwhelming force, taking the lives of 20-50 enemies while saving, according to the award, at least 100 American soliders.

My prayers of thankfulness this season will include thanks for the Cpl. Dunham and Sgt. 1st Class Smith, for the parents that raised such brave and honorable men, and for the families they left behind. Because of their faithfulness and sacrifice I can enjoy a day of feasting and football with my family. I can go to worship openly with my brethren on Sunday and enter the shopping mall without real fear of bombs or beheading because of these men and those like them.

There is no moral equivalence between our men and theirs. Ours do not behead or try to lure children into death traps. Ours do not beat women and shoot them in the back of the head for wearing makeup, listening to secular music, or being a member of a different denomination. When our men step over the line and commit crimes we aggressively prosecute and them and treat them with the shame and derision they deserve. But that doesn't happen often for, as Senator Schumer said, our military is the best behaved, most professional, and most respected in the world.

And that's why the US and Marine Corps flags will fly from my house this week and every week. God bless all who are far from home in harm's way this season. Let us never, never, never forget them.