It Takes Courage

We laid the body of Staff Sergeant Casey Crates to rest today. He was killed over Memorial Day weekend when the aircraft transporting him to a reconnaissance mission in Iraq crashed, killing all aboard. His mother, a widow, accepted the flag with grace and dignity... and strength beyond what I could have summoned.

Hers is the kind of strength that made this country great. The kind of sacrifice without bitterness that marks a patriot. Casey's Mom knows that freedom is not free. She knew it before, but now she knows just how much it costs. She knows because she's footing the bill. Casey's dad died a few years ago, he and Casey are buried side by side in a country cemetery south of Tacoma. A lonely woman will probably visit that place many times before she is called home. That kind of life takes courage.

The ancient Greeks concept of the soul was that it was the sum of thought, learning, capability, character or lack of it, and your attitude and fortitude.

Casey Crates was a superlative professional.
He always wore a smile.
He was fearless.
He was a mission hound. (Was always willing to volunteer)
He loved and took good care of his mother.
His soul was full of the qualities we refer to as virtues.

According to Romans 13, God made civil government his Agent of Wrath to punish the wrongdoer. Casey Crates was an Agent of Wrath and he had the soul of a warrior through and through. His body lies in the ground, but his soul has joined with the risen warriors. God loves warriors because God is a warrior. And the war between Virtue and Evil continues to rage. We do not pronounce judgment on the enemy, that's God's job. Our job is to set up the meeting.

So all of us Agents of Wrath will lock away and treasure the memory of Casey Crates. We will strap on our assault gear, communications gear, and our body armor. We will fill our magazines with ammo and we will sight in our lasers and optics. We will leave the relative security of our compounds with death in one hand and courage in the other and we will hunt down the evildoer in whatever hole he's hiding in that we may deliver him up for judgment.

More of us will lose our earthly bodies in this fight. Those that live will savor life and treasure the service of those that gave all. And for those of you that might want to say anything negative about Casey's sacrifice, this country, it's flag, or my President on this day, better not do it where I can get to you... because I'm in a foul mood. I resent the fact that Casey's been taken away but Alec Baldwin continues to vex us. A hundred hollywood phonies couldn't begin to tip the cosmic scales when assayed against a Casey Crates.

It takes courage to continue the fight, especially when the fight will go on for a long time.
On days like this, it takes a lot of courage.