War Puts Everything in Perspective

Sunday morning, I was happy about Georgia Tech having beat Notre Dame in football on Saturday.

Monday morning, my wife read an e-mail from our church prayer chain saying that a young man that had graduated from our daughter's high school in 2005 had been killed in Iraq on Saturday.

On Saturday, I was thinking that a good day was when Georgia Tech wins a football game, and a bad one was when they lose. No, a bad, terrible, awful day is when the Military Police come to your home to tell you your child has been killed.

Here is the Department of Defense News Release No. 1079-07:

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Christopher G. Patton, 21, of Lawrenceville, Ga., died Sept. 1 in Baghdad, Iraq, in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

The circumstances surrounding the death are under investigation.

I understand that he was on a routine patrol and was shot. I guess that is considered "a non-combat related incident" by the DoD. Sounds like combat to me.

Chris' brother traveled with my daughter and their German class this past June. I don't know his parents personally, but I understand that although they are understandably grief-stricken, they have said that they have a "clean" grief because their son knew they loved him, and he died doing something that he loved and believed in.

How thankful we should be for these brave men and women that have the conviction to stand for freedom in hostile parts of the world. I'm not going to argue whether or not we should be in this war today - I'll leave that for another day. There's no argument that war is a terrible thing.

God bless the family of Spc. Christopher G. Patton, 21, of Lawrenceville, Ga. Thanks to him and all of our brave soldiers for fighting and sacrificing for freedom. Thanks to their families also for their sacrifices.