War is Hell

March 17, 2013

I believe it was General Sherman of the Union Army that was credited with "War is Hell" as he burned a path through the south during the Civil War.

I am not going to disagree with him, if war is not hell it is pretty close. It is far much closer to hell than I ever want to be. Yes I served in the military, I was in the Navy serving as a Machinist Mate aboard the USS Jesse L. Brown DE1089 during Viet Nam. I was a plank owner on the Brown and still have my little piece of wood that signifies that. the Brown is now gone as it was Decommissioned in 1996. I believe it was then sold to Turkey for their Navy.

After leaving the Navy in 1976 (probably one of the many mistakes I would make in this life) I served in the Army National Guard for about 14 years mostly as a Combat Field Medic 91B.  In the National Guard I was awarded the Ohio Special Services Ribbon and the  Ohio Award of Merit, as well as the Army Commendation Medal along with a few achievement medals.

I never was assigned to go to the front lines and fight against an armed enemy. The closest I came to that was when a Russian ship came up on the Horizon and went to general quarters for a long time waiting to see what they would do. They never fired and neither did we, then there was working the floods in Ottawa Ohio in 1981 and working the floods in Albany Georgia in 1998.  When you are assigned to a unit, you go where you are told and do the job you are told to do. If I had been assigned to the front lines, I would have went without question and I would have done what I had to do, not only to stay alive but also to keep the soldiers with me alive.

Several years AGO the Ride 2 Recovery was started to help people that have come back from various wars, battles and military actions that are wounded in some way recover. These wounds can be physical like having an arm or leg blown off by an IED. These wounds can also be mental such as PTSD.  These men and women are heros in every sense of the word and they deserve every bit of respect we can muster. Many of them find it very difficult to fit in once they get back to the states. They are changed and they need the support that events like Honor Rides cam help them get. Honor rides help with raising funds and awareness of the trauma and the pain that these man and women have gone through and are still going through to protect our rights.

Currently I am trying with a great bit of determination to get an Honor Ride Started her in South Georgia. I have sent an email to my friend Jimmy Moore at the Tifarea YMCA to find out if we could use the same facilities in September that the Tour de Tifton will be using April 6, 2013. If I get a positive response then I will start looking for sponsors, if a negative response then I will start looking for other places to have the Honor Ride for Southwest Georgia's Wounded Heros.  In my book every Veteran of the Armed Forces is a Hero. If you think about it this way I think you will agree. Every Veteran of every US Armed Force has when he/she took an oath gave the American People a Blank Check Payable with anything up to and including their life. Since most of these people joining the military are 18 and 19 years of age that means they actually are giving up 2 lives, the lives. They are giving up the life they have right now, and the life they would have had if they had never joined the military in the first place.

Anyway if all goes well we will be having an Honor Ride to Honor the Wounded Warriors on September 28th  2013 and we are expecting to make that an annual event here in Southwest Georgia. At this point we are expecting that the honor ride will be out of the Tiftarea YMCA Hunt Park Campus, but dates and locations are subject to change if need be.

In the meantime for the runners that are reading this post there is a 5 K and 10 K run at Heritage Church in Moultrie, Georgia on March 23rd, It is Family Fun day so there will be free food and lots of other stuff going on also. You can get info on the run at www.active.com

For cyclists don't forget the Tour de Tifton coming up April 6, 2013 at the Tiftarea YMCA Hunt Park Campus Exit 63B off I-75. You can find out moe about the TdT by going to www.tiftareaymca.org.

Have a great day

Jerry "The Bicycle Nut" Goodwin