There but by the grace of God go I ...

The Pool Party watched the Ferndale Memorial Day parade this morning. It was a nice small suburban city affair, replete with elderly veterans in odd hats, hand-shaking politicians, and junior high marching bands. We had a couple of friends in the Ferndale Junior High marching band - they were great!

Memorial Day, of course, is the time we've set aside as a people to remember the service of soldiers (and civil servants) who've sacrificed to uphold our way of life. This year a group of paraders honored the men and women of Michigan who've died in Iraq. There was a section for each year, with paraders holding up signs with the names, pictures and hometowns of fallen soldiers. Many of the signs had two pictures, some three. They kept increasing from 2003 to 2004 to 2005 to 2006 to 2007. There were even three or four young men who've died in 2008. It was sobering.

I was in the Army. I resigned my commission in October 2002, after my 8 years of minimum service obligation were completed. Let's just say that Megan strongly encouraged me that it was the right time. Within two months of me getting my honorable discharge paperwork (which I was very surprised they gave me) my branch manager in the Army Reserves Personnel Command starting emailing and calling - at home and work - wondering what I needed to do to get ready for deployment. I kindly informed her I was done. She kindly said, "Prove it." I did. End of discussion.

Here's why I'm telling this story. Had I waited a month or two, I'd very likely be a Major in the Army, possibly on my third Iraq deployment. It might have been my picture on one of those signs. A sobering thought. There but by the grace of God go I.