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April 19, 2009

FIVE AND A HALF YEARS

I have been thinking for a while about John McCain.

My blog is about five and a half years old at this point. That's how long he was a prisoner in Hoa Lo.

Every thought I've had since I started blogging, every friend I've made, every article I've read, every lesson I've grokked...

I have been free. I have had the freedom to do all those things.

From Professor Cockroach to Charlie's birthday...

3571 blog posts.

I have lived for five and a half years.

Lived and learned and grokked and loved.

I was not beaten, not locked away, not tortured, not forced to listen to propaganda. The worst I've had to deal with is some name-calling and sleepless nights.

I have never had my spirit broken.

Five and a half years.

Imagine if every blog post were wiped away and replaced by a day in captivity. Everything I have read and learned in this half decade gone, replaced by solitude and madness.

My husband came home from SERE with a newfound respect for John McCain and the men like him. My blog has taught me respect too, respect for the freedom I have had to live and share my life with you for so long.

I cannot imagine not having been here...

Posted by: Sarah at 09:54 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Have you ever read James Stockdale's book In Love and War? I read it last year, and wow did it open my eyes to what they went through. It also made me retroactively angry for all of the jokes he was the butt of after running for VP with Ross Perot.

Posted by: Val at April 19, 2009 02:35 PM (5btL/)

2 I was worried that you were going to reveal that this was your final post! I hope you stay here for many more years.

Posted by: Amritas at April 19, 2009 03:16 PM (Wxe3L)

3 I was worried that you were going to conclude by revealing that this was your final post! I hope you stay here for many more years.

Posted by: Amritas at April 19, 2009 03:16 PM (Wxe3L)

4 The things we don't really realize... I spent the afternoon at Camp Mabry - they held an event this weekend called the American Heroes Celebration. I spoke with a Vietnam vet who is a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. He talked about something that happened when he was over there. He was a medic - he went out into a rice paddy to care for some soldiers who had been shot, while under fire. He even those who were never POWs, but have seen combat, have endured a lot, much more, I think, than us civilians can truly comprehend, even after reading things like the book mentioned above (which I haven't read), or something like House to House or Lone Survivor.

Posted by: Miss Ladybug at April 19, 2009 07:31 PM (paOhf)

5 I have always admired John McCain not just for surviving, but for thriving upon his return. And those Stockdale jokes bothered me back then too. Whatever happened to showing some damn respect for people? Not knowing he had hearing issues because he was beaten by his captors is no excuse.

Posted by: Mare at April 20, 2009 02:09 PM (y9A8i)

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There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of living.
--The Count of Monte Cristo--

While our troops go out to defend our country, it is incumbent upon us to make the country worth defending.
--Deskmerc--

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