A 40-something answers the call.

Smitty, over at The Other McCain has orders to active duty in mid November, and will be arriving in Kabul Afghanistan before Christmas. A Naval Reservist, and graduate of Canoe U, he, like myself, is overage and decrepit. Yet the call goes out and he answers it.

But don’t thank me; thank Americans, from the Founding Fathers forward to the Tea Parties, to my electrician brother-in-law who just runs around fixing things all day. The exceptional American dedication to individualism, the ideals of the Constitution, and the courageous soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in whose bigger footsteps I follow make it all worth it. I’ve benefitted so much from the American people, educationally and otherwise. Thus, it’s with a sense of gratitude to you that I depart on this set of orders, finishing out my Navy Reserve career in active duty style

So on Veterans’ Day, remember the Men and Women who answer the call, and keep Liberty’s vigil.