[Jen]

Semper Fi PING!

[MistyCA]

Thanks, Jen! Such a great story!

[Victoria Delsoul]

My son has connected me to my country in a way that I was too selfish and insular to experience before. I feel closer to the waitress at our local diner than to some of my oldest friends. She has two sons in the Corps. They are facing the same dangers as my boy. When the guy who fixes my car asks me how John is doing, I know he means it. His younger brother is in the Navy.

Ralf Waldo Emerson said, "Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind." Thanks for the excellent essay, Pokey.

[Diver Dave]

Thanks for the Semper Fi ping, Jen.

I take great pride in the 4 years I spent in the Navy, but I also well up with pride in my twin brother's 4 years in the Marine Corps. We just happened to chose different branches of the service in which to enlist.

Strange after all these years, I will always be a squid and he will be a Marine. I guess that's why I get a lump in my throat and my voice begins to crack whenever I greet a member of the Armed Forces and thank them for their service.

May God Bless our Armed Forces past and present. May He also bless the members of those military servant's families that feel the same pride as this young Marine's Father.