Monday Memories - Army Men

When I was four or maybe five I remember playing in the yard. We lived near downtown in a raggedy old house that is no longer there. I remember the house being two story and wooden with a small yard. We lived downstairs. When it rained the roof leaked, I guess so did the second floor because we had pots everywhere collecting the water as it dripped through.

I used to play in the side yard, it was small just wide enough for a car to drive through. There was this pile of bricks next to a bush with red flowers. The bush collected bumble bees in the summer. I would gather sticks and break them to make army men. Then I would play with my army men in that pile of bricks.

When I was six we moved to the projects, it was there that I finally got some real army men to play with. But I had to replace my pile of bricks with a hole I dug in the yard. On my new battlefield I play with those army men till I was eleven. Whenever I could get my friends to play we would play army in the woods with our toy guns.

At eighteen I join the U.S. Army learning to become a man, gaining independence and responsibility. This was also my first job in the medical field, I was a Combat Medic.

I have a lot of respect for our servicemen and women both past and present. In every cemetery I visit I seek out their graves to take pictures as a way to remember them and what they have done. You don't have to be a life long "army men fan" to respect our soldiers. No matter if you agree with the politics or not our soldiers sacrifice very much sometimes all to do a job for their country, our country.

As Jack said " we need them on that wall".

macon+ga, army