Gone Fishin!

I've been privileged to be in the presence of great people. I can name off family members, faithful friends, Army buddies who have all made a tremendous impact on me. Today one of the greatest men I have ever met called me. He's not famous or rich or powerful. He's a simple man from India with God sized dreams. I've written about him before, but he's "double blog-worthy". He was born dead, literally. The mid-wife who helped in his delivery more than 60 years ago wrapped his lifeless body in a blanket and had it not been for his mother seeing a little toe move, he would have been buried that day. Yet, life coursed through those little veins and my brother M.A. Thomas has been giving away life ever since. He has no real property, owns a couple of changes of clothes, yet in his chosen life of poverty has been giving hope to children all over India for the last 40 years. Those who oppose him have tried numerous times to kill him. He has had cancer and survived...

This morning was typical for most mornings at FT Jackson. I woke to a screaming alarm clock at 0500 thinking of reasons not to get up. I hate early mornings, I function much better sleeping till around 0700. But my soldiers are up training so I go in to be with them. Today however I chose to run by myself on secluded section of road out on the back 40 near our rifle ranges. Its about a 4 mile loop with a one mile grade that taxes the body good. I got there hoping to get my run in before my soldiers showed up at their Fit To Win training range. If you’ve seen stripes and have a vision of John Candy careening into the wood line out of control you’d be on track. I got to my parking spot about 0545 and put on my ipod, and took off up the grade facing the pain of the next 40 minutes with some chagrin. Most days running its something I endure out of necessity. I don’t enjoy it much except for when I’m done. Some runners get a high, I don’t at all. I feel pain mostly. I’m too stubborn to quit...

I had a great story to tell and my blog is not working correctly, but I will update it later on today. If you got half of it, the rest is on the way! Sorry, hope everyone is well!

Here we go again! Well after a long break without soldiers here at Camp Shangri-La we have embarked on a brand new mission with brand new soldiers. One of the highlights for our newbies is Victory Tower. It’s a 50’ tall rappelling/obstacle course. Its got a huge cargo net, rope bridges and a sheer wall that soldiers get to rappel down. It’s a great way to begin Basic Combat Training. Many of our soldiers come in with confidence issues; basically they are scared out of their minds. They wonder about the war, whether they’ll go to Iraq or Afghanistan. Some from this generation have been neglected and abused. Some have quit everything they have ever started. Conquering this task early in the process is incredibly important. This day for many is the day that something clicks within them and they say, “Man! I can actually do this!” They have to demonstrate a little faith. They have to trust the rope, the Drill Sgt who taught them to tie the knots correctly. They are literally putting their ...

I used to hold her in one hand. She used to sleep with me on the couch every Sunday. She used to hate to go to sleep by herself. She had cool names for stuff, like "caukey" instead of coffee. Then one day I turned around and she was dancing on a stage before hundreds of people. She had an ipod in her ear and as I saw her walk down the hall in the dim early evening light I confused her for her mother. Wow! I suppose one day I'll be looking back with fondness the year that Tori turned 11. I suppose as I watch her walk down a church aisle to some horrible young man (just kidding) that I'll wish she was 11 again. Its hard being a daddy and watching them grow. When our kids are 2 we can't wait for them to be older, more self sufficient. Then when they aren't and we run into some toddler at Wal-Mart we say, "I remember when my kids were that age!" Part of us remembers all the sleepless nights, but there is a deeper part that remembers all the funny, cute s...

Wow, its 2007! Hard to believe. I remember as a child of 12 thinking of what being a live after the year 2000 would bring. I remember thinking how old 35 sounded, now I think 35 is young. Today I watched the funeral for one of the presidents of my youth. Memories of the 70's flooded my head. I remembered GI Joes, BB guns, longing for snow to get us out of school, splitting wood and raking leaves with my dad and brother. I remembered in the 70's how unsure I was about the future. I remember worrying about the world as a child, being afraid of nuclear war. I heard an old philosopher on TV the other day recounting of how when he was young that he thought of life as the football and it was his to run with, but as WW II rolled around he realized that he was the football. I guess during the 70's I became acutely aware that life and this world we live in was a lot bigger than me. As I face 2007 as we all do that sense of wonder and nervousness still reside within me. I do sense th...