All too rare in the "Drive-By Media"

Yesterday, I attended a continuing legal ed seminar in Norfolk hosted by the local bankruptcy bar association to bone up on recent developments and obtain CLE credits necessary to return my law license to active status. I arrived in plenty of time to register and say hello to long-time colleagues before taking a seat in the middle of the pack for promised to be a day of the latest comings and goings in what one speaker jokingly referred to as "the insolvency arts."

I was floored when the opening speaker, a bankruptcy judge from the Richmond division, started his remarks by recognizing me and thanking me for my service. My colleagues in the bar joined in for what will probably be the only standing ovation I will ever receive. I bring it up because it is the latest example of the unwavering support shown to servicemen like me by fellow Americans.

The most heartwarming aspect of my entire mobilization experience has been the extent to which ordinary Americans have gone out of their way to show their support for servicemen and women. The support of veterans and Army family readiness groups is not surprising--the vets have been there and know what we are up against and the families have a "we are all in this together" attitude. The eye-opener has been unwavering support of complete strangers, ranging from the merry band of volunteers manning the Atlanta airport USO, to the gal who lent me her BlackBerry so I could let my wife know I was on the final leg of my flight home for mid-tour leave, to the fellow who pressed a twenty into my hand and told me to have drink on him. No matter where I have gone, strangers have offered their support and I have not been confronted by so much as a dirty look. These stories are all too rare in the MSM but are the ones which need to be told.