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On Friday morning I was viewing and skimming the local Tacoma Daily Newspaper. The front page had a story about a group of military men returning from their deployment to Joint Base Lewis-McChord which is just a few miles south of Tacoma.  Lewis refers to Ft. Lewis that houses the army and McChord is the Air Force base.

Here in Western Washington we are surrounded by the military all around us. Besides Lewis-McChord we have the Naval Shipyard in Bremerton. I have several friends that work at the shipyard and it is about a thirty minute drive north of Gig Harbor. Many civilians work at the shipyard besides Navy being stationed. Also, you can see several Navy Shipyard anchored in Bremerton Bay. Many famous Navy ships have spent time in Bremerton.

About an hour or so north of Seattle the Navy has a post on Whidbey Island. Many Navy pilots are stationed on Whidbey Island. My cousin Peggy, her husband Cal, and daughter Erin along with her family live on the Island. Erin has three children with two boys and a girl. The oldest boy and daughter are in high school while the youngest is in middle school. Erin currently teaches kindergarten and over the years has had to say good bye to women and children whose husbands and fathers in the Navy are being transferred or deployed. It is always a tough situation.

Anyway back to the story I read on Friday came to me that I wanted say to  those men and women who came back to Joint Base Lewis-McChord welcome home, thank you for your sacrifice and service to our country keeping it safe from terrorists, enemies both known and unknown. In fact thank you to all the military men and women across our country for your service. We know that some do not come back and others who do have long life injuries. I have mentioned before we need to do more for our wounded soldier however here I only want to thank you for all you do. Not only have you sacrificed your lives for us so does your family.

Here in Western Washington we are reminded about this every day. Often we see army trucks and tankers on Interstate 5 going off to training along with planes flying from either McChord or Whidbey Island. We feel privileged and honored having you here protecting us.

Many times I have talked to guys especially who came here from somewhere else in the country and most them are veterans who decided to stay here when their time was up serving our country. I want to thank them to for their service as well. Though our country has faults like us all we are still a great nation for all the men and women who have served in our armed service. Next time you see a serviceman thank them and welcome them home.