Be grateful for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice…

~ Live & Learn

The video clip below is a short three minute excerpt featuring Steven Cornford. Cornford, 18 years old when he served in Iraq, was awarded a Silver Star for Valor. He and other vets suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are returning to Iraq as part of Operation Proper Exit.  This is a moving clip.  He is still so very young.

What the short clip above does not include is Cornford’s closing remarks (which can be found near the end of the full video at “Operation Proper Exit: A return to the war zone“). It was a poignant reminder of the meaning of Memorial Day.  Here’s the excerpts:

Steven Cornford: I feel a little more relaxed with myself, because one of the things I deal with on a daily basis is I don’t even like being myself. I want to get out of my own skin. I don’t like being me…because I feel bad constantly..and it’s starting to go away a little bit. I feel a little bit more comfortable with myself and with what I’ve done in my life.

Scott Pelley (CBS): When you go back to the States this time (after returning from Operation Proper Exit in Iraq), how do you think you’ll be different?

Steven Cornford: I know that I’ll be a lot less angry. I’ll treat my wife with a little more respect. I guess I’ll be less snappy with people…I’ll be a little bit more understanding…because I always hear people complaining about stuff…it just makes me mad…because a lot of people don’t understand…they don’t see the stuff – they just go about their daily lives while there are still people dying…everyday…dying for them. And it upsets me a lot. And I’m starting to feel a little better about it.

Scott Pelley (CBS): (In his closing of the story): Each man came for a different reason. To remember peace of mind. To see again. To walk out of Iraq. Before their return, the enemy had the last word. But now after a week, they had re-written that history. This was their proper exit. They were guided by the eyes of others or walked on artificial legs – those things would not change. But as they left on their own terms now, the enemy was re-treating from the battlefield of their minds.

Memorial Day. Count your blessings. Be grateful for those that have made the ultimate sacrifice. Their life.

14 thoughts on “Be grateful for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice…”

  2. I struggle a lot with the trauma, pain and loss that define the term ‘ultimate sacrifice’. Kids that go to war say they are prepared to pay this price, when they have no concept of what it means. Youth is infallible, their love of the troop with which they are affiliated becomes inviolable and the limits to which they are stretched untenable. Ultimate sacrifice? If they truly understood what that means. I think that any future war should begin with at least one child from every Senator, Congressperson, the VP, President, etc should be required to participate. Perhaps subjecting these young people to horrors no one should ever be subjected to will be considered with a bit more gravity. I’m sorry David – I didn’t mean to drone on. This subject is still too raw for me I think.

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    1. Mimi, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I can see your point of view especially given that your Son had served. My post was focused narrowly on the anguish of this young man in the video – the horrors that he has to live with in his mind every day. Many young men like Steven Cornford have paid and continue to pay (every day) a great price for this country. It is heartbreaking to see them and their families suffer.

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      1. I know – and I’m sorry if my tone had an edge which I didn’t intend. I actually was writing from a similar place – the absolute horror and pain that this young man lives with daily – and what I perceive as the equal horror of governments sending our young men and women to hell with little personal understanding of what they are being asked to do. The post was achingly beautiful and sad – and resonated with me on an elemental level.

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  3. Pingback: Be Grateful « A Simple, Village Undertaker

  4. Great post. My nephew is in the Navy and I continue to pray for him and others as well as for their families. Thank you for posting.

    BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!

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  5. Every since I was young and even to this day it is hard for me to understand that war happens daily on the other side of the world. With our “busy” lives we don’t even think about the little things we should be greatful for never mind the big ones… until someone like you Dave does a piece that reminds us how good we have it!! Thanks to all the past, present and future service men & women and their families for their military service for us.!! God bless you all.

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