A country in capable hands
On Tuesdays and Fridays, the Sun is publishing e-mails sent by Jason Henderson, 23, a 2002 Naperville Central High School graduate who is serving in Iraq, to his mother, Cathy Henderson of Naperville.
Jason is an Army private first class who serves with Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.
Courtesy of Cathy Henderson
Today we publish an excerpt from one of Henderson's undated e-mails.
I have often worried about our generation. It has not been a literal, sit down with head in hands sort of worry. A more apt description would be a dull, subconscious, back of the brain sort of worry. I have worried that maybe, just maybe all the critics are correct and that we truly do lack the resolve and discipline to accomplish what those before us have done. I have worried that perhaps, just perhaps, they are correct, and we would find ourselves wanting if we are ever truly put to the test.
Rest assured though friends, for I worry no more. I can't point to one particular act, nor can I give you a date and time. What I can give you is evidence though. It starts with some of the men in my unit with me. There are some indeed for which the Army was their only choice, but they did indeed make a choice. Once in the Army they could have selected any number of jobs, and yet they chose the Infantry.
I am by no means trying to demean other jobs and branches, but the Infantry is the Infantry. For those who understand no other explanation is needed, for those who don't, no words of mine can explain it. The Infantry aside, every man who is in my platoon signed up for a post September 11th Army. This means that every one of them knew they would be deployed into harms way. This is not false bravado, nor patriotic banter, it simply is.
Many of these men are on their 2nd deployment to this wonderful city. A few others are working on their 3rd deployment in 5 years. That is 3 years away from family and friends in 5. Theses men didn't go out of their way to volunteer for deployments. They didn't sign up with the Rangers or the Special Forces, they are simply doing their job.
Make no mistake, many of the rest had any number of options before them. In a different reality, I could easily see these men attending classes and working towards their degrees just like thousands of other young men and women. They simply chose a different path, and have walked this path with honor and distinction.
My peers in the service aren't the ones who surprise me though. At the end of the day this is a job, like any other. As a job, you do what your boss tells you to. What has impressed me is the outpouring of support from my peers back home. I suppose that I expected support from the older generations. By no means am I taking them for granted, but they lived directly or vicariously through Vietnam. This war taught American Soldiers the hard lesson of coming back from war to the protests of a very vocal minority. That being said, I think there was a certain level of national guilt left over.
I am by no means diminishing the support we have received from those generations, I am instead using it as an exceptionally high bar to measure my own against. And yet, they have risen to the challenge. I receive almost as many messages from people my own age as I do from other age groups. This has led me to the conclusion that perhaps my peers do care. Perhaps they do take an interest in their country. Perhaps, just perhaps, this country is being left in capable hands. Time will tell for sure, but I will never again doubt my generation. We will rise to whatever challenge awaits us and overcome it in true American fashion.
Make no mistake, I am not attempting a comparison between mine and the Greatest generations. Their achievements belie comparison. I am simply pointing out what I have observed.
Jason
