Soldiers

Team AO,

What a great seminar last night from Larry and Marcie. I was watching the room as people responded to Larry’s vision of an Army of Leaders tied into a greater vision of helping the nation become what God intended. It reminded me of a scene from one of my top 5 movies “When we were soldiers”. In the movie Mel Gibson’s character Hal Moore is asked to mold a young group of enlistments into the next generation of Calvary men. They trained hard and prepared to land in hostile territory from helicopters, and the day before they are deployed he delivered these words to the soldiers and their families…

“Look around you. In the 7th cavalry, we’ve got a captain from the Ukraine; another from Puerto Rico. We’ve got Japanese, Chinese, Blacks, Hispanics, Cherokee Indians. Jews and Gentiles. All Americans. Now here in the states, some of you in this unit may have experienced discrimination because of race or creed. But for you and me now, all that is gone. We’re moving into the valley of the shadow of death, where you will watch the back of the man next to you, as he will watch yours. And you won’t care what color he is, or by what name he calls God. They say we’re leaving home. We’re going to what home was always supposed to be.”

Our Team represents the same spirit of preparation and preparedness that the soldiers portrayed in the movie. You all make me proud as I see and hear of your dreams, struggles and victories. We, like no other team, represent the full spectrum of the American collective, and on Team, those of us who are serious have committed to serving and assisting one another in this journey. Often we speak of going back to a time when the country was at it’s best, and I personally tend to share the view of Colonel Moore… We are not going backwards, we are heading in the direction of what the nation was always meant to be. A nation where racism, sexism, nepotism, and all other enemies of individual freedom and responsibility are null and void. A nation where a man or woman can sow seeds of faith, hard work, investment and innovation, and in turn reap a harvest of time, money, and influence. A nation material wealth is not used for the meaningless accumulation of more, but where money is used to bless those less fortunate than ourselves. A nation that celebrates diversity as a means of creating synergy, as opposed to using our differences to polarize and paralyze the populace.

I believe that we all have been given gifts and talents, and I believe that the Team system is fertile ground for the development and implementation of our talents, all we need are a few good men and women willing to join our quest. The Team nor I can make any promises of ease, nor comfort. It is going to require mettle and courage, but we are being trained by the best, and to echo the words of Colonel Moore…

I can’t promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me, God.