Yesterday I caught some coverage of the formal ceremony awarding SFC Leroy Petry his Congressional Medal of Honor.

This Army Ranger performed selfless, sacrificial and heroic acts, overseas (Afghanistan), fighting in an unpopular war (but fortunately during a time when we’ve learned to separate the politics from the honors bestowed upon our service men and women for doing what their country asks them to do), at which time he was gravely injured (losing a hand).

The least our country can do is honor him.

What impressed me was the fact that SFC Petry has re-enlisted and returned to Afghanistan (for what I believe is his eight tour).

What impressed me even more were some of the words he said during his award ceremony.

He urged us all to just give our service men and women a thank you.  He said that thanks is the greatest reward any soldier can receive.

Thank you, SFC Petry.

Thank you, men and women of the US Military.  Thank you.

If you’d like to learn a little bit more about the Congressional Medal of Honor, there is an excellent site devoted to the subject HERE.  (Be be forewarned;  you will be reading nearly 4,000 stories of absolutely uncommon, unbelievable heroism and self-sacrifice; stories that will make the hairs on the back of your neck rise up and ones that no war movie could ever match.  You may read something familiar – until you remind yourself that every word you see is about real people.  And then you will wonder.)

You can also learn a little bit more about the medals and ribbons that you may see on some chests (dress uniforms mostly) HERE; it doesn’t matter where someone serves, but it may help you strike up a conversation while saying ‘thank you’.

Finally, it doesn’t hurt to keep the above in mind when you’re out there playing a game.  I listened to an interview with a Libyan Freedom Fighter this morning, a young man of 22 years of age who had been a computer sciences student before joining the fight to liberate his country from 40 years of dictatorial rule.  When asked what he did for fun before joining the fight, he mentioned playing video games – military first-person shooters to be exact.

The interviewer asked him if he could describe the difference between the game and the war.  His answer?

“In war, friends die.”