Patriot and Proud

Last night, Team Never Quit’s Patriot Tour came to TPAC and I was lucky enough to share the room. Simply being surrounded by hundreds of veterans and first responders in itself is awe striking.

To think that the people around you are all so selfless to volunteer their lives for people they do not even know is a humbling experience in itself.

If you’ve never thought about the sacrifices made every day that go unnoticed, I challenge you to take two minutes and just think about the selflessness involved with that.

Anyway, last night was amazing.

Pete Scobell, David Goggins, Chad Flemming, Taya Kyle, and Marcus Luttrell took the stage and shared their stories.

Chad Flemming had the honors first and acted as the “host” of the night, guiding the transitions and the introductions throughout the program, but he also shared his history of service and sacrifice. Captain Flemming earned the Meritorious Service Medal, two Bronze Star Medals with valor, and three Purple Hearts throughout 6 deployments, including 5 deployments as an amputee. The post amputation deployments exemplifies the idea behind Team Never Quit— to never give up, no matter how hard it may get. After his amputation and deployments, he’s taken up marathons, triathalons, and cycling events, removing the boundaries so often placed on amputees.

After Captain Flemming was my girl, Taya Kyle. Most well known as the widow of sniper Chris Kyle, Taya shares a story much like my own. She was never in the military. She was never a first responder. She was never an amputee, but she is still a patriot and she still loves America despite everything it has taken from her, Taya’s story is one of a lot of heartache, and she acknowledges it.  Despite persevering through the stressful deployments and death of her husband, Taya still remains positive and strong. People often try to make her story in two parts of before Chris and after Chris, but that’s not what her story is. Yes, he changed her and impacted her life, but Taya is Taya and Chris is Chris. They are their own person. Taya formed a strong base of faith before marrying Chris, but it was tested during their marriage and after his passing. She admitted her questioning of “what if he doesn’t come home?”, “is his country really his priority?”, and “why did he have to feel called to do this?”. I thank the Lord that I haven’t had to deal with the first one, but she uses her experience with it to comfort us who fear it and think of the second two almost every day. Her entire message was reassurance of the greater plan that is in store for us that we may not understand but should trust whole heartedly.

But just because we don’t understand what has happened or know what is coming doesn’t mean we should live in fear. We should actually do the opposite and live with no regrets. To look back and think “I should have…” instead of “dang, that was fun” would be miserable, so live with no regrets and seize the day! Taya saw how Chris lived with no regrets and saw the impact that made on his life, especially following his death. She was at peace with the life he lived and knew that there was not a thing he would have changed.

Being that she never served, Taya doesn’t feel the exact same things her husband did towards her country and said she often found herself questioning if she even really was a “patriot.” Only to be answered with a big, fat yes.

 It looks different than the sense of patriotism that servicemen experience, but family members of service men are just as much patriots as their loved ones. They make sacrifices. They love America. They never quit. Everyone has a part. They just are different because a body of eyes doesn’t do any good to combat the evil that they can see.

 Taya Kyle is such a woman of faith and example and grace and I would do so many ridiculous things to be friends with her.

Pete Scobell followed Mrs. Kyle and showed a different but obvious way of coping – music. Pete is a Nashville recording artist (at Wyonna Judd’s studio, actually) and writes music to handle his experiences. I will warn you that if you’re a softie, Pete’s stuff is not for you. They are heartfelt and sincere, but that also means they are very real, almost too real if you’ve lost someone in service.

On a much, much lighter tone, David Goggins spoke next. Coming from a poorer background all the way to retired SEAL, but his story is much more than just that easy uphill climb. There were down points, like gaining back over 100 pounds he had lost and BUDS was definitely a low point. It went back up though, and currently, he is a world record holder for the most pull ups and a crazy good endurance athlete.

At this point, everyone knew Marcus was next, and Chad could barely get out his introduction before Marcus had a standing ovation.

Despite a filled preforming arts center giving him a standing ovation, Marcus is easily one of the most humble guys I have ever laid eyes on. (Later edit: Check this out. Point proven.) For the first little bit, he couldn’t have said the alphabet without getting applause and cheers, but after we all settled down, Marcus dove right in talking a mile a minute. He started at his childhood with his twin brother and himself going through a “training” type thing where their instructor drew a line and then asked them to push through the pain and cross it. Once they had crossed that line, he drew another line several feet away and repeated this process until they completed the daunting task. As Marcus went on, this became more and more important. Through broken legs during BUDS and even Operation Red Wings

 

, Marcus continually drew this line and completed this process until he became successful. Nothing is ever too big, and even when it seems that way, draw yourself a line and cross it until you’ve run out of lines to cross. Never quit.

Marcus’s other big point was respect. Unlike many people today think, respect isn’t given. Respect is earned, and that’s the key to Marcus. He spoke to the older people in the room and asked how they’re using the respect they have earned to impact those around them. But he also spoke directly to us younger people and explained that not all older people deserve your respect. Just like we have to earn theirs, they have to earn ours.

Marcus left the stage making me want to be a better person than I came, and for that simple desire alone, Marcus changed me. (Later edit: It’s been almost a month since the event and I still think about this.)

I’m a patriot and I’m proud of it. I love America despite the heartaches that come with her. There’s not a place on this earth I’d rather call home.

Cross those lines.

Don’t ever quit.

And God bless America,

Lauren