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Friday, July 4, 2008

If You Blog It, They Will Come

If you aren't the owner of a blog, you ought to consider getting one. They're easy to feed and they don't make messes. Tell me if you have one of your own that I can add to my list over to the right, under 'Other Blogs'. To start one, you can click on over to www.blogger.com, which is run by Google (isn't everything?). And it's free, which is a very good price. I try not to visit web sites, by the way. I instead prefer clicking on them and reading them. As much as I like Wiki and Amazon, I don't want them to expect me to come over for a barbeque every weekend. It's tough to make excuses when they know you don't have other plans.

Rusted Ruminations is a brand new blog, and I imagine I'll update it once or twice a week, weather permitting. I urge you like an over-caffeinated grovelling telethoner to come back often and leave comments so I know if there's anybody out there. Just nod if you can hear me...

Happy 4th of July to all of you, celebrating the wonderful ideals this nation stands for. The fireworks are a reminder to us of battles that have been fought to protect our freedom, and the selflessness of those people who have defended us. May we never take that for granted.

Some of you may have heard this story before. Approximately 4,000 U.S. military troops have died in the five years our country has been in Iraq. The second of them older than me to die was an old friend of mine, Marine Staff Sgt. James Cawley of Roy, Utah, who was a fellow missionary with me in the Japan Fukuoka Mission when we were both in our early 20s. We trained at the MTC together, and served in the same district in our last area, where James was the district leader. President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke about James at the April 2003 LDS General Conference, just eight days after James had been killed in combat. Pres. Hinckley's address was entitled War and Peace, which you can read from that link.

Elder Cawley was the kind of person who would tilt his head to the side slightly while he's talking to you, put his hand on your shoulder, give you a knowing grin, and say something complimentary to you — and you knew he meant it. That's the way he often communicated. And even if he was saying something that was more of a solemn nature, he'd still be smiling and looking at it philosophically. Perhaps you've known people like that. Here's another site called Iraq War Heroes that dedicates a page to him, with entries from his journal and comments from soldiers who knew him and from his family.

Let's remember that the people who defend this country are real people with real families, who have put themselves last to keep all of us protected. Honoring their legacy is what this holiday is all about, and we salute them.

3 comments:

Renee said...

Thank you for remembering James -- that's nice to learn about his life and what he meant to you.

I'm excited that you're blogging. It will be a pleasure to read what you have to say (weather permitting).

What I just wrote reminds me of a conversation between you and mom long ago. After you got off the phone, mom said, "Rusty, what did he have to say?" and you replied, "Well, he didn't HAVE to say anything." :) So I guess you don't HAVE to say anything either, but I'm sure you will say many clever things.

Cebre said...

Oh Rusty this was such a pleasure to read! I'm a fairly new blogger myself, and I'm enjoying the social aspect.

...I always enjoy the social aspect of things.

You had, as my mom said, "many clever things" in here that made my mouth turn up in a crooked smile I think I got from your side. Keep them coming! It's great!

ihenpecked said...

Wow Rusty
I had a sense of your wit and wisdom from your comments but color me impressed. There's some good things here.

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