Sometimes when you write you have the great privilege of telling the story the story of a person who is not only an extraordinary person but a person that some would even call a hero. This story is about a person in my life who became one of my heroes. Many have heard this story before but many more have not. This is a story that I will be glad to tell until the end of time.
I was born into a small family. My parents only had one other child besides myself, my brother Lonnie who is about fourteen years older then I am. When your brother is that much older then you it doesn’t matter what happens he’s the ultimate in big brothers, the ultimate in kewl! I was blessed to have my brother around for the first five years or so of my life. I knew he was not only popular with his friends and in school but I knew that he thought the world of me and this made me just all the more proud of him.
When I was about seven my brother enlisted in the Army and it wasn’t long after that it came time for my brother to ship off to Vietnam. I never did question why as I was always told that it was something that he had to do, I was told that it was his duty. All I knew was that my brother doing his duty and I was proud of him.
Fast forward now to February 11, 1974. My brother had taken emergency leave from the Army and this day my brother once again had to do a duty that I know that inside was tearing him up but never the less he held his head up and did it. This day he had to come to school to pick me up and inform me that our Father had just passed away. As he told me this I started to cry for lack of anything better to do. I was glad to have my brother there to be a rock for me.
Fast forward now again a couple of years. Once again my brother was on leave and it was just my brother and myself that were sitting at our dining room table. As we were talking I asked my brother why he did what he did and why he chose to be a soldier. What my brother said made one of the greatest impacts on my life that has ever been made. What he said pierced me to the core and it is something that I will never forget. My brother told me “I do it to give you the freedom to race or to do any other thing that you choose.”
To this day whenever I think about this John 15:13 (KJV) come to mind. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
To my brother and all of the Veterans who have given me the freedom to write this I very humbly say “Thank You.”
Be Blessed!
BIG SCOTT
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