ARCHERY FOUNDATION & kids
A
s a middle-aged American in a post-9/11 world, I am often drawn to remember the sacrifices and hardships our military service men and women, and their respective families endure in support of the preservation of world order and my American way of life. Perhaps it is the fact that my civilian office is uniquely situated directly on the flight line of the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California that I daily see the soldiers flying off to and returning from the various combat zones present in today’s world that has elevated my awareness. I watch the faces of the families of servicemen and women standing at the fence, holding infants in arms or holding the hand of a youngster whom is trying his best to be “brave” and not cry at the 34 Archery Magazine August/September 2007
thought of not seeing dad for a very long time, faces wrought with anxiety about the reality of when/if they will ever see mom or dad again. The brutal truth is that some families’ last image of mom or dad will be boarding that big airplane. We as Americans going about our daily lives tend to forget that much of the world’s population lives under an oppressive government rule, has inadequate food and water supplies, lacks the most basic civil rights that are taken for granted here in the states and that we are hated around the world simply because we enjoy these privileges. Regardless of your political position of the military actions our country has embarked upon since September 11, 2001 the fact is that there exists an extraordinary