Monkey Balls and Goose Bumps

I arrived yesterday at the Larimer County Democratic Party tent/booth around 10:00am. The event was supposed to start at about that time. Truth be told there were few vendors/participants at 10, let alone anyone to whom we could preach, reach or speak. What was there was a Thai Restaurant selling Monkey Balls. Yes, monkey balls. Later in the day I tried some. They were three very sizeable, maybe three inch diameter breaded balls...on a stick. They were, I came to find out after taking a far to large bite, very meaty, and very very warm. Turns out they are pork. And really, not that good. But some times you just have to satisfy your curiosity. The much better portion of the day was talking to our booth neighbor. The man seated (he wore a knee brace, and standing for 7 hours would, I'm sure, have aggrivated it further) next to us was selling Blue Stars. In WWI and II, a blue star in the window indicated that a member of your family was serving in the military. A gold star meant they'd been killed. This guy, whose name I don't know, was, upon the advice of his wife, bringing back that tradition. He had, and thankfully still has two sons serving in the armed forces. His son Aaron is currently stationed in forward recon, just north of Baghdad. The day before (July 3rd) he (Aaron) was manning a guard post when a 5 ton truck filled with explosives tried to break through the barricade. Aaron shot the Iraqi dead. His father recounted this story as though it were not the horrifying tale that he obviously knew it was. He was quiet and thoughtful. This man, himself a Chief Petty Office in the Guard, and scheduled to deploy to Iraq in November was patient with my questions, considerate with his answers and loving and proud of his sons. It gave me chills.

He talked about how his son (again, Aaron) was driving through Baghdad and saw sections of 40 inch diameter sewer piping laying out. He salvaged it, cut it into 3 foot tall sections and winched it up on to the top of a Humvee to enclose the area where the machine gunner sits. Apparently our 87 billion dollars never covered the cost of securing the gunner for the omnipresent Humvees. A few days after Aaron did this a gunner's life was saved when they were ambushed and an IED bounced off the steel of the impromptu-turret...as did several rounds of machine gun fire.

It was amazing to stand next to this guy. He was proud of his country, and I was/am as well. I mentioned, just to see what he thought, that I'd known some folks who took their liberalism to mean that they were justified in disliking soldiers. I figured he'd rail against them, instead he said, well it's important to have your opinions. And it's easy to get along with people who think like you do. But everyone is entitled to their thoughts. I'm glad I ended up next to this guy. Reminded me of why I think highly of the United States, even when I think little of its leadership.