srwebwiti's Blog

I spent Sunday afternoon with my family at Chocolate Fest in Burlington. If you've never been there before, it's a treat -- with lots of sweet treats to devour. Let's just say, I've had my fill of chocolate for a while.

But on this Memorial Day, I'm thinking about the young guy I met at the Marine display on the festival grounds. There were a couple of Marines there along with some recruits who were going to be headed to boot camp in the next couple of weeks. They were encouraging people to try the chin-up bar to win a t-shirt or baseball cap.

When I asked a couple of questions of one of the Marines-to-be, he was as polite as can be. He was eager to talk about what he's about to experience in boot camp. And there was a sense of optimism and excitement that made me proud to shake this hand. To that young man, I wish the best -- because if he's any indication of the kind of men and women who serve in our Armed Forces (and I'm absolutely sure he is), then I have never felt safer and more proud to call myself an American. Semper Fi.

By the way, my daughter earned that t-shirt by doing the flexed arm hang for 70 seconds (yeah, she rocks). I was able to do six chin-ups (which is a lot harder than I remember).