Freedom

This was posted on the MASA website by Dave McKensie this morning before the Anne Arundle Games:

I woke up early this morning and there were no houses burning, no bombs falling in my yard, no foreign soldiers carrying off my family. It was calm and peaceful. There was a crystal clear sky above decorated by brightly shining stars. No worry at all. Nice place to live.......

There are people that make that possible. Some of them walk among us.

This weekend we will be joined by Brian Osterman of the Air Force. Brian is in the crew of one of the helicopter gun ships that flew air cover over Washington DC 24/7 after 911. I remember that I would roll over and sleep a little better after hearing his guys fly over my house at night. He told them where I live. Brian couldn’t compete at Alexandria this year, but he did come to visit. He came in at about 800 feet in his helo, hung around for a while, waived, then turned back to his duty. Still up there for us after all this time. This will be his last game in this area for a while. He has received short orders to report to Florida. Florida leads somewhere else in the world for the military.

At Alexandria this year it was my pleasure to have met James Gifford and his Dad. Great people. “Venom” Gifford, judging by his (Air Force) “call sign” flies something very destructive. It is probably very fast and very deadly. How the hell do they cram that big guy in a fighter jet? In the little time that I have known James I have seen him dive into Scottish Athletics full force. I am sure that he approaches duty & service to our country with the same zeal and dedication that I have witnessed in his Athletics endeavors. He got Jumbo’s attention in just a few months. A deed that I am still trying to accomplish? I look forward to getting to know him as well as I do the rest of you, my friends.

Occasionally we are graced with the presence of Linda Kimsey. Linda practices her Scottish Athletic art with a powerful dignity and grace that we very much admire. I can only imagine that this comes from her dedication to her service in the military. It was partially because of Linda that we were finally able to convince some of the games organizers to start womens events. That effort continues. A precious member of my immediate family now has aspirations to follow Linda. In the future we hope to pry her away from the military more often.

There are others that are serving and will not be with us this weekend, except for one more. One good friend is driving all the way in from Kentucky with his dear wife. Brad Forbes will be joining us this weekend. He asked in and was accepted and we were glad to be able to see him. However, as he travels here this morning, I just have learned, from our Kentucky family, that Brad is being deployed again. He didn’t tell us that. It seems that he just back from over there. Brad is another quiet strength I have grown to admire. I have been honored to know him and his family for years. Now he goes in harms way for us again. With strength and quiet resolve.

Don’t forget when you are throwing this Saturday, or standing on a grassy slope breathing free air, to thank these people for their service to our country. We always do our thing in total freedom because of them and what they do when we are not standing in their honored company.

God Bless Them All! Aye, Dave