You gotta fight. For your right. To serve this country?

"Crow: I thought it was deep...
Joel: What did you think, Servo?
Servo: I thought it was pathetic.
Crow: So deep, we should've been wearing boots"

Although I am not military myself (I have neither the guts nor the glory) I have strangely found myself surrounded by military men both in my immediate family, extended family and the man I plan to start a family with. My grandfather, two uncles and an aunt were all enlisted Air Force when I was a kid, although this didn't really mean much to me.

It wasn't until my younger brother (we will call him "Fush") joined the Air Force ROTC in college that it began to mean something to me. Fush went to an expensive private engineering college up in Hoboken, N.J and found ROTC to be a great way to help him pay some of his college loans. So he commissioned into the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant and went on his merry way. I then met Mr. Hot Pilot who just so happened to be an Air Force Major who graduated from the Air Force Academy. The idea of a military-ish lifestyle began to move itself to the forefront of my mind when I realized that I will someday soon marry this man and be a military wife. However I also knew that his being an officer would make our lifes much more "cushy" than the ordinary enlisted man's life.

Now enter my youngest brother (we shall call him Cesaro). He is was a fresh-faced 17 year old with the world at his feet when he graduated high school. I begged and pleaded that he go to college. It took me 10 years to earn a bachelor of science and by gosh he was going to do it quicker than I did! But he was bored with the whole collegiate scene. And he was proud of his older brother, Fush. I could see it coming from a mile away.

You see Cesaro is alot like me in many ways. I like to force life to happen at breakneck speed - hence a disastrous marriage at the seriously young age of 20. I also changed my mind (and my college major) so many times that I didn't graduate college/find my career of choice/meet the man of my dreams until I was much older. I don't necessarily regret my choices as I realize that there were things in my life and in Mr. Hot Pilots life that had to happen. And when he graduated college I was only 16 and it would have been VERY ILLEGAL. (I LOVE bringing that up to him from time to time, hehe!) But I digress. Cesaro wanted to be a missionary for a while. Then he wanted to be a police officer. All the while he was flirting with the idea of a career in the military. So he decided to enlist in the Air Force. Fush warned him that it was a bad decision. Mr. Hot Pilot (a big guy on campus with AF) warned him against it. Everyone told him to get a degree and THEN go ahead and go in as an officer. Better pay. More respect. A better life. But I knew he wouldn't listen. And so off to basic training (at 17 mind you) he went. To make matters worse, he decided to join Security Forces in order to hopefully further a law enforcement job in the future.

Fast forward 6 months. Cesaro has had his main graduation and has now graduated from tech school. He graduated top 10% of his class and received the coveted distinguished graduate (DG) award. (Awards are a big deal in the military I am finding) But see, there was one little problem. Cesaro was in a squadron of a few losers and jerks. Losers and jerks who liked to drink underage, and mess around with other mens wives and go AWOL at liberty. Cesaro kept his nose clean and didn't associate with this handful of losers. But the losers decided to try and clear their name a bit by dragging Cesaro into the fray. Why lets get the DG in on our lunacy! Fabulous idea! So the week before he is to return home and then proceed to his first assignment, he is brought up and told he is going NOWHERE. They are investigating a report that he went AWOL as well. Only no one is investigating. And no higher ups are willing to take Cesaro's physical proof that he did not go AWOL. They are just expecting to get Cesaro to sign a form admitting guilt so they don't have to do a darn thing and can just sweep it under the rug. Cesaro fights back. Mr. Hot Pilot and Fush offer advice to fight back. Mr. Hot Pilot is pissed. My dad decides enough is enough when his phone calls go unanswered and we find that Cesaro's file has been lying in a pile on some Captain's floor for THREE WEEKS. So what is a father to do? He goes above the Air Force's head and goes right to our Senator, Barbara Mikulski. Believe me when I say HEADS ARE ROLLING. People are getting in trouble left and right. And it screams of victory.

You see, here you have a kid who was determined to serve his country the best way he knew how. He worked hard and did all he was supposed to AND THEN SOME. And he gets pooped on by the people he is so determined to fight with for our freedom. It is true there is a lack of respect for the enlisted folks of our military. I'm not sure how many people realize that. Now they are trying to kill my brother's career before it even has started. But Cesaro is fighting back. Fighting for his right to serve our country. And it should never be that way. It isn't the entire military that is this way, just a select few people that want to be lazy and brush over the injustice that has been done. Senator Mikulski has just begun their investigation into this mess, but suddenly wheels are moving.

Amazing isn't it? I will be sure to post updates on the progress.