Damn It Lt. Colonel

Twenty nine years in the business. Retirement is just over the horizon. I will soon be free of the burden and responsibility of packing a firearm. It’s a damn nuisance and inconvenience. Or, will I?

Can you do that? Can you walk the warrior’s path for a lifetime, standing “wary and watchful” all your days to prepare for that one day that will buy your kids and your grandkids 20 extra years with you? You might even buy someone else’s grandchildren 20 extra years with them, making your brethren's day “long in the land” because you were there and you were ready.1

That is what warriors do.1

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman wrote the above quotes. Here’s why he wrote it.

My dad was a cop. He began his career on a beat and retired as the chief. He and my mother have both passed on and I would give anything to have another 20 minutes with them. My dad bought 20 extra years one day in a supermarket. He carried a gun nearly every day of his life, and he knew that if there were trouble my mom would grab him by his arm. So for a lifetime he always made sure she was on his left side. I almost never saw them together without my dad being on the right and my mom on his left.1

One day as they shopped together in a supermarket, a man came around the corner of an aisle, saw my dad and pulled a gun. He was someone who dad had previously put in jail, and he was not a happy customer. As expected, my mom grabbed my dad’s arm, his left arm. But his right hand was free and he pulled his gun. Then mom’s training kicked in and she cut behind him and dashed off to call for help.1

My dad resolved the situation... in a satisfactory manner. But I could have lost them both. I got an extra 20 years with them because my dad spent a
lifetime preparing for that one day. Their grandbabies would have never known them if their grandpa had not been a warrior who carried a gun and walked the warrior’s path for a lifetime in preparation for that one day.1

Damn it, Dave! You’ve invoked the preciousness of my grandchildren and spoken the truth as I know it must be. There is no relief from the burden!

Citations in this Blog:
1. On Combat, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman with Loren W. Christensen, PPCT Research Publications, 2007, 2nd edition, pgs 174-175