Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility 

Wednesday Hero - Spc. Roger G. Ling

Spc. Roger G. Ling
20 years old from Douglaston, New York
Company C, 1st Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team
February 19, 2004

When Spc. Roger G. Ling's Humvee was struck by a homemade bomb in October of 2003, he survived the attack and he worked to keep his superior officer, Lt. Matt Homa, alive. Spc. Ling was riding in the backseat of the Humvee when it was hit. It destroyed Lt. Homa's door.

"It almost killed me. From what I've been told, Roger helped keep me awake until my medic arrived." said Lt. Homa. "Ling was a good kid. You could count on him to do anything."

Spc. Ling was killed, along with Second Lieutenant Jeffrey C. Graham of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, when their unit came under fire from insurgents in Khalidiyah, Iraq. Only two miles from where he'd survived the attack just four months earlier.

Leona Ling said she was grateful her brother came home in August of 2003 just before leaving for Iraq.

"He had to have his tonsils taken out," she said. "It was a blessing in disguise because we got to see him again."

In phone calls home, the soldier spoke wistfully of returning to New York and going to college. "He wanted to hear about what was going on at home and all the latest family gossip," Leona Ling recalled.

Survivors include his father, Wai Ling, a U.S. Army veteran.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your blog, you can go here.

Gratitude

With Thanksgiving literally hours away, I've decided to get started early. Here's a short and by no means complete list of just some of the things I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

• My wife Betty. She's kept me sane over the years, although I've probably driven her a bit crazy.
• My son Lucas. Bright and precocious, he's a boy to be proud of.
• My stepson Zachary. He and I may not get along, but what an opportunity for me to learn.
• My granddaughter Sidney. What an amazing little girl, and she's always got a smile for me.
• The United States of America. We live in the greatest nation that exists or has ever existed on this planet. It's a nation that protects our rights and liberties, where a man can grow up to do anything that he has the inspiration, willpower and discipline to achieve.
• The brave men and women of our military forces. They lay down their lives to protect our lives, our rights, and our liberties. They fight so that others won't have to. They are the instruments of freedom in the world today and deserve our thanks on a daily basis.
• The thousands upon thousands (or is it millions upon millions) of men and women who have gone before, prodding and poking at nature, observing, cataloging and puzzling out the many secrets of how God's universe works. Without them, nearly all that we take for granted today would not exist and our lives would truly be "nasty, brutish, and short".
• Cars, Computers, Cell Phones, Motion Pictures, Television, Books, Cassette Tapes, Vinyl recordings, CDs, DVDs, Air Conditioning, Dishwashers, Washing Machines, Lawn Mowers, Trucks, Airplanes, Trains, Ships, and the other myriad technologies that make life so much easier and pleasant.
• The Internet.
• My fellow bloggers. You guys and girls certainly help to keep this interesting.
• The talents that God has given me which allow me to spend my days thinking and typing rather than tearing my muscles apart trying to earn a living.
• The world which God has created for us all to live in.
• My life.
• Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their Godly descendants. These men, chosen by God were the fathers of a great nation of His chosen people.
• God Himself. Without Him, I would have nothing else to be thankful for.

What are you thankful for? You are thankful for something aren't you? Or do you, like the Seattle School District think that Thanksgiving should be a day of mourning?

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