January 17, 2012
Greetings,
Every so often, we have one of those immensely humbling moments in life. Saturday evening was one such moment for me.
For the past five years, Colorado Friends of NRA has sponsored a group of veterans and wounded warriors on a Colorado elk hunt. We have blessed approximately 50 men, who have served their country, with the opportunity to spend a week, all expenses paid, at a hunting lodge, stalking the elusive wapiti.
This year, a local hotel donated a banquet room so we could have a community meet and greet. About 70 people showed up to shake the hands of the veterans and thank them for their service. It was a very touching scene.
I had the honor of presenting one of them with a rifle on behalf of the Colorado Friends of NRA program and volunteers. We got him a beautiful Weatherby NRA Edition rifle with a Leupold scope, a case, and a box of shells. We had all the hunting veterans come up front and introduce themselves. They each told a bit about their military service, and the crowd applauded them wholeheartedly.
Jason was the one they had chosen amongst themselves to receive the rifle. He served four tours in Afghanistan and three in Iraq. He has been shot eleven times. He had to leave the room more than once because he got overwhelmed with it all. We all, as a group, presented him with the rifle, and more than one of those manly men teared up.
He took the rifle, shook my hand, and said ‘Thank You’ to me. He then hugged me and told me “Thank You’ again. Really? He was thanking me? He served seven tours in a battle zone and took eleven bullets … potentially for me … and he’s thanking me for something as insignificant as a rifle? Really?
I truly wish words could express the feeling it gave me. We gave him a rifle, and all of them an elk hunt. Even still, it was minuscule in the scheme of things. Each of those men was willing to give his life, and everything short of that, to protect his country. Serving his country. Loving his country.
It felt good to be giving something back … I just wish it could have been more.
This brings with it a heartfelt ‘THANK YOU’ to all our service men and women from myself, from Colorado Friends of NRA, and from this whole great country that you all protect with your lives. It is not going unnoticed or unappreciated!
Blessings,
~Gwen