Independence Day

He was a medic for 5th group special operations on a mission to find a couple of terrorist. 4 SF teams were involved in this mission as it was a high priority target, two teams covered the perimeter of the building while the other two teams were to breach the building at street level and at roof top. The building was a hard target so this was the reason for the large amount of personel involved with the mission. As soon as the street level team started to breach the building shots rang out and a couple of team members went down. Medics were on the ground tending to the wounded while the terrorist were on the roof still firing down on the wounded personel. As a medic attended to a fallen brother a team member observed the individuals on the roof and he started for there location to neutralize the threat. He stepped out onto the roof in the heat of the battle with no regard for his own safty, just the safety of his team members that were in harms way down on the street. He executed the mission, took out the target but was shot and killed in the process. That night two team members were killed and seven injured. It was September 12 2003 when he died in a far away land, he laid down his life for a brother. SFC Bennett was to leave Iraq the very next day to go home! He left behind a wife and son.
Today I attended a memorial service for SFC Bennett, The Army renamed the compound after him in his Honor. This is one of many stories that most people will never hear about, SFC Bennett died for his country doing a job most will never understand or don't want to hear about. In that slit secound, the dicision he made cost him his life, but in turn he probably saved the life's of several men under his command.
On this 4th of July the reality of freedom rang clear to me. Men like Bill have paid the ultimate price for the freedoms I so love. We live in the greatest country in the world, there is no other place I would want to go. If anybody ever questions what they have or the places they can so freely go as an American, remember men and women have fault and died for this Nation never asking for anything in return.
The next time you see a veteran, young or old shake there hand and say thanks, they may not understand the reason why but the least we can do as a society is thank them for a job well done.