A fellow soldier sent me the tribute “Blood of our Heroes”. I decided to run it on
Christmas day because this Christmas has taken on a special significance for many of us.
For those of you who have never visited the Cup Scene Daily before: I’m not only the
sole webmaster for this site but I have been connected to the US Military for almost 23
years. First with the US Air Force and currently with the US Army. My unit recently
learned that we will be deploying to the Middle East, most probably Iraq, perhaps
Afghanistan, in March. Don’t worry I’m not giving away any secrets here, this
deployment is public knowledge.
So this Christmas means a little more to us than others because there is a chance that for some of us, it could be our last. That’s okay, because we all took an oath to “defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic” and we will go wherever the call might take us and whatever sacrifice we might be called upon to make.
I wanted to not only honor those brave men and women who have given their lives in
defense of our freedom and our way of life, but to also remind all of us why were
conducting our current operations. I also include as heroes those men and women who
unwillingly gave their lives at a place in New York we call Ground Zero.
What does that mean for me? Well there’s still a chance I may be left behind, I was
injured in our last deployment and am not fully healed yet. I may be retired medically
before then, or “I could just suck it up and drive on” , as I say : a motto I’ve used many,
many times over the last 23 years.
I’m torn between watching those 18-20 something kids go over there and me being left
behind to having my 6 year old son ask me why his daddy has to leave again. Besides, as
I learned on the last deployment, I’m getting too old to be playing in any “big sandbox”,
running around dodging packages on the side of the road.
What does all this mean for the Cup Scene Daily? It means that if I do go the site will
either be put on hold or I’ll try and find someone to run it for me, a decision I won’t have
to make for a month or so.
I will try and be at Daytona, if I can convince NASCAR to issue me credentials: that I am
running a legitimate news site and am a legitimate journalist ...a battle all it’s own, trust
me.
Until then, I’ll enjoy Christmas with my kids and I hope you will too, never forgetting
those brave men and women who gave their lives in defense of our Freedom and our way
of life.
The regular page will be back tomorrow in it’s entirety
Never forget the “Blood of our Heroes”.
Greg Engle
Editor Cup Scene Daily
December 25, 2003
Todays' front Page can be found here