Mr. President:

You are now the Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America. I know so many of my fellow Americans are divided about our presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Please take some time to prayerfully consider our accomplishments in these two countries. Pray and consider the long term consequence if we leave before our job is finished. Allow us to be victorious.

I know we are all called to serve in one capacity or another. Our gifts and talents are given to us by our Heavenly Father. All of us our unique and we follow different paths, but as Americans what unites us, is our love for this country. We are so blessed to call America home of the brave and land of the free.

Choose this day whom you will serve. Joshua 24:15. ~ You have been chosen to be the leader of the free world. As you embark on the task God has placed before you, remember those of us who chose to serve our country in the United States Military.

I remember vividly the images of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. We watched as the planes went into those buildings. Americans stood still that day watching the images, wondering, crying, asking ourselves, "how could this happen to us"? For this generation it was our Pearl Harbor necessary although not an attack on a military base, it was an attack on US soil.

In the days that followed, Americans, and people from all over the world watched the 24 news cycle of this horrendous act of terrorism. We saw the out pouring of grief from nearly every country in the world. While many people focused on the news and as our President had to address the country to calm our fears, there was something else occurring in homes all over our country.

Out of the ruins, a story went untold, almost unnoticed by the media. The story of how many young men and women in their senior year of high school, or others who had graduated in the spring of 2001 were going to their local Military recruitment offices in the cities and towns where they lived, to enlist in a branch of our military. Mothers and Fathers all over America were at their kitchen tables learning that their son or daughter had just enlisted in Armed Services. At first many parents were is shock that we had joined to be a part of the war on terror. There were many questions and many tears which were shed in homes all over this country. But as the realization began to sink in, a swell of pride and patriotism was born, once again.

Some of us made the decision on our own to be a part of a mission. A generation had been awakened and we sensed a call to serve in the war, to defend our country, and our fellow Americans. Those who signed up felt a sense of justice, regardless if we view the war as just, we do feel it is relevant and necessary. There is no greater an honor than to serve my country at this time in our nation's history as a soldier.

As you take your oath as President and say these words: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Some say it is Unconstitutional to for you to say "So help me God", I pray you do.

We take an oath which says: "I (my name) - do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

There are many men and women who have chosen to serve our country in the United States Military which is one of the highest and least appreciated sacrifices that a citizen can make. With service, comes the sacrifice of loving your country, our neighbors, but above all, we love God first.

In 1783 George Washington said in a farewell letter to the Army:

"I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble imitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation."

God Bless You, Mr. President.

An American Soldier