This is that day……that day in your life that you can remember exactly what you were doing…..what the weather was…..what you just had to eat. This will not be a commentary or a rant on the state of the world. I am through with those. I just want you to know about the truth. We have a right to know the truth.

This day I feel detached from CNN and MSNBC and the host of major television networks that show the memorials in NY and D.C. and feel the need to show that fatal day over and over. But the craziest thing….the thing that gets to me now is that on this day I feel like I didn’t do enough for this country. I tried to leave everything in Iraq. I tried to find a way to forget. But I can’t.

I lost friends, people that would stand by my side and take a bullet for me………and some did. I lost a good friend because of this day. He came home without support, with people telling him this wasn’t a real war. And when he felt the most alone he decided this world didn’t need him anymore so he took his own life. I wish I could have replaced his with mine. He had a family……but they couldn’t understand the demons that we all brought back with us. They never will. I have lost everything, even some part of my reality. But if there is one thing that I have learned it’s that I will never give up…..no matter what happens.

I will carry those names in my heart……I will live for those who cannot, for those who have sacrificed their lives because they believed in serving the country that gave them that right. I hope that if you take away anything today it’s the fact that you are still here. Live everyday like it’s a new day filled with hope………….

Will Velez

Dedicated to SGT Francis Vega

You will never be forgotten….