A Salute to Service

I have a good friend -- one I haven't seen in many years, but a good friend nevertheless -- serving in Iraq. His name is Lt. Col. David G. Bellon. I met David during law school, where we both enjoyed talking about politcs, religion and world events. I had been awed by David's decision promptly after graduation to "upgrade" his Marine JAG commission to active duty status when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Dave had a patriotic streak a mile wide, but this was astounding.

Dave served well and safely during the first Iraq campaign, and returned stateside where he continued to serve, married and had kids. Later he started a law practice. So when the second Iraq campaign began, I was surprised to learn that Dave "re-upped" to go lead and fight. Upon reflection however, I shouldn't have been surprised. That patriotic streak of Dave's, which I had mistakenly believed to be a mile wide, was apparently much larger.

To my knowledge, Dave has been serving in Iraq since the earliest stages of this campaign. I, and many of Dave's other friends and admirers, think about him frequently and wish him safety and success in his mission.

If you want to learn a little more about Dave, you can visit a website which, I believe, was set up by his family: http://www.thegreenside.com/

Godspeed, Dave.