I hope readers of this blog will excuse me going “off topic” about something with no direct connection to campus life, but I didn’t want the week to end without a reflection or comment on Veteran’s Day which was this past Tuesday, November 11. 

While never having been in the service myself, the day is important to me because members of my family have and one in particular - my older brother - still does.  He is a Lt. Colonel and Battalion Commander of an infantry “Stryker” battalion based out of Fairbanks, Alaska, and currently serving in Iraq.  This is his second tour of duty in the Iraq War.  He was a Major and operations officer in the 4th Infantry Division during the early phase of the war, and it usually raises a few eyebrows when I mention that he was a member of the brigade that captured Saddam Hussein.  (Google “saddam hussein + brian reed”.)  The war has been going on for so many years now that he returned to the U.S. after his first tour, began and completed his Ph.D., welcomed a third child, relocated twice, took command of a battalion, prepared for redeployment, and is now in Iraq again for what we hope is only a year.

I’ll stop here, and I know that I am bragging about my brother.  But’s only because his family and our family love him so much and pray everyday for his safety and that of the soldiers he leads and works with.  I’m just a proud little brother.

Regards and thanks to all our Veterans - past, present, and future.