In explaining why he ordered two U.S Navy warships to fire dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles into an air base in Syria, the President said that deterring future chemical attacks was a vital American interest.
Just two days before, President Trump said the images of the innocent men, women and children who died in a chemical weapon attack by the Syrian government crossed many lines for him and that he had changed his mind about the dictator president of Syria.
Political observers were quick to point out how different President Trump sounded during his America first campaign and before that when he was a private citizen and suggested getting involved in Syria was not a smart idea,
Both sides will argue about that and both sides will argue what should happen next.
But for the commanders and crews about the USS Ross and the USS Porter, there were no arguments when they got the order this week to send dozens of cruise missiles from their ships into Syria.
And as news came Thursday evening about the U.S missile attack, there were thousands of military personnel in San Diego and on ships and at U.S. bases around the world who were again reminded that they too could get an order like that and be called upon to do what they signed up to do and committed to do…defend U.S national security and its citizens.
Living in the San Diego area, we see these men and women every day and we know many of them and we may have them in our family.
They know that at any moment, they could be called upon.
And what when happened this week in Syria happens, and the arguing about it begins, it is good to know there are these volunteers in our U.S. military who stand ready and willing to respond when needed and to do what’s needed.