This week's column

It’s precious in a way, the community that lives right under our noses. The part of our community that often lives a world away, protecting those they don’t even know.You see them in town and your heart melts with pride. You speak to their spouses and mothers whose voices ring with a proud tone but their eyes are filled with worry, scared to death.They live here, train here or recently were deployed from here.As a community, we have the privilege to live among soldiers and their families stationed at Fort Knox.Stepping on post has a unique feeling. You’re surrounded by soldiers, clad in camouflage, and something inside just makes you smile.It’s like walking into an entirely different world with a different language filled with anachronism I don’t even begin to understand. But even in that world, there’s a welcome familiarity.These are the men and women you see on the news each day. They are the help in times of national or worldwide catastrophe. They are the ones delivering food to those who have none. They are the ones standing in place of us, fighting for our country.Sometimes I think we forget all this. We take for granted how much Fort Knox not only means to our community but to the world in general.Do we truly realize how much they risk? Do we think of the families that are in a constant state of worry until they return? Do we think about them at all?Over the past several weeks, soldiers have been deploying from Fort Knox to places far from home.I cannot begin to express my gratitude for what they do. And to the families that wait with a constant knot in their stomach until their return — thank you, too.I remember the stories from my grandfather about his service in World War II. The pride he had in his country and the soldiers that came behind him. Thanks to all the soldiers that came before the ones serving today who laid the path to what they are able to accomplish now.To the ones on the front lines, in the tanks, coordinating efforts, cooking, healing, instructing, guarding, analyzing, planning and anything else done in the valor of service, gratitude is given.Two simple words don’t seem to be enough, but also are filled with so much appreciation that the simple utterance carries a weight beyond the verbiage.Thank you.
http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/content/thank-you-soldiers-families-fort-knox