DUTY. HONOR. COUNTRY.

On Wednesday while the rest of us focused on work, school, or the then-up-coming Iowa caucuses, families and dignitaries were sending off the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. In a ceremony at the RCA Dome Hoosier families said good-bye to 3,400 of Indiana’s finest individuals. This is the largest deployment of Indiana National Guard soldiers since World War Two.

The Indianapolis Star has a special web page here devoted to the send off and Guard history.

A special photo gallery of the event is hosted by the Star here.

Here is an excerpt of Congressman Mike Pence’s remarks to the troops:

“I couldn’t help but be struck by how incongruous it is that I should be speaking to you. Our roles today are backwards. It is I and all of us on this stage who should be sitting in your seats, and you before the microphone. It is one thing to speak of courage; it is quite another to be courageous.

“Whatever ability to inspire may exist in us is but faint reflection of what already abounds in you.

“The fact is, it is YOU who inspire ME. It is you who bring me courage. It is you who teach me-and the entire nation-about bravery, sacrifice, commitment, and honor. What it means to be an American. And like all great teachers, you teach not through words, but by example. You go knowing what it means.”

You can read Congressman Pence’s full blog entry about this here.

May God grand the 76th success in its mission and safety in its operations. It is because of the courageous sacrifices and heroism of the warriors of the United States Armed Forces that we have the opportunity to be politically active and involved in the debate of ideas.