A Medal for Bravery

Above is a picture of the soldier that became my clean eating inspiration.  My nephew, Brandon Wayne Dudley, returned from Iraq this past November.  Brandon had drill on Saturday, August 25^th during our family dinner.  He was able to join us at the very end of the day.  Discreetly, in a separate room from all the chaos of the family buzz, Brandon set with Diego and gave to him the medal that he earned while deployed in Iraq.  He explained that the medal is given to soldiers for their bravery in combat.  He said, “I earned this medal for doing something that was hard to do.  Basically, I was in the right place at the right time.”  In other words, he did not seek this mission out, but rather it was bestowed upon him.  Although no one in the family will ever know what he did to earn the medal, I doubt it was an easy task.  And, certainly not a task that most people would feel they were in the “right” place.  In my opinion, that is the sign of a brave warrior.  Brandon continued to explain that he wanted Diego to have his medal because Diego was facing a challenging time ahead that required him to be brave.  I hope that Diego will not see his mission as a hardship, but rather an honor to be a part of a select few called to carry out a task that was hard to do.

A Warrior’s Creed

I am a Warrior and a member of a team

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values

I will always place the mission first

I will never accept defeat

I will never quit

I will never leave a fallen comrade