ten years ten years is a long time a decade and in many ways it seems so far in the past in some ways it doesn’t seem so far away at all it isn’t hard to remember being deployed in Ramadi Iraq in the summer of 2006 and yes sometimes that seems like a distant place a long time ago and yet sometimes it feels like we were just there yesterday the sweltering heat the dust the danger the crystal-clear focus on our mission when we had but one purpose in our lives to close with and destroy an evil enemy bent on destroying us and our way of life and it doesn’t take much for the mind to return there to regain that mindset to get into the combat mode and remember remember the operations out in the city remember the tracer rounds in the night sky explosions shaking the earth the weight of body armor and weapons and gear on our shoulders remember the stress and the violence and the sweat and the blood and remember the evil the pure evil that infected the city and committed savage vile and disgusting acts of mortal sin murder rape and torture inside that dark world a world ripped apart by war a world war sometimes humanity seemed all but lost that is where we got to see and experience the polar opposite for the counter to all that darkness against that backdrop of evil we young men we band of brothers we got to witness light and life and love so strong that it makes the darkness fade and makes the evil cower and hide its wretched face evil boughs down when it sees the bond we developed with the soldiers and Marines we fought alongside evil cannot contest the bond we formed with our brother SEALs with whom we become so close that there is no stronger force in the world nothing more powerful nothing more meaningful than knowing that these men these frog men that we would do anything for each other we saw powerful acts of heroism and courage on an almost daily basis which reassured us solemnly that good would triumph over evil and amongst all that glory there were a few men the true heroes the ones that rose above the rest of us to symbolize and personify courage and faith and selflessness and love mark alan lee was one of those rare men one of those heroes one of the few men my life that i literally described as a saint that is who mark was a mighty warrior whose ferocity and combat was perfectly balanced by faith and humor and compassion a man that left his mark on everyone that he met a mark of happiness and positivity and of humility and of joy a man whose love for his family and friends was so unbounded and so limitless that you could actually feel it emanating from his heart and now he has left his mark on the world mark Lee Mark Alan Lee when faced with fear who else could bring a smile when faced with sadness who else could bring laughter when faced with hate who else could bring love and when faced with death who else could stand and say take me Lord not my brothers I will be their shield now from death take me and let them live on and that is what Mark did full of youth and energy and courage and humor and full of love he stood he stood against evil and he stood against death and he gave his life for his brothers and for our freedom on august 2nd 2006 in our Ramadi Iraq ten years ago ten years ago and in those 10 years think of all that has happened in our lives big events like marriages children born birthdays new houses new jobs new careers and small events a morning surf session lunch with your buddies a weekend in the mountains a cold iced tea on a hot summer’s day smile a laugh life joy happiness in every moment of that happiness is a gift a gift a gift given to us by mark who sacrificed everything for us who gave up his own precious smile so we could all have ours now I can tell you without a shred of doubt that on this day today mark would not want tears he would not want sadness he would not want sorrow he would want smiles and laughter and joy because that was his gift to us every smile every laugh every ounce of life and love is all a gift from a warrior a friend a comedian a son a brother a hero a saint and what do we owe mark for mark each and every one of us must relish the gift that he gave to us and cherish each and every day while remembering the incredible man that gave us this gift of life and to the seals that are listening the frog men you Oh mark what we owe all our fallen brothers the grave commitment to carry the fire to hold the torch and hold it high to take the fight to the enemy every chance you get without mercy and without remorse until they are vanquished and there is peace thank you Mark we will never forget you god bless Mark’s family god bless the teams god Bless America and God bless mark Allan Lee
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