Commander Phil Murphy-Sweet

Funeral today for Phil Murphy-Sweet. Phil was our neighbor in California at Naval Housing there while we both attended grad school at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is survived by his wife Cheryl, and three children. Phil volunteered for a six month tour of duty in Iraq and after five months was killed by a roadside bomb, or IED. What a loss. A loss to our country, a loss to his family, and a loss to his friends. My heart goes out to the family...and as I think about this war, its harder. Harder to be sure of anything. A friend of mine at work and I were discussing the war and "what should be our position" and I remarked that while I support the war, I also have some reservations when I put my dad hat on... The more personal this war becomes, the harder it is to think about. As he said, anyone who is either 100% in favor of this war, or those who are 100% against the war - - well, their opinions dont count, because they're not really thinking about the problem. Thats a paraphrase, so I'm not quoting him directly here, but I like the way he framed it -- war is hard stuff - - and patriotism isnt easy either. It takes hundreds of thousands of men and women willing to risk their lives every day to pay for this freedom that we value so much.... and they are glad to do that for us. Its only when you know someone who was called to pay that price, however, that you can really start to appreciate just how much that really costs.

Takes your breath away, doesnt it?

Phil Murphy-Sweet - God Bless You...and Thank You.