In March, 1997, I took my first tentative steps onto the Internet highway. Within days I was experimenting with search engines and book marks. Confessing now that I had given little conscious thought to the POW/MIA issue until then, I nevertheless found my self using POW and MIA as my primary search criteria.
I don't know what I expected to find and was actually somewhat surprised to find myself typing that into the little text box. But there were several 'hits'.
One of them was Gunny's.
And I was hooked.
I created my first home page and adopted my first POW/MIA. But it wasn't enough for me, so I sent Gunny another email asking if there were anything with which I could help. I've been fortunate to be a part of Operation Just Cause ever since.
But some things have not changed.
My home page and most all of my pages are still about our POW/MIA's and they always will be. I promised Gunny that I would be involved 'for the duration'.
That's one promise that will be kept.
That is the perspective we have to take.
We must accept that what we are after will not be accomplished soon. We are making a difference and we can increase our efforts and our impact. But it must be done with the knowledge that we won't get the job done any time soon.
But We Will Get It Done!
Our best tool is our commitment. If you have adopted a missing hero, you should have written a letter.
Write another one. And another. And another. Don't just re-send the first one. Rework it. Add a spark of life to it. Get your elected officials to recognize who you are; who we are. If you resent being 'issued' a canned response to your letter (if you even got a response), make sure what you send isn't a canned letter. E-mail is fine but a written letter has more impact. Spend the 32 cents. (and send the e-mail, too!)
It is the commitment of each of us that makes us stronger and more united. If we stay focused on our goals, even though we may need to be far-sighted to view the final conclusion, we can achieve them.
I want to thank everyone involved with Operation Just Cause. Each of you is an important link in the chain we are forging.
We're a lot bigger now. A LOT bigger! And we are growing more everyday. (This morning, 'POW' generated 30,558 'hits' using Excite!) We are making changes within Net Operations to keep up with the changes that our size requires. If you find yourself wishing there were more you could do, and you have some time to commit, let me know.
Operation Just Cause...for as long as it takes.
God Bless you all.
