The night I flew out of Seattle for Georgia my cousin was being shipped overseas with the Army. He's only 18 and still Monty the monster with the Buddha belly in our eyes. Being the early bird that I am, I got to spend the day at the Atlanta airport. Now for most people this sounds pretty boring, especially after a redeye flight. But it wasn't so bad… the June World Racers were all coming in, so I got to be the point person for them to meet which is always fun. One of the coolest things though was that there are a ton of troops coming through Atlanta at the moment. The airport people have the troops all line up and make them walk the long way through the airport… it's at this point that half of the people in the airport stop what they are doing and applaud until the last soldier has walked by. Not only did this simple gesture make me proud to be an American, but it also brought a tear to my eye… I only hope that my little cousin was paid as much respect and honor as he left to serve this country, and that he will receive it when he returns home safely in six months. Lord be with Monty as he puts his life on the line for others, keep him and his whole company safe, watch over them, speak to them, make them more into the men and women that you want them to be, and most importantly bring them back home to us when their service is finished.

this is monty when he was still cute and little...