The Alamo

San Antonio, Texas.
1836 ~ Remember The Alamo.

On our caravan trip across the US our friends Trevor and Roni took us to the Alamo in San Antonio.  Surprisingly, it is situated in downtown San Antonio.  For many years it was sadly misused or neglected.  This is what it looks like today.

The Chapel of the Alamo Mission is known as "the Shrine of Texas Liberty."

Street view of the barracks.

Entrance to the mission chapel.

The water well underneath the Live Oak outside the barracks.

Interior view of the long barracks.

Heroes - Travis and Crockett

The monument for the Alamo heroes.

While we were browsing around The Alamo Gift Shop, I noticed a young, wounded soldier seated in a wheelchair.  I nearly overlooked him.  Then I stopped and really looked at him.  I decided to approach and shake his hand and thank him for his service.  I learned that his name was Cody and that he was wounded in Afghanistan. 

I inquired as to his injuries, and he described that he had taken a bullet in the chest.  The trajectory had caused the bullet to pass through his trachea, lung and spine and had left him paralyzed from the waist down.

G noticed me talking quietly with the soldier and came over to thank him also and take the time to hear his story.  Trevor and Roni joined us and we stood in a group around Cody. 

Suddenly, Cody dropped his head and told the rest of the story.  He had been holding back.  He revealed to us that he had been wounded by "friendly fire."  The bullet had come from someone in his unit...a friend...who had been messing around with a 9mm pistol and accidentally discharged the weapon.

Our already saddened hearts deepened with sympathy.  Cody said that he was glad to be alive just the same and that he was going to go home soon and "just live."

I am thankful for our troops; for their honor and dedication.  I don't take lightly the fact that they face danger and a very real enemy and that they sometimes make the greatest sacrifice in laying down their lives for their country.