Dan Calabrese

One of our own is about to leave for the front in Afghanistan, and our prayers go with him.

Hero.

Gregory D. Lee, a 57-year-old grandfather who enlisted in the Army as a military policemen in 1972, has been called to active duty – and to his first-ever combat tour – in the Afghan theater.

As Greg wrote in his column on Friday, he’ll have the advantage, serving as a Chief Warrant Officer Five at his age, of being recognized as having no career ambitions or other hidden agendas. He is respected by senior officers, and everyone will understand that he simply does his job and tells it like it is. (Sort of reminds me of Dick Cheney.)

We may not have another column from Greg throughout his year of duty, although I won’t be the least bit surprised if he we do. The problem, of course, is that active-duty officers are not allowed to say the sorts of things you’ve come to expect in Greg’s columns, so he believes anything that could pass muster with military brass would amount to little more than a puff piece.

Either way, his slot here will be waiting for him when he comes back.

Greg’s job in Afghanistan will be to head up an analytical team dealing with terrorism intelligence, so he’ll be in a unique position to, as he says, give Al Qaeda and the Taliban many headaches. We pray that he does so effectively and safely, and that his homecoming this time next year is every bit as happy as that of his son, U.S. Army Infantry Captain Christopher B. Lee, about whose return Greg wrote with great pride and joy.

Few of us in the commentary field are actual heroes, so we’re proud to have Greg as one of our colleagues. I’m not sure how much of his activity he’ll actually be free to report, but even if we never know a lot of the details, I have no doubt that what he’s headed over there to do with serve to advance freedom here and abroad, and for that we can all be thankful.

Greg, I hope you can feel the power of our prayers from halfway around the world, for safety and success. We’re eagerly anticipating your return.

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