Marty Carroll coached the Pink Lemonades soccer team in Glastonbury this Spring. You couldn't miss them. Yes, even Coach Marty wore pink. I liked it. It always made it easy to find my daughter Brynn and her team of six year-olds. But Coach Marty once wore another uniform; one that never leaves the fabric of the person. When a person is a Marine, they are a Marine for life.

So when Coach Marty asked me to help MC his first ever Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Golf Tournament today at Wethersfield , it was an easy yes. Marty served our country as a Marine. His brother Matt served as a Marine. And their father Tom served as a Marine before them.

All three were there tonight; not to tell old war stories but I am sure they could. No, they were there to help raise college education money for the children of those Marines who didn't make it home. You may not agree with the war, but if you can't support a cause like this or at least respect it, you should move out of America....now.

General Paul Lefebvre was the guest of honor. General Lefebvre grew up in West Hartford and now is the Commanding General for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina. The General has a firm handshake and a firm grip on what is happening in Iraq. His view of the war is quite different of much of what we see on TV and read in the papers.

I've heard enough spin over the years to know genuine positive news from made up propaganda. I believe the General was honest and sincere when he talked about how certain parts of Iraq have been dramatically changed in the last two months. Changed for the better.
He told us of the incredible morale of the troops. And he even told us of 200 Marines who opted to go back for another tour...on their own!

All of this must have been bittersweet to Lou Johnson. His son Lance Corporal Phillip A. Johnson of Enfield was killed in Iraq last summer. He was only 19. Johnson always wanted to be a Marine. He served his country and made the ultimate sacrifice. How can we not support the Johnson family and others like them?

So the next time you are driving by a youth soccer game and you peer out to some middle age man coaching kids, remember this: Not everyone comes home to coach their kids.

So it's our job to make sure their service to OUR country was not in vain. To quote President Ronald Reagan, "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But the Mariners don't have that problem."

See you next year at this great event.