Pink is the Color of Courage
Friends were due at my home in an hour for a baby shower I was hosting when I dashed out to get some last minute items at Trader Joe’s. I think I was peering into the frozen dessert section when a guy behind me commented, “I couldn’t help but read your bottom.” Huh? Was this like reading the lines on my palm? You’re-going-to have-a-very-long-life kinda thing based on whatever lines were evident?
“Are you from Hawaii?” he asked to my silence. Then I realized I was wearing shorts with the word “Maui” emblazoned on the back.
“California,” I answered. No time to get into a conversation, but since then, I think twice before heading out of the house with words on my bum.
Spc. Zachary Boyd is likely thinking a bit more about what he’s wearing on his backside these days too. Boyd, stationed with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, was sleeping when Taliban fighters attacked his unit. Comrades leapt into action behind a barricade of sandbags, guns poised. David Guttenfelder, an AP photographer embedded with the unit, captured an image of 19-year-old Boyd and two other soliders. Only thing was, Boyd was wearing his helmut. His vest. And pink boxers that say, “I love New York” on them. In the rush to the battle lines, Boyd forgot to put on his pants.
The photo which appeared on the front page of the New York Times as well as Boyd’s hometown paper, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, is an iconic image of the war today. Sure, the photo brings an instant smile to your face. But the photo does more. It reminds us that the men and women on the front lines aren’t nameless, faceless folks but young men and women with personalities, humor, and dedication in tough circumstances.
Domestic and international news outlets posted the photo along with comments from Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “The next time I visit Afghanistan, I want to meet Spc. Boyd and shake his hand. Any soldier who goes into battle against the Taliban in pink boxers and flip-flops has a special kind of courage.”
Gates went on to speculate about the impact Boyd’s appearance must have had on the Taliban. “Just imagine seeing that: a guy in pink boxers and flip-flops has you in his cross-hairs. What an incredible innovation in psychological warfare,” Gates said.
Memorial Day is over, but the work of our military personnel continue. I spent the holiday weekend with my kids and good friends in the mountains of Central Washington. No worries of enemy gunfire while I hiked in the hills with my children. Just sunshine and blue skies. And a heart full of gratitude for a free country and the soldiers who serve, pink boxers and all.
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I just drove my son to Camp Pendleton today to begin his adventure with the US Marines, so this post was very appropriate. With every attention to detail he displayed, I do pray that he also could confidently protect under similar circumstances. May God Bless them all, and keep each and every one safe from harm.