Dog of Fallen Navy SEAL Refuses to Leave His Master’s Casket

I remember reading a message on a notepad years ago that said, “If you want loyalty, get a dog.” Well, although those words were meant to be sarcastic, we came across a story that tugged at our heartstrings and definitely showed us how loyal a dog can really be. This story moved us to tears, but no doubt teaches us a lesson about how animals also mourn a loss.

Petty Officer Jon Tumilson, a U.S. Navy SEAL, was killed on August 6, in an Afghanistan helicopter crash that also took the lives of 29 other American service members. His funeral was held in Rockford, Iowa where friends and family members remembered the wonderful, dedicated and brave person that he was. Even more heart wrenching was a photo of his dog Hawkeye who laid on the floor in front of his casket and refused to move during the entire service.

The type of compassion and loyalty this dog obviously felt for Jon Tumilson is truly a lesson many of us need to connect to. Whenever you lose a loved one or a dear friend, whether expectedly or unexpectedly, your heart feels heavy and very sad. Fortunately, Hawkeye will not be orphaned or alone with his and sadness. He was willed to Scott Nichols, one of Petty Officer Tumilson’s close friends who looked after Hawkeye when Jon was deployed overseas. This is noble and charitable. Charity is love.

"The disposition of noble dogs is to be gentle with people they know and the opposite with those they don't know...How, then, can the dog be anything other than a lover of learning since it defines what's its own and what's alien." ~ Plato

A Lesson Learned from Rachel Beckwith

I think practically everyone has been touched by the story about 9 year old Rachel Beckwith, who suddenly died in a tragic traffic accident in July.

In lieu of getting presents for her 9th birthday (June 12), Rachel requested that people send donations to help build water wells in Africa for people who do not have access to clean drinking water as we have in the United States. Her goal was to raise $300. As modest as that amount may seem to many, to a 9 year old that was a lot of money.

Although she came short of her goal by $80 for her birthday, Rachel was not discouraged but determined to find better ways in her efforts for her 10th birthday. When an unfortunate traffic accident claimed her life in July, amazingly, the word got out about what she was doing and more people began contributing to Rachel's pool of donations for Charity: Water. As of this writing, over $1.1 million dollars has been raised in her memory.

Now, the lesson here is not about a 9-year-old little girl raising money to donate to a charity. Having compassion for those who may not be as fortunate as many and using the resources that you have to make a positive difference in their lives is the key to understanding this lesson. You don't have to be a celebrity, nor do you have to be a millionaire to make a genuine, heartfelt, positive impact to help others, regardless of how young or old you may be.

By paying it forward in an unselfish and loving way, you can teach others more by doing, instead of just talking about it and wind up doing nothing at all.

Manners: Do They Still Exist?

During my formative preteen years of being in elementary school, if a teacher, another person in authority or even a neighbor saw us doing anything inappropriately or being somewhere where we should not be, then you can rest assure that we would have to answer to those charges when we got home. By the grace of God, and fearing the inevitable punishment of what we could face if we were found guilty of any wrongdoing, made us choose to walk the straight and narrow more than we cared to. Now that does not mean we were perfect angels. Believe me, we made our share of mistakes and did some silly things that we look back on and wonder what were we thinking. However, the thought never occurred to us to overtly disrespect authority, our elders, our teachers or other adults who tried to teach us to do the right thing.

Of course, we had some adults who violated the boundaries of being the appropriate leaders and protectors of our children. For those who took indecent liberties with children, abused them or did something to intentionally disrespect their families, they have to pay the price for such injustices sooner or later.

Today, it blows my mind and boils my blood to hear young children throwing temper tantrums and going beyond disrespecting authority, adults and their parents. As my mother used to put it when we were growing up, “Where are your manners?” I hear how children talk back to their parents with no obvious chastising or repercussions and think how on earth they avoid immediate punishment of some type. Now, I am not one for abuse, albeit many parents today would think that how we were disciplined 40 or 50 years ago was child abuse. During that time I was subjected to being spanked or feeling the sting of a switch or belt around my legs a couple of times. Experiencing such disciplinary actions were constant reminders that you do not have to remind me to stop doing something wrong repeatedly! I get it!

However, I am very disturbed to hear and watch the behavior of so many kids today having no fear of punishment for their blatant disrespect and wrongdoing, while watching parents use the negotiating approach versus the disciplinary approach. I cannot put all of this blame and attention on these kids without first finding out what type of parenting their parents do. If they are frequently disrespecting their parents in public, then what will they do to others? How will they behave and respond to authority, rules and regulations as they grow up?

We are held accountable for our decisions and behavior. The expletives I hear used so loosely out of the mouths of young kids absolutely blows my mind. Are many parents trying just a little too hard to be a friend instead of a mother, father or guardian? Are we allowing children to tap into any form of communication without properly monitoring what they watch, read or engage into? Are there other external factors shaping and influencing how our children think and behave? Little things I clearly see some children get by with because people thought it was cute, could oftentimes turn into a notorious habit that terrorizes others.

Manners still exist, but the degree and frequency of respectability and politeness needs to increasingly snuff out and override the ill-mannered.