Even stock car racing’s strongest detractors have to agree that NASCAR has shown respect to our country’s military personnel in various ways, most notably their inclusion in the pre-race ceremonies. Anyone who has been at a track and broken out into gooseflesh while watching a flyover knows what a rush that is to experience.

I have been in the garage area for various races, and seen the military personnel who were scheduled to be a part of the ceremonies prior to the singing of the National Anthem walking through the pits and garages. Their upright stature and pristine uniforms inspire patriotic reverence in those who see them.

I am grateful to have been too young to have been aware of the times in the 70s when a certain segment of the American population showed disdain to our Viet Nam veterans. Now I am married to a veteran from that war, and he tells me horrific stories of people’s disrespect and outright hatred for the returning veterans from Viet Nam. I cannot understand how hatred of the war twisted into fervent feelings of hatred for the young men and women of the military who put their lives on the line in a country on the other side of the world. They were over there protecting the very people who were spitting on them in airports upon their return. I pray that this inconceivable treatment never be repeated in our country’s history.

Partly due to my discomfort with that time in our history, as well as having had various family members in the military (including a step-son, Chad, who served in Iraq in recent years), I have come to deeply respect and admire our country’s service men and women. I pray for their safety and strength; and for their family members and friends.

I know that there are plenty of these service people that are NASCAR fans. I would be happy to put stories about them on the pages of cawsnjaws. If you are in military service and are a NASCAR fan (or if you are a family member or a friend of one), please contact me at cheryl@cawsnjaws.com. I would be happy to place a picture of you, as well as where you are stationed, what NASCAR driver you root for, and any NASCAR stories you may have, on this website. If there is a group of you somewhere in the world who all watch the races together, I would be happy to place group pictures and information on here as well. If this idea takes off I will even happily devote a whole section of the website to you, our honored military personnel.

Godspeed to our service people everywhere.