On November 13th, Greg Drobny ships off to Fort Benning, Georgia for Basic Training in the United States Army. He joins an army of over one million soldiers, about half of which are active. In these troubled times, Greg puts forth the only thing he can offer - his life - for the sake of freedom and the American way. By St. Patrick's Day of next year, he could be ensconced in Kabul or Kandahar.

There is a puny possibility that Greg could end up being stationed in cozy Honolulu after all is said and done, but in light of worldwide terror, he'll likely be shipped off to the Middle East after he has completed all of his training. He's going Airborne Rangers and his bravery (not many people are all that excited about jumping out of airplanes) will be better tested in the hotbed of the Middle East than in the tantalizing waters of Hawaii.

Not that Greg wouldn't do the Pacific. After all, this is a guy whose previous adventures have taken him as far as Thailand and Costa Rica in the pursuit of something he never knew or understood. I always liked to think he was on an amateur round-the-world surfing tour with no definitive end. You could call it "seeking thyself" and that may help explain why he is 28-years-old and just now discovering a likely path to take.

The only thing that seemed to be truly concrete for Greg was the fact that "normal life" was not suitable for him. That nine-to-five, punching the clock, going to work to make money for someone else just isn't his thing. And I applaud him for that because it takes all types to handle the different functions that make this great country prosper.

When we chatted about popular opinion and citizens' standpoints on military service (most people, it seems, would rather not go and have a let-someone-else-risk-it attitude), Greg said, "Well, someone's got to do it and I don't have any problem with it." This is an interesting statement coming from a guy who I thought, at one point in time, might have nothing more in his future than answering those "Smoke Pot Get Paid" ads in the back of the New Times.

Godspeed, my friend. At a time for giving thanks, I’d like to thank you for being one of those guys who isn't afraid to stand up and say, "I'll go."