The family of a sailor aboard the **USS Abraham Lincoln** says she “didn’t sign up” to spend months at sea without port calls.
My response: **yes, she did. She joined the United States Navy.**
Ships go to sea. Sailors deploy. Deployments get extended. Families miss birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and months together. None of that is easy. But somewhere along the way, America started confusing **hardship with victimhood**.
The sailors aboard USS Abraham Lincoln are not victims. **They are the heroes.**
As a **20-year U.S. Navy submarine veteran**, I know what military service demands from sailors and their families. Service means sacrifice, uncertainty, long days, long deployments, and sometimes doing something much harder than what was written in the recruiting brochure.
That doesn't mean the Navy gets a free pass. Sailors deserve good leadership, food, medical care, mental-health support, and everything necessary to accomplish the mission.
But serving aboard a warship that goes to sea is not victimization.
And that leads into the bigger discussion in today's livestream:
**America needs thicker skin.**
We've created a culture where discomfort becomes trauma, consequences become oppression, sacrifice becomes unfair, and everybody wants to be the victim.
Previous generations understood something we're forgetting:
**Life is hard. Duty matters. Sacrifice matters. Resilience matters.**
Today we're talking about the **USS Abraham Lincoln deployment, Navy families, military service, personal responsibility, American resilience, national security, and why America needs to stop whining and rediscover some toughness.**
Join the conversation and tell me what you think in the live chat.
**Ben Dykes**
20-Year U.S. Navy Submarine Veteran
Military • National Security • American Culture • Commentary
#USNavy #USSAbrahamLincoln #NavyVeteran #Military #America #MilitaryFamilies #AmericanCulture
