Andy Stumpf

For the last 20 years, I've taken on new missions to keep going.

Find a wife, check.

Have a couple of kids, check.

Start a business I wasn't planning on, check.

By all standards, I'm crushing life.

The other night at dinner, my nine-year-old son asked me why I went to war and I didn't have an answer.

The young, duty-bound red, white, and blue patriot had been diminished.

The endless wars had taken their toll.

The country I was willing to give my life for in my youth seems shallow and corrupt now.

Politicians and bureaucrats use us as pawns to get wealthy.

I still love the ideals of America and what we are supposed to be, but the blind patriot has long since died.

So I ask you, why?

What was it all for?

Twenty years of war didn't preserve our liberty.

I didn't defeat our enemies.

Personally, I know I helped many good Iraqis, and maybe that's enough.

But when my son asked me why, it didn't seem like a good enough answer.

So in closing, donkey boner, which is the subject line of this email, which is, of course, why I read it.

I saw that and I said, add to cart.

This is a great question.