In December, 1944, the German army counter-attacked in what became known as The Battle of the Bulge. Allied forces were in full retreat. As a tank destroyer from the 7th Armored Division moved west from Salmchateau on the highway toward Fraiture, the commander spotted a lone trooper from the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment digging a fox hole for an outpost near the road. The commander stopped the vehicle and asked him if this was the frontline.
The trooper, PFC Vernon Haught, with Company F, 325th GIR, looked up and said, “are you looking for a safe place?” The tank destroyer commander answered, “Yeah.” Haught then said, “Well, buddy, just pull your vehicle behind me. I’m the 82nd Airborne Division, and this is as far as the bastards are going.”
PFC Haught was Drengr. A Drengr, simply by his or her presence, makes a safe place. A Drengr brings an element of peace and safety into any environment. If they stand behind you, you protect them. If they stand beside you, you respect them. If they stand against you, you destroy them. When people are looking for a safe place, be that Drengr they can stand behind.
In our families and communities, we should be asking, “Are you looking for a safe place? Then get behind me because this is as far as the bad things are coming.” Not only should be creating physical safety, but mental and emotional safety as well. People around us should not only feel safe from physical danger, but safe from verbal, mental and emotional abuse as well. A Drengr has no need to belittle, talk down to, or mistreat anyone in any way.
This type of safety is a rare thing today, but it’s what we’re all searching for. We naturally gravitate to those people who make us feel safe. Be that type of person.
No matter the environment, no matter the situation, people should find safety around us. Are you looking for a safe place? Then get behind me because this is as far as the bad things are coming.