During one my tours in Iraq, a chaplain gave me a Saint Sebastian medal to wear on my dog tag chain. Sebastian is a patron saint of archers and athletes and of those who desire a saintly death. He was also venerated as a protector from the bubonic plague and as a patron of plague victims.

Sebastion was a Roman Army officer who converted to Christianity, which was illegal at the time, and secretly converted many Roman soldiers. When he was discovered, Emporer Diocletian had him tied to a tree, shot full of arrows, and left for dead. A Chrisitan widow rescued him, nursed him back to health, and the first thing he did was return to Rome to preach Christianity right in front of Diocletian. This, of course, got him executed, and now he is a Saint.

Heroes like Sebastion have been sticking it to The Man ever since 283 AD. I'm not Catholic, but I still wear that medal as inspiration ten years later. I never plan to take it off.#wwg1wga