The Soldier and the Boy

From: Cissell, Brian A.

Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006, 7:10 a.m.
Subject: WHAT A DAY!

All, I tell you, you can never predict what the day will bring. Some days are rough, some are odd, some good & then there are some that you will never forget. Yesterday was one of those days that I will never forget as long as I live. … What happened to me yesterday outdoes all of the photos I have sent and all the stories I have told to you about my experiences over here.

The day started off as any other, planning the mission, briefing it, and heading out the gate. It was about 120 degrees and we had been on mission for about 3 hours. Everybody was miserable and no one in the community was cooperating. It was just a plain old bad day. The kids were the usual, always there to get a toy or candy. I was not in the mood that day to be pleasant, so I separated myself from the group passing out the gifts and just pulled rear security.

I even told kids to keep away, but this one child who appeared to have Down syndrome just kept watching me. Every time I moved, he moved. He was literally like my shadow. I pointed to the guys giving out gifts and told him to go to them and he shook his head no. I just looked at him like what do you want.

Now here is the part that just broke me down. He slowly walked over, looked up at me, stuck out his hand and said, in English, “Thank you for making me safe!”

I didn’t know what to say. My words just stuck in my throat. All I could do was smile and do my best to keep it together. He wouldn’t even let go of my hand. He just kept looking up at me and shaking my hand. I mean what do you do? It was absolutely the best thing that could have happened to me on that day or even on my whole tour over here, totally unbelievable.

I didn’t know it at the time, but one of the other guys had a camera and caught the moment. During de-brief the unit was showing slides on the projector for the day’s mission and this photo popped up. I lost it and I had to walk out of the room. It took me several minutes to shake it off. Unbelievable!! Remember this picture/moment every time the news tells you about all the bad going on over here! We are absolutely making a difference, even if it is only one step at a time!!! I hope all of my last 15+ days go this way. See you all in August. WOW!!!!
Courier Journal Louisville, KY

h/t: Bandit36
These stories have to be shared. Our soldiers are the most compassionate, caring, wonderful people and this is just more proof of that!

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20 Years Ago Today

Twenty years ago today, I married the love of my life!

Edmund Blair Leighton “Signing the Register“

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Fall is Falling

The trees are just starting to turn here. The air is getting a little crisper and the days are getting shorter. I love fall!

Photos from e-mails/unknown sources. If they are your photos, let me know so I can give you proper credit!

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Latest Fortune Cookie

Guess I should have read this one again before I ranted in the previous post.

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

I’ve just got to remember there are things that I can do (support the troops) and things that I can’t (get politicians to give up their pork and wasteful spending)!

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Help Needed Now!

This is a story that I posted a week or so ago and sadly, it is not the only one.

Here is the story. I would relate it, but you really need to see the story as it was written by “SC Eagle”. It is heartbreaking.

Here is a request. I only wish that I were able to help. I will send prayers, maybe you can join me as well as help them in any other way you are able.

UPDATE: SC Eagle came into the chatroom at Andrea and Mark’s radio show today (9/18) and expressed his appreciation for the outpouring of prayers and love and cards. He said he just wanted to say how thankful he and his family felt, though he did say he would much rather give then receive!

This is a way that we can thank SC and his family for his service and their sacrifices on our behalf. It will allow them to have the gift of time together as a family. Please donate, send prayers and cards, it’s all important! Thank you.

There is also Bill Faith. He’s a veteran who is having problems as well. His story is here.

And then there is this soldier who is fighting for the lives of his children.

My point is that there should be some way to help all of them. Why can’t SC Eagle get hospice care for his wife? The military insurance should be excellent and cover situations like this! Why can’t Bill get extra aid so that he can set his house in order? Shouldn’t there be legal aid to help this other soldier get custody of his children?

These men and women volunteer for duty. They put their lives on the line, not for the money, not for the glory but because they believe in what they are doing. They are fighting for this country! And at the same time, congress is cutting their benefits or cutting back on veteran and family programs and for what? For their bridges to nowhere? For abominations called 9/11 memorials (i.e. Arizona’s “memorial”)? For bike paths? Don’t you think we should fight for our soldiers? We should call our congressmen and senators and tell them they need to take better care of our soldiers! We need to get these stupid pork programs squashed and put that money where it’s really needed…in aid to our soldiers and their families!

How can our soldiers do their job if their families are struggling at home? How can they recover after injury, if the programs aren’t there? Something has to be done and done NOW!

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“The Interview”

The only thing I could think as I watched Bill Clinton turning red and sticking his finger in Chris Wallace’s face was (to paraphrase Shakespeare), “Methinks he doth protest too much!”

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Sunday Beauty

In honor of the new look here, I thought I would post a beautiful painting instead of my Silly Signs. This is Song of the Angels by one of benning‘s favorite artists, William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Trackbacked to the beautiful pictures at Angel‘s place!

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What Do You Think?

I was getting a little tired of the previous look and thought I would give it a change. I kind of like the green. It will give a nice contrast to my roses on the side bar. I wish that I could put roses where the design is at the top, but I like it overall because it still gives the “old fashioned” feel to it. Oh, and it looks right whether you use I.E. or Firefox. I have been fighting with IE for hours now! Grrr! So, until I can figure out the problem, this site is best viewed in Firefox! Please let me know what you think!

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So Apropos

No other words are necessary.

Paul Nowak 9/22 Townhall

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Be An Angel

Our soldiers and their families have multiple avenues to have letters and packages sent to them. There’s my favorite, Soldiers’ Angels, there’s Adopt-a-Platoon, there’s America Supports You and there’s Any Soldier. There are probably more, but these are the biggies! They can use the support of each and every one of us to help keep up the morale of our soldiers. However, there are soldiers who are only getting letters from maybe their family and friends and they could use our help as well. They are the British soldiers, those serving alongside our troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And because the War on Terror is so unpopular in England, they don’t get the moral support that our soldiers do. So, if you have a spare minute, send them a card and let them know how much we appreciate them as well!

For those serving in Iraq:
British Soldier
c/o G1 Branch
HQ MultiNational Div (SE)
Basra, BFPO 641

For those serving in Afghanistan:
British Soldier
c/o G1 Branch
HQ Helmand Province Task Force
Camp Bastion, BFPO 792.t

Blackfive has more information here.
National Review has information here.

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