This is one of those good old e-mails that keep popping up. I just had to share it with you all again.
Will you give this
to my Daddy?
As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support 'Red
Fridays.'
Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference.
While I
was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind
me
beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed
one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving
thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they
began
heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone)was abruptly
to
their feet with their hands waving and cheering.
When I saw the
soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and
cheered for, it hit
me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded
American who still loves
this country and supports our troops and their
families.
Of course
I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young
unsung heroes who
are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so
we can go to
school, work and home without fear or reprisal.
Just when I thought I
could not be more proud of my country or of our
service men and women, a
young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran
up to one of the male
soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.'
The little girl then asked
him if he would give something to her daddy
for her.
The young
soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself,
said he would
try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then
suddenly the little
girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the
biggest hug she could
muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little
girl, who said her daughter's name was
Courtney, told the young soldier
that her husband was a Marine and had
been in Iraq for 11 months now. As
the mom was explaining how much her
daughter Courtney missed her father,
the young soldier began to tear up.
When this temporarily single mom
was done explaining her situation, all
of the soldiers huddled together
for a brief second. Then one of the
other servicemen pulled out a
military-looking walkie-talkie. They
started playing with the device and
talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the
young soldier walked back over to
Courtney, bent down and said this to
her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he
told me to give this to you.' He then
hugged this little girl that he
had just met and gave her a kiss on the
cheek. He finished by saying
'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves
you more than anything and
he is coming home very soon.'
The mom
at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young
soldier
stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was
standing no more
than 6 feet away from this entire event.
As the soldiers began to
leave, heading towards their gate, people
resumed their applause. As I
stood there applauding and looked around,
there were very few dry eyes,
including my own. That young soldier in
one last act of selflessness,
turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney
with a tear rolling down his
cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their
families and
thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the
day, it's
good to be an American..
RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon,
you will see a great many people wearing
Red every Friday. The reason?
Americans who support our troops used to
be called the 'silent majority'.
We are no longer silent, and are
voicing our love for God, country and
home in record breaking numbers.
We are not organized, boisterous or
over-bearing.. We get no liberal
media coverage on TV, to reflect our
message or our opinions. Many
Americans, like you, me and all our friends,
simply want to recognize
that the vast majority of America supports our
troops.
Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with
dignity
and respect starts this Friday -and continues each and every
Friday
until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that..
Every
red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear
something red.
By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the
United States on every
Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football
game in the
bleachers.
The USS Ronald Reagans homecoming to San Diego from the Surge Deployment - April 2007. Proud Mom in law of a NAVY sailor, and a proud supporter of our men and women in uniform.