Last weekend my wife and I and my son's family spent a couple of days in Chico visiting my daughter and her family on the occasion of her 40th birthday. We stayed at a pretty nice hotel there. While we were checking in, a large contingent of army personnel came into the lobby; camouflage, desert boots, backpacks and other neat stuff, especially neat to my five year old grandson. He was standing in a sea of huge (looked like kids to me) soldiers and he was awestruck. His mother, my daughter-in-law, encouraged him to say hi, which he eventually, shyly, did to one young G.I. That kid, in a gesture my grandson will remember for the rest of his life, ripped the velcroed American flag from his shoulder and handed to the little guy.
My grandson held that flag all weekend and when he gets home, his mother is going to sew it onto something very special for him.
What a kind, proud gesture. You can't help loving these kids that fight our wars.
Don
That's great
An not as rare as some would think. This all volunteer force is made up of some fine young men (and women too). In church Sunday morning a young Marine, just back from Afghanistan, sat with and held his grandmother's hand all during the service. May God bless them all.
Andy
That's great
I totally agree.
Jerry
That's great
I had one of my 11 yo nephews out to see what I did for a living. He was interested but spent the day talking about his future military career. He and his twin brother are pretty amazing military historians, like savant level. When the rain set in we broke for lunch and I recalled that there was a recruiting center a few blocks away. I asked him if he wanted to meet a Marine. "A real Marine?" he asked. You bet. we finished lunch and drove the the recruiting office. When we entered, a Master Sergeant straight out of central casting stepped out of his office and asked if he could help us. My nephew was completely gobsmacked. This guy was 6'5" and his shirt was painted on, I swear. A better representative of the Corps, I am sure, does not exist in our area.
My Nephew couldn't say much but I asked Sarge if he had a bit of swag for my future Marine (Officer, of course). He loaded us up!
A great experience.
That's great
A few years back I did a house stake out for a gal. As we talked she mentioned that her husband was on his way home from is last tour in Iraq.
I completed the survey and sent them bill for $0.00 with a note that said thank you for your service. A few weeks later I received a unit coin in the mail from the soldier. Its about 2 ½” in diameter and one of the prettiest pieces of metal I’ve ever seen. Not knowing quite what it was, I asked about it and was clued in somewhat. I tried to return it realizing that it had more value in his pocket than mine but he refused to take it back. To this day it’s one of my proudest possessions. I got the better deal.
That's great
> A few years back I did a house stake out for a gal. As we talked she mentioned that her husband was on his way home from is last tour in Iraq.
> I completed the survey and sent them bill for $0.00 with a note that said thank you for your service.
My dad was a former Air Force Officer who worked as a consultant for defense contractors after he retired. He traveled a good bit for business and it was usually to cities with a large military presence. After 9/11 and up until mid 2007 when he got to sick to work, whenever he went into a bar or restaurant in the evening he's stand up and ask if anyone had been or were scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq and then tell them that as long as he was in the place, their money was no good. I honestly think he picked up in the neighborhood of $10,000 - $15,000 worth of tabs a year.
That's great
I've bought several meals in restaurants for soldiers, sailors, and marines, while out on the town myself.
As the parent of two soldiers (son is currently in Afghanistan), I can tell you that the soldiers really appreciate the recognition.
There's not many things that will bring tears to your eyes faster than watching your son or daughter walk down the steps into a airport lobby after departing a plane and hearing the applause and cheers from the people in the airport.
