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+--- Thread: a letter of testimonial, our troups are indeed suported by every one.... (/showthread.php?tid=79869)
a letter of testimonial, our troups are indeed suported by every one.... - davetclown - 11-11-2003
[font "Courier New"][size 2]A letter from Will Ross to friends and family. I checked it out and it
is for real.
Maggie
Dear Friends and Family:
I hope that you will spare me a few minutes of your time to tell you
about something that I saw on Monday, October 27.
I had been attending a conference in Annapolis and was coming home
on Sunday. As you may recall, Los Angeles International Airport
was closed on Sunday, October 26, because of the fires that affected
air traffic control. Accordingly, my flight, and many others, were
canceled and I wound up spending a night in Baltimore.
My story begins the next day. When I went to check in at the United
counter Monday morning I saw a lot of soldiers home from Iraq. Most
were very young and all had on their desert camouflage uniforms.
This was as change from earlier, when they had to buy civilian clothes
in Kuwait to fly home. It was a visible reminder that we are in a
war. It probably was pretty close to what train terminals were like in
World War II.
Many people were stopping the troops to talk to them, asking them
questions in the Starbucks line or just saying "Welcome Home." In
addition to all the flights that had been canceled on Sunday, the
weather was terrible in Baltimore and the flights were backed up. So,
there were a lot of unhappy people in the terminal trying to get
home, but nobody that I saw gave the soldiers a bad time.
By the afternoon, one plane to Denver had been delayed several hours.
United personnel kept asking for volunteers
to give up their seats and take another flight. They weren't getting
many takers. Finally, a United spokeswoman
got on the PA and said this, "Folks. As you can see, there are a lot
of soldiers in the waiting area. They only have
14 days of leave and we're trying to get them where they need to go
without spending any more time in an airport
then they have to. We sold them all tickets, knowing we would
oversell the flight. If we can, we want to get them
all on this flight. We want all the soldiers to know that we respect
what you're doing, we are here for you and we
love you."
At that, the entire terminal of cranky, tired, travel-weary people, a
cross-section of America, broke into sustained
and heart-felt applause. The soldiers looked surprised and very
modest. Most of them just looked at their boots.
Many of us were wiping away tears.
And, yes, people lined up to take the later flight and all the
soldiers went to Denver on that flight.
That little moment made me proud to be an American, and also told me
why we will win this war.
If you want to send my little story on to your friends and family,
feel free. This is not some urban legend. I was
there, I was part of it, and I saw it happen.
Will Ross
Administrative Judge
United States Department of Defense [/size][/font]
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Re: [davetclown] a letter of testimonial, our troups are indeed suported by every one.... - releaseit - 11-11-2003
When I came back from Saudi in 92 it was the same thing. Came in on military flight to Homestead. But I was delayed getting back from Florida to Calif. So I was allowed to take civillian flights to Calif, but no direct flight.
I ended up in Texas tired and just wanting to get home. Flight was delayed over and over again due to severe weather plus they over sold flight.
I was sitting there in my dress blues talking to my soon to be wife on the phone telling her I would be home soon and some guy over heard me and we starting talking.
His seat was confirmed, 1st class. He took my normal ticket and gave me his and said get home.
I said I couldn't do that, but I appreciated it. He said I know how you feel, raised his sleeve and showed his USMC tatoo with TD of Korea dates.
So after a handshake and a salute he then walked away with my ticket and I got a 1st class ride home and 1st class treatment.
Very cool individual.
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Re: [davetclown] a letter of testimonial, our troups are indeed suported by every one.... - shewicker - 11-11-2003
That is a good story. It's good to see people appreciate all the hard work that the soldiers have to endure. These are trying times everywhere, but no one has it harder then the troops in Iraq.
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Re: [shewicker] a letter of testimonial, our troups are indeed suported by every one.... - releaseit - 11-12-2003
[size 2]You bethca. Place sucks. Sand, hot weather and bombs everywhere. Not fun[unsure][/size]
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Re: [davetclown] a letter of testimonial, our troups are indeed suported by every one.... - FlyFishingMoose - 11-14-2003
That is very cool! My brother-in-law just came home from Iraq a couple weeks ago after spending most of the last two years on active duty in various parts of the world. He is having a hard time re-connecting with the family because of the changes in their lives. Kids who were just a few months old are now almost 2, his wife has learned how to be self sufficient and her personality has completely changed because he's been gone for so long. It is only now that the soldiers are being given a chance to reunite with their families, to keep the soldiers sane and families together. Lets us all hope that most familiea affected by the war in Iraq remain united.
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Re: [FlyFishingMoose] a letter of testimonial, our troups are indeed suported by every one.... - releaseit - 11-14-2003
[size 2] Those long tour of duties are killer on families[unsure] Unfortunatley sometimes people cannot handle being away from each other and slip up. I am glad not to hear that happening alot.[/size]
[size 2] My tour was very short and I was unmarried and no kids at time. My friend in the Navy just got back from over there after 2 years on and off a ship.[/size]
[size 2] Just when he was close enough to see the California coast they were told they had to anchor out because of the fires.[/size]
[size 2] He said several sailors were ready to jump ship and swim in! Thankfully the Navy had small transports to take them in[cool][/size]
[size 2] But he missed the birth of his first child which killed him and her first 2 birthdays. He is still have trouble dealing with that[unsure][/size]
[size 2] I pray every night for the safe and speedy return of our troops from over there and pray for stregneth and understanding for those families who loved ones are overseas.[/size]
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Re: [releaseit] a letter of testimonial, our troups are indeed suported by every one.... - FlyFishingMoose - 11-17-2003
You were very fortunate, not to have to be over there too long. The real tragedy is that there have been a lot of young soldiers who cannot cope with being away from home and in the combat situation for very long and have resorted in numerous suicides in the enlisted ranks. I only know this because of my brother-in-law was on a crew that had to investigate after one had happened, very
. Good luck and hope you don't have to return
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