Ok, now what you're lookin' for is the "YouTube" she has posted under a title about needing a Kleenex. Unless you have a heart of stone, You'll be thankin' me for the advice of grabbin' a tissue before you watch it.
This vid was especially relevant to me. When I was a little girl, not much older that I am in that picture I have posted, I met a man named Dean. I don't remember meeting him, but I'm sure I did, because he and his wife and little boys went to the same church my fam and I did.
He was an Artillery Captain at Ft. Hood, but his wife, that pretty blond lady had lived in Killeen since she was in Junior High. She and my Mother had been friends. In fact, she was one of the girls who decorated Daddy's car when he and Mother left on their honeymoon!
In 1964, he was sent to a place few people had heard of, it was somewhere in Asia, a little country called Viet Nam. On June 1, 1964, he died there.
Flash forward a few years, that pretty blond lady marries my Daddy. And those little boys become my Steps. I hear stories about Dean and see pictures of him. He was a good man, a loving husband and Dad, a good soldier and a loyal friend. He was also a decorated War Hero.
My Daddy, Mom and all the Steps went to D.C. to The Wall. They all remember him, in big ways and small. Mom still has the reel-to-reel tapes she and Dean traded back and forth while he was in-country. It's heart-rending to listen to those young voices, so full of hope and plans for the future than never came to be. What came to be instead were SONS. Fine Sons who carried his name and memory proudly into the future.
And now, our country is fighting another war. A war causing conflict and protests at home. It causes me great pain when I hear these folks protesting the war because I remember the Vietnamese General and admittedly brilliant strategist, Giap... well here's what I found on Wiki...
For many that recall the Vietnam era, this approach is deja vu. In a recent article in the Washington Times, Arnaud de Borchgrave noted that during the Vietnam War, General Giap relied on the American peace movement to weaken American resolve. That had the effect of turning an American military victory into a political defeat. Former North Vietnamese General Staff officer Bui Tin once said that the peace movement was "essential to our strategy." In America, the open support of Hanoi by Jane Fonda, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark (now head of International ANSWER, which coordinates the largest protests) and others "gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses," Bui Tin said. "Through dissent and protest," the US "lost the ability to mobilize a will to win."
So, even though I honestly believe in the Bill of Rights, I uphold the Protesters Freedoms of Speech and Assembly... I don't think they realise the damage they are doing. They are giving aid and comfort and support to the Terrorists, and the Iranian and Syrian governments that support them. Nancy Pelosi, for starters, should be tried for Treason.
I have some other, personal, reasons this vid touched me. I have a cousin in the middle of his second tour in Iraq right now. When I finish foolin' around on the computer, I'm going into the kitchen and making a batch of cookies for him, my Tall son, and AD, my 8,000th visitor.
I have a niece going through Marine basic training. Although she choose the Marines, rather than the Army, she is going Artillery, like her Grandpa Dean. As she put it, as only an enthusiastic 19 y.o. can, "I'm gonna blow stuff up!" Any bets on where her first duty station will be?
And then of course there's John. Tam told him to come home safe. We ALL want him home safe. And he will be riding that Freedom Bird soon. Thanks, God.
So, please, for my fam, for your fam and friends, for anybody you know who is serving or has served, raise a prayer or a good thought to whatever Higher Power you believe in. And if you can, do it everyday. If it's not too much to ask, include their families and friends in those wishes for protection and healing, too.
Thanks.
