| Tuesday, April 04, 2006 |
| Where's the Media??? |
For security reasons I won't be able to give dates, times or locations. I have some pictures but I am unable to down load right now. So, I will update this later. But, I had some thoughts and I wanted to share them with you.
I left from Ft Bliss (no secret) heading to Iraq (no secret). I was placed in the first class seating area because I helped load the bags (about 1000 bags). The flight took off and I was wondering if we would get to eat or if I would have to eat some snacks that I packed. Well, to make a long story short - the plane folks feed us every 2-3 hours it seemed like. So, the service was wonderful.
Now, to the eye opening experience. Our first stop was in the North East Area of America. If you know anything about the military, you know that they have no sense of time. Meaning they can't fly during normal hours. So, we landed at this little airport in the middle of the night (actually real, real early morning). As I am getting off the plane and walking down the terminal I start to hear laughing, clapping and cheering. I thought "Those guys are just a little too noisey." Then, as I got closer to the corner I started to hear what sounded like a "celebration" type of excitement. When I turned the corner much to my surprise was a fairly large group of people that I have never seen in my life clapping and cheering for me!!! That's right - for me!!! They had lined up along side of the wall shaking every soilders' hand and saying "Thank you!" There was this little old lady, she must have been close to 90 years old, hugged each and every one of us. My eyes started to tear up. I thought "My goodness, it is in the middle of the night. Why are they here?" So, I asked one of the guys that was there with his wife and 2 kids. I was told the following.."We are here because of you!!!" Talk about making a grown man cry.
Well, it didn't stop there. As soon as I got in the area where the shops were, there was a man standing at a "Troops Stop Here" type of place. He was handing out FREE cell phones. He told me that two companies pay for all the minutes. So, a soldier could call home and not worry about the cost. Once a soldier was finished calling he would hand the phone to another soldier. The companies that paid for this was Unicell and ....(I will have to get back on the other name- I wrote it down, but it is not on me right now). There was also free food (cake, cookies, etc) that was supplied by Sam's. I stopped and watch the interaction that was taking place with the soldiers and the phones. Something that I didn't mention was that another plane full of soldiers also landed there right after us. They had been in Iraq for a year and were on their way home. Naturally, most of us didn't take the phones, we allowed the other group of soldiers to use them. Well, it didn't take long before all the phones were in use. There were still some soldiers waiting to call home. What I saw next just about made me cry, again. Total strangers would walk up to the soldiers and ask "Do you want to call home?" The soldier would respond with "Yes Sir/Ma'am, I am waiting for a phone." Then, these people took out their own personal phone and said, "Here, call home Son. Oh, by the way, welcome home!"
I set there and watch this unfold before me. I was amazed at how much support there was for the troops. As I watched this very touching moment that I can hardly explain, I thought why haven't I seen this on the news. This is a good story and it is news worthy. So, my next question is......Where's the media??? |
posted by Capt. C @ 5:47 AM  |
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| 6 Comments: |
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That was awesome to hear! I'm glad there were people there to do that for you guys. That's truly heart-warming.
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C,
why you wanna make a brother cry at work. That's awesome man. There should be more of that shown...you're right.
Thank God for those people.
I only wish I could've been there to hug you again myself.
Thank You.
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Those people are like angels. If only there were more people like that around the world.
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Hey Tom, I am so glad I looked up your web page and that was really an awesome story. Sorry I never stay in touch much you you will all be in our prayers!
Aunt Diane
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C,
The media is horrible. They are painting a picture of the Bush Administration and the war that has just enough truth in it to hit home. By the way, that's what Satan does. When he speaks, he says only part of the truth. (check out the garden of eden story). At any rate, the media isn't Satan...but the media definitely, like Satan, is not telling the WHOLE story. You are in our prayers. I pray for you almost daily...I also have added you to our church's prayer list. Hang in there! Watch your back! Keep on bloggin!
B
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What a wonderful story. It is great to see such patrioism in the good ol usa. I am proud that you had a good experience and I am sorry for the soldiers that don't get homecomings. We will be praying for you.
Stacy and Dawn Reed
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That was awesome to hear! I'm glad there were people there to do that for you guys. That's truly heart-warming.