Late last week, I received a package from my soldier in Iraq. I refer to him in the possessive ever since I adopted him through Soliders’ Angel Foundation last March.
The box was bright yellow, covered in smiley face print. My husband and I were like kids on Christmas morning as we opened it and spilled its booty across our kitchen table.
It contained four Operation Iraqi Freedom tee-shirts—one for each of us in our family. Among the other goodies were similarly named key rings and a refrigerator magnet. But my favorite treasure from the box was a collection of photos taken by my soldier, showing him and his fellow troops at work and at rest.
It’s beyond humbling to realize that the soldiers who are risking their lives by standing between my world of comfort and safety and the dark forces of terror that want to blow it apart are “thanking” me. I adopted him so I could express my gratitude for his service and protection , and eight months later, he’s thanking me. Assigned to a dangerous desert, uncounted thousands of miles from home, in the midst of constant peril for my benefit, my serviceman thanks me.
It’s enough to make a grown woman cry.
The December 4 edition of NBC Nightly News carried a story about the survivor members of 9/11 families who are supporting the troops. The kids are making gifts and drawing cards, the adults are packing boxes and shipping them out. It’s difficult to express how refreshing this heartwarming story was to me. After all the naysaying, all the doom-and-gloom, it was a breath of fresh air to see a major network presenting a positive story about our troops. And what made it even more meaningful was that the story was from the perspective of people who understand the military mission the best, people who lost loved ones on 9/11. One fireman’s widow, whose husband had been a U.S. Marine veteran, simply stated that if the positions were reversed, her husband would be the first to help the troops.
It’s long past time we heard this type of message from mainstream media.
I can only hope that this story of support for our troops is a sign of more good news to come from NBC about our heroes in the military. Our troops are fighting and dying for us. Showing support for their dedication and sacrifice is the very least we can do.
We can thank them, but we can never repay them.
