briar's Journal

Subject: Will You Give This To My Daddy
 
As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support
'Red Fridays.'

Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a
conference. While I
was in the airport, returning home, I heard several
people behind me
beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned
around and witnessed
one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever
seen.

Moving thru the t erminal was a group of soldiers in
their camos. As they
began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost
everyone)was abruptly
to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.

When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being
applauded and
cheered for, it hit me. I'm not a lone. I'm not the
only red-blooded
American who still loves this country and supports our
troops and their
families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for
these young
unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line
everyday for us so
we can go to school, work and home without fear or
reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my
country or of our
service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6
or 7 years old ran
up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and
said 'hi.'

The little girl then asked him if he would give
something to her daddy
for her.

The young soldier, who didn't look any older than
maybe 22 himself,
said he would try and what did she want to give to her
daddy. Then
suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this
soldier, gave him the
biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on
the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's
name was
Courtney, told the young soldi er that her husband was
a Marine and had
been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was
explaining how much her
daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier
began to tear up.

When this temporarily single mom was done explaining
her situation, all
of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second.
Then one of the
other servicemen pulled out a military-looking
walkie-talki e. They
started playing with the device and talking back and
forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier
walked back over to
Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to
your daddy and he
told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this
little girl that he
had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He
finished by saying
'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more
than anything and
he is coming home very soon.'

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably
and as the young
soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her
mom. I was
standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire
event.

As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their
gate, people
resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding
and looked around,
there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That
young soldier in
one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a
kiss to Courtney
with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and
their families and
thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of
the day, it's
good to be an American.

RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many
people wearing
Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support
our troops used to
be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer
silent, and are
voicing our love for God, country and home in record b
reaking numbers.

We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. . We
get no liberal
media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our
opinions. Many
Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply
want to recognize
that the vast majority of America supports our troops.

Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our
troops with dignity
and respect starts this Friday -and continues each and
every Friday
until the troops all come home, sending a deafening
message that.. Every
red-blooded American who supports our men and women
afar will wear
something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United
States on every
Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football
game in the
bleachers.

If every one of us who loves this country will share
this with
acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It
will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and
it will let our troops know the
once 'silent' majority is on their side more than
ever; certainly more
than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we
do to make
things better for you?' is...We need your support and
your prayers.

Let's get the word out and lead with class and
dignity, by example; and
wear something red every Friday.

IF YOU AGREE -- THEN SEND THIS ON.

IF YOU COULDN'T CARE LESS THEN HIT THE DELETE
BUTTON --- IT IS YOUR CHOICE.

Happy New Year!
Cheers,

"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for
you,
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the
American Soldier.
One died for your soul; the other for your
freedom."
God Bless America and her troops.