Proud to be an American---A MUST READ

[KT]

I received this on another website and had to share it here---this one will give you goosebumps and possibly bring a tear or two to your eyes, if you're like me.

Subject "Im proud to be an American"


MUST READ.........

"Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two together. After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.



No, he responded.



Heading out I asked?



No. I'm escorting a Marine home.



Going to pick him up?



No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq I'm taking him home to his family.


The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he didn't know the Marine, he had delivered the news of his passing to the Marine's family and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days. I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do.


Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made
the following announcement over the intercom.


"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow Marine. We will then turn off the seat belt sign."



Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American.



So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do.


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 breaking numbers. We
are not organized,
boisterous or overbearing.

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, coworkers, 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.

WE LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE, ONLY BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE!!"

[Seshmeister]

Chain email's suck.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/johnson.asp

http://lighthousepatriotjournal.word...ple-thank-you/


I bet she feels great that American's are more free now?

You must feel very very proud.

[Brett]

Yeah it's not like innocent children have never been killed before in a war. I don't recall your same outcry against the fucks who killed innocent American children on 9/11 Sesh? Interesting.

I bet even perfect old Scotland has killed some innocent children too.

And by the way, I don't want that disgusting picture linked on my web site, if someone wants to find it they can.

[LLFHS]

I bet she feels great that American's are more free now?

You must feel very very proud.

Well that was pretty much uncalled for.

<click!>

Congrats on achieving in one post what usually takes others about four or five.

[ZORBA5150]

That's a great story. I can't believe that tomorrow is the 5 yr anniversary of 9/11. I know it will be a sad day at work on Wall Street tomorrow. I will never forget.

[Seshmeister]

Yeah it's not like innocent children have never been killed before in a war. I don't recall your same outcry against the fucks who killed innocent American children on 9/11 Sesh? Interesting.

I bet even perfect old Scotland has killed some innocent children too.

And by the way, I don't want that disgusting picture linked on my web site, if someone wants to find it they can.

They can't because you deleted it.

I would link you to my outcry to 9-11 at the Army if the posts hadn't been lost.

Who said Scotland was perfect? From memory I think 3 out of the 5 founding members of the KKK were Scottish.

I agree the picture is disgusting, that was my entirely my point.

I have every sympathy for our troops in Iraq but that doesn't mean that I can't be appalled by jingositic bullshit chain emails from 3 years ago.

Why can't we have 'goosebumps and possibly bring a tear or two to our eyes' about a pic of one Iraqi kid out of very conservative estimates of maybe 20 000? A kid that didn't volunteer either.

Nah much better to just not look...

Don't show it.

Don't allow a link.

Lets all just pretend...

If someone posts a holocaust denial thread am I allowed to post pics from Belsen? Just wondering...

This thread is offensive because of it's timing.

9-11 had nothing to do with Iraq. That used to be a political argument but even the Bush regime admits that now. Anecdotally a lot of the servicemen in Iraq are now aware of that too and saying 'hey wait a minute?'

It's a shame that it still hasn't filtered through to a hell of a lot of people in the US though...

Cheers!

:

[Seshmeister]

Well that was pretty much uncalled for.

<click!>

Congrats on achieving in one post what usually takes others about four or five.

Cheers.

I've been here twice as long as you have BTW.

[ZORBA5150]

They can't because you deleted it.

I would link you to my outcry to 9-11 at the Army if the posts hadn't been lost.

Who said Scotland was perfect? From memory I think 3 out of the 5 founding members of the KKK were Scottish.

I agree the picture is disgusting, that was my entirely my point.

I have every sympathy for our troops in Iraq but that doesn't mean that I can't be appalled by jingositic bullshit chain emails from 3 years ago.

Why can't we have 'goosebumps and possibly bring a tear or two to our eyes' about a pic of one Iraqi kid out of very conservative estimates of maybe 20 000? A kid that didn't volunteer either.

Nah much better to just not look...

Don't show it.

Don't allow a link.

Lets all just pretend...

If someone posts a holocaust denial thread am I allowed to post pics from Belsen? Just wondering...

This thread is offensive because of it's timing.

9-11 had nothing to do with Iraq. That used to be a political argument but even the Bush regime admits that now. Anecdotally a lot of the servicemen in Iraq are now aware of that too and saying 'hey wait a minute?'

It's a shame that it still hasn't filtered through to a hell of a lot of people in the US though...

Cheers!

:

All innocent lives lost in war are a tragedy. It really is. But the US (flame away), never targets innocent lives. - thus "Surgical Strikes". The suicide bombers in Iraq and all terrorists cannot lay such claim.

[MikeL]

Things like this make me wonder why people get so emotionally involved in them. On one hand we've got a BS e-mail typed up by someone three years ago that plays off the death of a Marine in order to elicit an emotional response. On the other hand, we've got a guy who feels emotionally involved in a situation he doesn't have a stake in.

I can only think that if people paid more attention to the real things in their lives that deserve care, respect, and a real form of involvement (rather than this disconnected emotionalism) that the world would be a better place.

It's a lot like the wave of false patriotism that followed 9/11 five years ago. How many people that never valued their country in any tangible way bought little US flags made in China by virtual slave labor? When the emotions started to fade, what was left? Partisan politics and a lot of improperly cared for flags. There's as much powerful symbolism in that outcome as anything else resulting from the tragedy that happened five years ago.

[MikeL]

But the US (flame away), never targets innocent lives. - thus "Surgical Strikes".

Of course we target innocent lives. It's a war, and civilian deaths have been an accepted part of war (if not a strategy in and of itself) for almost a century.

We use PGMs because it allows us to make the most of our advantages. We're a country that has an unprecedented technological advantage over our foes. PGMs put fewer of our men and women in harms way while at the same time leveraging all of the advantages that we've worked so hard to develop. Do they cause fewer (not zero) civilian deaths? You bet. Is that the reason for their existence? Not by a long shot.

We've targeted civilians intentionally in the past, and when it serves our needs we'll do it again. That's war.

[ZORBA5150]

Of course we target innocent lives. It's a war, and civilian deaths have been an accepted part of war (if not a strategy in and of itself) for almost a century.

We use PGMs because it allows us to make the most of our advantages. We're a country that has an unprecedented technological advantage over our foes. PGMs put fewer of our men and women in harms way while at the same time leveraging all of the advantages that we've worked so hard to develop. Do they cause fewer (not zero) civilian deaths? You bet. Is that the reason for their existence? Not by a long shot.

We've targeted civilians intentionally in the past, and when it serves our needs we'll do it again. That's war.

Alright, I am not military, and you are/were right? So maybe I'm naive. You tell me. Either way, I think the US of A is a good country that has good interests at heart. And I am still a flag-waving patriot, even 5 yrs after 9/11

[MikeL]

I was. One of the real side benefits to PGMs is the propaganda value. We get to see news stories and video about how a bomb will fall right down the smoke stack of a target.

I'm not saying that we don't try to limit civilian deaths. The military has worked hard on that. Some of our bombs have less explosive content than would otherwise be ideal in order to limit collateral damage as much as possible. Why do we do that, though? It's because we're fighting a war that will be won and lost in the minds of the people who live where we're fighting. If we're going to tell them that we're their salvation, we'd best not kill more of them than we have to.

We carpet bombed in Vietnam, Korea, and WW2. In WW2 we attacked the morale of the enemy people. How did we do that? By killing them--lots of them. If we had to kill them all in order to accomplish our goals we would have.

None of that makes us evil or bad. It is what it is, a war. We need to remember that, as do our critics. Many, many countries and "citizens of the world" enjoy their comfort and moral high ground only because the US is willing and able to do the things that those critics say they abhor. They might not be bright enough to know it or honest enough to admit it, but it's the truth.

[KT]

good LORD...just lock this thread up or remove it then. My bad for posting something that I should've looked up on snopes first. I thought it was a cool story about honoring the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our freedom. I, in no way whatsoever, intended this to become a pro/anti war thread. It is also in no way related to 9/11.

Sesh...since you addressed me I'll now address you. Yes, I'm very proud to be an American (and have always been, MikeL). Now, when you tell me that you lived in America on 9/11 and experienced what my country did in a personal way, THEN and ONLY then will I give your opinions on how I should or shouldn't feel a second thought!

MikeL...thanks again for another patronizing post.

[MikeL]

MikeL...thanks again for another patronizing post.

You're welcome. Did you buy a flag after 9/11?

[Axxman300]

Please don't post pictures of dead children without a few recipies, thanx.