Posted on 06/10/2004 6:18:24 AM PDT by rhema
"I just cannot understand how, after someone has been shot, they are able to get up and keep fighting," President Ronald Reagan said to me about battlefield heroes. " I just don't understand it."
It was Tuesday afternoon, March 31, 1981, and the president was in the intensive-care unit at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, where I was the attending physician.
About 24 hours earlier, a shot fired at Reagan outside the Washington Hilton by John Hinckley had penetrated the president's left chest and stopped an inch away from his heart and aorta.
When Reagan arrived at the emergency room of GW Hospital at 2:35 p.m., he collapsed. At 3:24 p.m., he was taken into surgery, and by the time the surgery ended more than three hours later, after an exhaustive and eventually successful search for the bullet, more than 3 liters of blood - 50 percent of his total blood volume - had been replaced.
The story of the shooting; the controversial, but life-saving decision to take Reagan immediately to the hospital versus back to the security of the White House; the intense minute-by-minute reporting of his medical condition in the operating and recovery rooms; and his joking with the surgeons have often been told.
Less well known are the hours immediately after the president's surgery, when he had recovered sufficiently from the anesthesia to realize what had happened and how close he had come to dying. . . .
< snip >
That evening, when the pain and the exercises had taken their toll, Nancy Reagan brought a minister and his wife whose names I never learned into the room to pray with the president. The lights were low. Mrs. Reagan sat on the bed close to her husband, and the four of them joined hands in an intimate circle. The minister began by saying that at no time in history had more people been praying for the health and recovery of one man.
Standing at a respectful distance, I looked over at the president - head bowed, eyes closed - and realized it was true. Regardless of one's political views, this man had captivated millions by sharing his love of life and sense of purpose with the world.
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
It sounds trite, but......there truly IS a God (with a plan).
I will NEVER forget that day.
Not trite, but very important. In the past several days I have thought and mentioned how timely the Gipper's death has been. It has brought tradition and glory back to this country if only for a fleeting moment. More importantly, it has silenced the violent left.
Another poignant remembrance of a wonderful life.
It has been incredible. I wept watching the procession yesterday, first when the choir sang my favorite patriotic song, America the Beautiful, and then again when Nancy petted and talked to the casket. My wife cried too. I chatted with some co-workers about it this morning.
It has been a good--no, a great thing for America, again thanks to the man. Because he so clearly and definitively stood for American ideals and American virtues, rememeberances of him quite naturally lead us to a contemplation of the goodness of our nation, and of us. And yes, the left can just shut up.
I remember that terrible day as well. The entire world was praying for our beloved President. I also remember the looney left hoping he would die.
Am with you on not forgetting that day! Was in the middle of painting to get the house ready to sell for our move from Ohio to SoCal when my oldest daughter came running in from the family room telling me the President had been shot. She was only four years old at the time, but the news had broken in on a show she was watching with her little brother.
That night we all ate supper glued to the TV waiting for news of the President and his recovery. This time my youngest daughter was on the computer when she got the news that Pres Reagan had died and came into tell me.
Both girls turned out to be Journalism majors with my youngest just starting into Journalism.
Words to live by.
OMG, I had forgotten that! My heart stopped. I don't think I could've stood because my legs were so weak.
I don't think the talking heads realized the emotional impact on the nation when they reported that horrifying and incorrect information.
Should have realized then that the Washington Press Corp and the anchors would report any rumor as news. And they have gotten worse instead of better.
This huge event reminds me of how renewal is possible. Then, now, anytime we muster up the will.
If Reagan can help us renew the nation, why not another President?
I think this is why people are so moved by this funeral. They remember...'Hey, renewal is possible. We've done it once, why not again?'.
BTTT
That's a good point. I think it inspires personal renewal too. It's really made me take a good look at myself and see how I can do more for others.
Agreed.
Regards, caddie
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