Posted on 10/09/2006 1:47:08 PM PDT by US admirer
I received an email that I suspect many on FR will have also. For those who have not, here it is:
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 soldier 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 soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldier'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 soldier. 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. signed: Stuart Margel -- Washington, D.C.
Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."
Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."
Minutes after her husband's casket arrived at the Reno airport, Katherine Cathey fell onto the flag. When 2nd Lt. James Cathey left for Iraq, he wrote a letter to Katherine that read, in part, "there are no words to describe how much I love you, and will miss you. I will also promise you one thing: I will be home. I have a wife and a new baby to take care of, and you guys are my world."
Since James Cathey was killed in a massive explosion, his body was delicately wrapped in a shroud by military morticians, then his Marine uniform was laid atop his body. Since Katherine Cathey decided not to view her husband's body, Maj. Steve Beck took her hand, and pressed it down on the uniform. "He's here," he said quietly. "Feel right here."
Impossible.
Among the bravest people in the entire world.
I pray that our leaders do not let that blood be shed in vain and that we get those cowardly 'terrorists' that kill using roadside bombs be made to pay many times more without their allies in the USA/MSM/ACLU/Etc interfering.
Same here.
impossible, now I have to step away.....
Then, don't go to the link.
Awesome pictures and stories. Thanks for posting this
Another reminder of how many much better men than me exist.
In war, we always lose some of our best. Forever indebted for their service and sacrifice.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters Families
ping
Semper Fi
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS
GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES OF OUR TROOPS
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Oh my. May God Bless them and their families...
Thank you for this post, US admirer. God bless our fallen soldiers and their loved ones.
God receive the souls of all those in thy grace felled in battle. Bless the Marine who carried this one home to his wife, and that she and his progeny may also be so hallowed.
And may God continue to Bless the United States.
God Bless ALL that have died for America. May God take care of their families. becacause I ask him in my prayers everyday.
The Rocky Mountain News story that went with this was equally powerful, and also won the Pulitzer. It followed the Marine casualty officer in the bottom picture, Major Beck, and showed what he did with the various families that he worked with. It also went into depth on 2LT Calley's funeral and the incredible bond that the Marines had. If you've got a single piece of heart in your body, you can't read it without crying.
}:-)4
"Land of the free because of the brave"
Oh My Lord, I'm sobbing. As the mama of a new sailor this really tugs at my heart.
That one required a two kleenex alert! Wow, America has some strong people!
Respectful bttt
May God grant him the peace he deserves....
All I can say is..... oh wow.
Why did my screen get all blurry?!
God bless our fighting men. God be with their families.
Interesting....Marines escort Marines.
I saw this a while back.
What these Marines do is beyond my comprehension. Heroes all.
Thank you for showing me this.
Thank you for posting this. I had to go away, pray, hug my little one, and come back to it to say it: thank you.
My heart, my love, my appreciation to his family. May The Lord Bless and Comfort them.
This is a tear jerker. RIP
How Precious, how loving....just no words
Marine Ping
(thank you)
What to say? There are no words. God bless them all.
My eyes certainly aren't dry.
The first photo looks like something Norman Rockwell would paint in his Freedoms' series, perhaps titled "For Some, the Price of Freedom for All".
salute ping
My eyes certainly aren't dry.
The first photo looks like something Norman Rockwell would paint in his Freedoms' series, perhaps titled "For Some, the Price of Freedom for All".
44 posted on 10/09/2006 9:31:12 PM MDT by skr (We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent.-- Ronald Reagan)
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skr definately has it right.
Why even try? I will go to work carrying these images with me all day.
My thoughts and prayers to those who give their all, their service and their best so we may live free.
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