[VOA]

Bush has told friends that his dad was all too right, and that he has come to dread the letters.

I hate to admit it, but I didn't really pay attention to that "Pray For President Bush"
thread that seemed to appear often.

This sounds like an item for which Dubya could use some prayer-assistance...

[kayak]

"He was just a politician in my eyes before. Now I know he is a sincere man who told us how sorry he was," Bucklew said. "And that does help."

Changing one heart and mind at a time ....

[Maigrey]

Hmmm. It's interesting that they got Ron Slavenas to comment in the article, when his wife (in an earlier article from a local paper) was slamming the actions of the son and the man who sent him into battle.

(FTR, the wife says that she is a peace activist and didn't approve of her son's actions, and at his funeral, she didn't allow a flag to drape his coffin!)

I wonder how they got quoted for the article.

[CholeraJoe]

How many letters like this did that thieving rat b*stard Democrat Lyndon Johnson write during Vietnam? None. He let cab drivers deliver telegrams to the widows and orphans.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Grieving family members of Soldiers killed in the line of duty, on the President's trip to Baghdad:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It was necessary, but it made us cry," said Stewart Torres of Passaic, N.J., whose 24-year-old bother, 2nd Lt. Richard Torres, died last month when a rocket-propelled grenade tore apart his Humvee outside of Baghdad.

"We started crying because it was something Richard would have loved, the President there with the troops, honoring them," Torres said...

But Bush's lightning trip to Iraq was just a stunt to Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son, Jesus, 20, was killed in March.

"Bush goes and looks like he loves the troops with his posturing," said the grieving father, who will be among a dozen anti-war parents to visit Iraq next week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The President has sent out more than 400 of the letters so far.

 

 

 

        Thank you.                       

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      

[mystery-ak]

1stLtc Brian Salvenas was the Chinook pilot of the 106AVN, my hubby is the 1sgt of that Co. Brian was a great pilot and my hubby thought very highly of him. We attended his prayer service when Mike was home from R&R...

[SuziQ]

It was a brief note, probably a form letter, but the President took the time to thank me and remember Brian's sacrifice, and that does make a difference," said Ronald Slavenas of Genoa, Ill., whose son, helicopter pilot 1st Lt. Brian Slavenas, 30, died Nov. 2. "Nothing makes up for the loss, but it is good to know that he is being remembered."

I don't believe for ONE minute that these are form letters. They may be typed by a Secretary using information given to her, but I believe the President reads, then signs each one individually. I don't consider it a 'form letter' because he's mentioning each soldier's life and career, and someone is having to do research to get that info. That shows a wonderful sense of compassion for the soldier's family.

[tiki]

Presidential prayer bump.

[Mr. Silverback]

But Bush's lightning trip to Iraq was just a stunt to Fernando Suarez del Solar, whose son, Jesus, 20, was killed in March. "Bush goes and looks like he loves the troops with his posturing," said the grieving father, who will be among a dozen anti-war parents to visit Iraq next week.

NPR mentioned these folks this morning. All they said was that a group of military parents was "going over to Iraq to see conditions for themselves." Just by virtue of the fact that they didn't describe the parents in any other way, I instinctively knew that it was an anti-war group publicity stunt. Sure enough...

[fightu4it]

Every wartime president has had to deal with this. Knowing the cause is just is the only comfort. I happen to believe that not only is the cause just but that we had no alternative.

[NorCoGOP]

Bucklew was among the military families who met the President at Fort Carson just before Thanksgiving.

She said Bush's visit to Baghdad was further proof that the commander-in-chief was aware of the sacrifice he was asking from his young troops.

"He was just a politician in my eyes before. Now I know he is a sincere man who told us how sorry he was," Bucklew said. "And that does help."

The President has sent out more than 400 of the letters so far. He will have to write a couple more because two soldiers were killed since his visit, one in Ramadi and a second in Mosul.

But...but...but....Weasley Clark said that the President isn't visiting the families here, only the British families....

....he couldn't be (GASP)Lying, could he?