Posted on 02/17/2005 4:53:37 AM PST by tsmith130
Edited on 02/17/2005 5:18:32 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Mod note: One for the troops! Bumped to BN for more exposure.
(AgapePress) - Rick from Winona, Mississippi, called my state-wide talk radio program this week. Sometimes, you get a phone call that ought to be read in the broader market.
On the program that day we were discussing the report that some Europeans were disgusted with the Super Bowl commercial of American soldiers getting applause in an airport. The critics thought it too extreme in its patriotism and a possible incitement to further war.
At any rate, Rick (he asked us not to use his full name) called to talk about his experience coming back recently from the fields of war. His words (and they are worth your time reading, only lightly edited):
"I heard you talking about the Super Bowl commercial. I'm a Marine, a re-con Marine. I just got back from overseas, the second week of December, actually. I was injured overseas, so that's why I'm home now.
"But the whole time I was [there, in recovery] we watched the news to see what's going on. And we saw the protests, and we saw what the media was saying about what's going on, and we were worried about what we were actually going to face when we came home. We didn't know what to expect, to be honest with you. From the news media we were seeing, the whole country was basically telling us we're a bunch of jerks.
"I thank God that the troops that are there don't see the news coverage. I thank God every day, because there'd be ten times the number getting killed, just because it would so un-motivate [sic] them.
"Back to the story: there were seven other soldiers that came home with me that day. We flew into JFK, and we were talking on the way back: What's going to happen? What will we be facing? Is it going to be like the Vietnam era, are there going to be people spitting at us?
"We didn't know. We had that much trepidation about it.
"We get into JFK, we step out of the breezeway into the main terminal, and directly in front of us was an elderly gentleman carrying a bag. And he immediately stopped, set his bag down, and the first thing we all thought was, 'Oh, Lord, here we go already.' He just stopped and looked at us for a second, and then tears came to his eyes and he saluted us.
"And -- I'm breaking up now [editor's note: with tears] -- every one of us just started crying like babies. Everybody in the terminal -- I kid you not, at least two to three hundred people -- just started clapping, spontaneously. To me, it was so much worth what we were doing, to realize that people over here actually get what we were doing. We weren't over there because it's fun. We're over there doing a job.
"When I saw the Super Bowl commercial, I just started bawling like a baby again because that was something totally unexpected. We had no idea that people actually appreciated what we're doing, from what we see on the news. We thought we were going to come back and get eggs thrown at us. It was so refreshing to know that what we were seeing on the news is just a bunch of garbage that's being concocted by the media, that 99.9 percent of the country doesn't believe that way.
"I have a couple of more months of recovery. I got hit with a concussion and have some internal damage, but I'm feeling up, doing well, and hopefully I can get back over there with my boys."
It caused some tears in this talk show host's eyes to know there were tears in his. Appreciation, smiles, handclaps -- they can go a long way when a nation is at war, regardless of what the media and some Europeans might think.
Matt Friedeman (mfriedeman@wbs.edu) is a professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary. Respond to this column at his blog at "In the Fight."
Sorry but as a former Recon Marine, this misspelling (or whatever you call it) "re-con Marine" sure is close to a subtle insult to me.
Yes I know it was done simply out of ignorance, but I do get tired of ignorance from "news" reporters.
It has been on the Dallas NBC5i news that a group of people are at DFW to meet most of the flights - to welcome home the troops. The videos they have shown are very similar to the Super Bowl ad.
Misty monitor here..It really , really happens..I know they had a waiting list for volunteers who wanted to meet the troops arriving at DFW.
There is already a tissue alert on this one.
Finally, a POSITIVE story, and very touching! Pound sand, media dinosaurs!
This is true, and it appears to be growing thanks to an effective grass roots effort...
Our priest announced two weeks ago that our church has been asked if we were interested in providing the same type of support to arriving soldiers at DFW toward the the end of the month. I plan to be there, and from what I've heard it's always crowded...
The MSM becomes more irrelevant with each passing day.
And now I'm crying too.
bump
They don't like that it's happening, they are that filled with hatred.
Here's the link to "Applause"...
http://www.budweiser.com/commercials_05/select_media.html?c_id=3
Get the tissues out!
This is sickening. Not only because it's the perception of the troops, but because I firmly believe it is the deliberate intention of the media to discourage our military.
I agree with you that it's sickening. But apparently, from what I read, it's 'really happening'...which means the media's efforts aren't working.
Indeed. . .and a bump.
It took forty years for the Libs to understand how awful was their treatment of VietNam Vets when they returned. How now. . .the Vietnam era Vets are now heros - thanks to John Kerry, of course; but whatever. . .
/ / . . .and all the while, they are doing the same 'dump on' our current Military - despite their lame protestations that they 'support the troops'. . .
These wars are different; the only thing the same is the Libs hateful response to the men and women who must fight them.
Uh, thanks I think. I didn't see the ad until I downloaded it. I didn't heed the tissue warning, and now I'm a mess.
Those scumbags who spit on GIs and called them "baby killers" are quiet, for the most part, but not gone. Some are in Congress (guess which party)and countless others are lining up to begin feeding at the public trough (Social Security, Medicare, etc). Don't forget them, and don't ever let them presume to speak for the rest of us.
Yes, I am happy to say, it really DOES happen! I volunteer at an airport USO and I've seen it happen. Often a family or friends come in to our Lounge and tell us that a soldier is about to arrive. We all stop and go out to meet him/her. I've seen people also stop and cheer when the Trooper arrives. Unfortuntely there still are the jerks who insult our Troops and spit, but it's not as bad in the VietNam era. THANK GOD and keep up your support!!
Tears of joy for our young marines!
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