Posted on 05/02/2007 9:13:54 AM PDT by IrishMike
It was just a regular, black-inked ballpoint pen that President Bush used to sign his veto yesterday, instead of his usual personalized Cross pen. The pen was a gift from the father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq, who asked Mr. Bush last month to use it when he vetoed a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. Robert Derga, of Uniontown, Ohio, gave Mr. Bush the pen after an April 16 speech by the president at the White House. Mr. Bush invited a number of "Gold Star Families" -- families who have lost a U.S. military member in Iraq -- to the speech, and met with them afterwards in the Oval Office. Mr. Derga, 53, had brought the pen with him. It was the pen he had used to write letters to his son, Marine Cpl. Dustin A. Derga. "It was just a common run of the mill ... I don't even remember the brand name," Mr. Derga said, in a phone interview last night. "It was just a $2 pen. Nothing special." Mr. Bush met with the Dergas and other families for about 45 minutes, and spoke directly with each family. "I looked the president square in the eye," Mr. Derga said. "I looked at him and said, 'Mr. President, if this Iraq supplemental comes down to a veto I want you to use my pen to do it.'" Mr. Bush "kind of looked at me funny for a moment and then said, 'Absolutely,' and then handed the pen to his assistant," Mr. Derga said. "He assured me he would use it," Mr. Derga said. Dustin was killed in Iraq on May 8, 2005, while leading house-to-house searches in Ubaydi, Iraq. He was 24.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Robert Derga is a hardass.
That is one great American.
W is up there too ............
From the article
.
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“Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Derga was shutting off his computer at work, around 5:30, when he received a call from Jared Weinstein, Mr. Bush’s personal aide.
Mr. Weinstein was calling “to tell me that the president had signed the veto with my pen.”
“They wanted to again give their heartfelt condolences on our loss of Dustin,” Mr. Derga said. “I was pretty blown away is one way of putting it. I couldn’t believe he actually did it.”
AWESOME . . . BTT!
HUA!
Great and uplifting article! Thanks for posting!
All I can say is thank you Mr. Derga....thank you for everything....
HOORAH!
Now, that’s the real American backbone we’re talking about! A true American, strong, sacrificing and unwavering. Makes you want to go out and slap a Democrat! God bless Mr. Derga, God bless our troops and GW and God bless America!
A slap in the face to Fuhrer Pelosi and the Surrender Caucus...
Gee....
I wonder WHY we haven’t seen that reported breathlessly by the MSM??
(is it sarcasm? Or is it Memorex?)
I'd like to b!tch-slap Hillary and Obama with the same open palm, and just slightly miss John Edwards, knowing the breeze would mess up his 'do and he'd cry just the same.
Excellent!
Great post !!!
To be covered by the New York Times, ABC, NBC and CNN at a later date.
[/sarcasm]
Thank you to President Bush for doing this for a Gold Star Dad. Our W is always a class act.
ping
Now that made me feel good. Cool!
ping
This story needs a Kleenex alert.
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