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Letter to Bush Saves Wedding Day (AF Reservist allowed to come home for daughter's wedding)
Press Enterprise ^ | 8/17/03

Posted on 08/17/2003 6:35:41 PM PDT by Born Conservative

For the Press Enterprise

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — When bride Sarah Stout rolled down the aisle in her wheelchair, she was escorted by her father in full dress uniform, just home from the war in Iraq.

Getting to the church had not been easy for either of them.

Sarah, 21, granddaughter of the late Casper Stout of Berwick, was born with cerebral palsy. Her father, James Stout, raised her and her brother as a single parent.

"As a little girl I never imagined I would have someone that loves me or (have) a wedding day."

That's what Sarah wrote in a letter to President Bush last spring, asking if he could intervene so that Tech. Sgt. Stout could be sent home from the war in time for his daughter's wedding April 26.

Sarah said it took her about three hours to type the letter to the president. Due to her condition, she could use only one finger on each hand.

"My father worried whether or not someone would look past my disability to accept me for the person I was," Sarah told the president. "Luckily, someone did."

That's why she wanted to share her big day with her dad, a 56-year-old Vietnam and Desert Storm veteran who raised his children alone since Sarah was 3.

Stout, who works on electronics in airport cockpits, had shipped out to Iraq with the 920th Rescue Group on March 7, less than two months before his daughter's wedding. Fighting in Iraq began March 20.

Sarah's letter to the president was routed through channels from the White House to the Department of Defense, according to a story by Corey Schubert in the newspaper Florida Today, Melbourne.

Such requests are granted on a case-by-case basis and are not decided or influenced by the president, a military spokesman explained.

Sarah, who is studying graphic design at Brevard Community College, was born with the medical condition that hinders her speech and has kept her in a wheelchair for most of her life. Cerebral palsy, which doesn't threaten her life, develops as a result of a disruption in normal brain development.

Sarah became engaged to Mike Forrester, 23, a security guard, after they had been dating for about a year, she told Florida Today. He gave her a gold engagement ring during a horse-and-carriage ride last year, and they decided to marry April 26 in Ormond Beach, just north of Daytona on Florida's Atlantic Coast.

When her father was deployed, Sarah said she strongly considered changing the date. She had timed the ceremony to take place while her father was home between two-month stints that he'd been serving in the Middle East for more than half a year. But then came the war.

"She talked to her dad about changing the date and he said, 'Go ahead with the wedding, honey,'" said her grandmother, Mary Stout. Many of the wedding expenses had been paid already, and more than 200 guests had replied to invitations.

Sarah's backup plan was to be escorted down the aisle by her brother James Jr., a Marine corporal stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

When the big day came, she had two escorts, both in full dress uniform.

Sarah's late grandfather, Casper, was born and raised in Berwick and is survived by a brother, Daniel, and nieces and nephews, including Dawn Edwards, who shared Sarah's story with the Press Enterprise.

"The Titusville community fell in love with Sarah and her plight," Edwards wrote. "Her request to President Bush made the news, in print, on the airwaves, and on the Internet.

"One television anchorwoman arranged for her makeup artist and her hairdresser to do Sarah's hair and makeup for the big day.

"And so as not to disappoint the thousands of people who followed her story, the television station televised the entire wedding."


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: 920threscuegroup; airforce; bush; militaryfamilies; reservists; stout; titusville
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1 posted on 08/17/2003 6:35:42 PM PDT by Born Conservative
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To: jeffsher
What a wonderful story!
2 posted on 08/17/2003 7:03:12 PM PDT by yooper
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To: jeffsher
Her father must have been so proud.
3 posted on 08/17/2003 7:07:11 PM PDT by McGavin999
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To: jeffsher
I do really appreciate her father's and her brother's service to our country, and to this young woman. I'm glad they have had this special time together at her wedding.

I will save my opinion about single parents in the military for another time.
4 posted on 08/17/2003 7:18:09 PM PDT by ChemistCat (It's National I'm Being Discriminated Against By Someone Day.)
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To: jeffsher
How truly heartwarming, symbolic, and special. What a nice outcome.
5 posted on 08/17/2003 7:20:51 PM PDT by RightOnGOP
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To: All
There's a photo of the bride and groom at http://www.floridatoday.com/war/warstoryA48963A.htm
Can some kind soul please post it on this thread?
6 posted on 08/17/2003 7:22:36 PM PDT by jigsaw (God Bless Our Troops!)
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To: jigsaw

7 posted on 08/17/2003 7:26:34 PM PDT by kAcknor
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To: jigsaw
The happy couple

Sarah and her Dad

Lovely, heartwarming story.


8 posted on 08/17/2003 7:28:04 PM PDT by deadhead (God Bless Our Troops and Veterans)
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To: ohioWfan; rintense; Mo1; kayak; Miss Marple
A ping for a great story
9 posted on 08/17/2003 7:33:08 PM PDT by MJY1288 (The Enemies of America can Count on the Democrats for Aid and Comfort)
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To: jeffsher
Very touching!
10 posted on 08/17/2003 7:34:12 PM PDT by Arpege92
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To: MJY1288
Thanks, Mike! A really wonderful story!
11 posted on 08/17/2003 7:38:19 PM PDT by Miss Marple
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To: All

Sarah Stout with her fiancé, Mike Forrester, says she is elated her father Tech. Sgt. James Stout will be able to attend her wedding.

12 posted on 08/17/2003 7:41:56 PM PDT by deadhead (God Bless Our Troops and Veterans)
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To: jeffsher
You can't tell me the Prez didn't make this happen.
13 posted on 08/17/2003 7:42:45 PM PDT by mystery-ak (The War is not over for me until my hubby's boots hit U.S. soil.)
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To: All
Tech. Sgt. James Stout

14 posted on 08/17/2003 7:43:25 PM PDT by deadhead (God Bless Our Troops and Veterans)
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To: jeffsher
Great story to close out a Sunday night!
15 posted on 08/17/2003 7:48:48 PM PDT by txzman (Jer 23:29)
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To: mystery-ak; MJY1288; ODC-GIRL; mtngrl@vrwc; patriciaruth; McLynnan
You can't tell me the Prez didn't make this happen.

I totally agree, mystery! He put the wheels in motion.....I'd bet on it!

Great story, Mike! Thanks!

16 posted on 08/17/2003 7:54:19 PM PDT by ohioWfan (Have you prayed for your President today?)
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To: ohioWfan
Sarah's letter to the president was routed through channels from the White House to the Department of Defense, according to a story by Corey Schubert in the newspaper Florida Today, Melbourne.

Such requests are granted on a case-by-case basis and are not decided or influenced by the president, a military spokesman explained.

Doubt he ever saw it, but good story nonetheless

17 posted on 08/17/2003 7:57:48 PM PDT by billbears (Deo Vindice)
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To: billbears
Maybe......maybe not........but if DID see it, he'd do something about it.

Even if not, the attitude in the WH comes from the top. You can bet that a letter like this would end up in the wastebasket in the xlinton WH. The fact that it was sent to the Pentagon indicates a lot of care from someone.....

In any case, I love a happy ending........ :o)

18 posted on 08/17/2003 8:04:19 PM PDT by ohioWfan (Have you prayed for your President today?)
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To: deadhead; kAcknor
Thanks for posting the photos!
19 posted on 08/17/2003 8:08:14 PM PDT by jigsaw (God Bless Our Troops!)
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To: ohioWfan
We will never know if President Bush had any influence on the decision or not, Because even if he did, he would never admit it publicly, It's not his style. I remember reading a story by the Governor of Pennsylvania asking President Bush to attend the ceremony for the 9 coal minors who were rescued. The Governor said he thanked President Bush for having the Navy fly in 9 Hyperbarric Chambers in case the minors were to develop the Benz on the way up out of the mine. The Governor said the President Bush turned down the inbvitation and said "This is your day, my presence would take that away from you"
20 posted on 08/17/2003 8:08:53 PM PDT by MJY1288 (The Enemies of America can Count on the Democrats for Aid and Comfort)
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