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."
Lovely, heartwarming story.
I totally agree, mystery! He put the wheels in motion.....I'd bet on it!
Great story, Mike! Thanks!
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
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)
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