[SandRat]

Got this at work in an email and don't know if it's true but I hope it is as much as a child hopes that Santa Clause is real.

All I can say true or not is - sniff -sniff! I must be catching a cold.

[The UnVeiled Lady]

I got it too, and I agree, I hope it is true... But half way thru I thought it was about Hillary holding up a plane for a long time. I was THRILLED when I got to the part about it being Marines. How wonderful!

[The UnVeiled Lady]

I got it too, and I agree, I hope it is true... But half way thru I thought it was about Hillary holding up a plane for a long time. I was THRILLED when I got to the part about it being Marines. How wonderful!

[jern]

Truth, unknown.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/comehome.asp

Sounds good, though, and I expect nothing less from grateful Americans.

(thought this was going to be a first-person account of the plane being held for Hillary, on her way to her west-coast book signing.....)

[kimmie7]

Shoulda put a tissue alert on that one. I must have the same cold.

I too hope it's true. And if it's not, I don't want to know...

[Leroy S. Mort]

'Bout time. I can recall boarding a plane in uniform in SF in '72 and not getting such a warm reception.

[freedumb2003]

*doink*

Yeah, I was expecting some self-serving celebrity or a politiican.

Thanks for the reminder that what we think isn't always so. I usually fly first class (I am a Consultant so I fly cross-country weekly), and if I am so fortunate to be delayed by such a fabulous group of folk, I'll trade seats with one of them (let them choose), and I'll be happy and proud to sit with the ones I have the priviledge to be with from the swap!

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

(please pass the Kleenex box -- your cold is contagious)

[yankeedame]

My little story isn't nearly as touching as this, but about 10 or so years ago we (and everyone else on the jet) were flying back home from a (military)tour of Germany. It was a long flight.

We'd just started to circle the Philly AP - our first touchdown in the states - when the pilot crancked up the intercom and out came Chuck Berry's "Back in the USA"*

The everyone on the plane went wild! Hooting,whistling, cheering! It's like a light switch had been switched on.
(grin) Even to this day I never hear that song without breaking out in a big grin.

* Back In The USA

Oh well, oh well, I feel so good today,
We touched ground on an international runway
Jet propelled back home, from over the seas to the U. S. A.

New York, Los Angeles, oh, how I yearned for you
Detroit, Chicago, Chattanooga, Baton Rouge
Let alone just to be at my home back in ol' St. Lou.

Did I miss the skyscrapers, did I miss the long freeway?
From the coast of California to the shores of Delaware Bay
You can bet your life I did, till I got back to the U. S. A.

Looking hard for a drive-in, searching for a corner caf
Where hamburgers sizzle on an open grill night and day
Yeah, and a juke-box jumping with records like in the U.S.A.

Well, I'm so glad I'm livin' in the U.S.A.
Yes. I'm so glad I'm livin' in the U.S.A.
Anything you want, we got right here in the U.S.A.

[MediaMole]

I talked with a soldier who just returned from Iraq. He was very surprised when he arrived with his unit in Maine and the plane was met by a huge cheering crowd. The unit just landed there to change planes and had no connection with the community.

[Chemnitz]

Let me tell you one that happened in front of my eyes. We were dining at a nice restaurant when a bunch of men and women in uniform came in. My wife and I had lunch discussing how much we thought of our military people, past and present. She got up and disappeared for a moment. She went around and shook hands with every single soldier. She missed a woman who was not in uniform, so they pointed my wife to her. She said to each one, "God bless you for fighting for us."

When I run into someone in class or on the Internet who is military, I always say something about it. We owe a great debt to these people. We should never tire of expressing it.

[Steely Glint]

Lucky guys. When I flew home from my war all I got from civilians was abuse.

[SandRat]

Ping!

The replies are as good as the post.