A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
THE WEB'S LEADING MILITARY BLOG SINCE 2004
I found this essay, written by the father of a deployed Soldier, on the American Legion website. It was introduced into the Congressional Record by Frank R. Wolf, R-Va, on September 16th. It’s a very touching and inspirational story should be required reading by the defeatists in Congress. Here it is:
“Whatever your political take on the war in Iraq, nothing can alter it more than having a loved one in the midst of it. Nor is anyone’s current perspective balanced until they hear at least some things from a soldier’s point of view.
“My wife and I learned these truths when our son, a 2004 Handley graduate, decided to join the Army in 2006. His reasoning was simple: he wasn’t comfortable knowing that thousands of others his age were sacrificing their own freedoms to protect his. When he signed up to join those thousands, it changed our perspective as well.
“Up to that point, it had always been other people’s sons and daughters doing the fighting. Now it would be our own child. Naturally, no one wants their child to volunteer to go in harm’s way for freedom’s sake. It was something of a conviction, though, when my wife and I had to ask ourselves why it shouldn’t be our own son in the Middle East, why we should be spared the rituals of anxiety, prayer, hope and waiting that tens of thousands of other families over here have already endured.
“In early June, we flew to Fort Hood, Texas, to see our son deploy for a 15-month tour in Iraq. Again, one’s perspective is limited until one attends a deploying ceremony for a unit of soldiers. Spouses, children, parents, siblings and friends, all crowding a gym, all clinging closely to their treasures in uniform, accompanied by flags, prayers, cheers and tears. Our son had joined a ‘band of brothers.’ My wife and I had joined the ‘band of others’ who would be waiting at home. Both those going, and those left behind, carry the war on terror in a personal way.
“Still, those of us left behind need to see something of what our soldiers see, and not only what is offered us in the news. To that end, here is one story our son, Luke, shared with us by phone that must be shared with anyone who claims an interest in what our soldiers are doing in the Middle East.
“Stationed outside a city on the Tigris River, Luke had accompanied his colonel into town as part of a security team, while the colonel spoke with a local sheik. While standing guard, Luke noticed a woman approaching from behind and cautiously turned in her direction, his rifle at the ready.
“An interpreter told our son it was OK – the woman just wanted to touch a soldier. Still uneasy, Luke stood still while the woman reached out her hand and touched his face, tears in her eyes.
“Looking to the interpreter for meaning, our son was told that the woman simply ‘wanted to touch the face of grace.’ It seems this trembling woman, like most of the people in her town, looked upon our soldiers as angels of grace, sent by God to protect her from the violence and oppression her people had come to know up to then. Learning this, our son squeezed and kissed the woman’s hand, and she left, weeping.
“The ‘face of grace.’ How many of us, safe at home debating the politics of the war on terror, have ever seen our soldiers in such a light? How many of us have even read such an uplifting newspaper account of our soldiers?
“To be sure, our soldiers are not virtuous simply by being soldiers. At home in their ‘civvies’ they are as un-angelic as the rest of us. Yet when they voluntarily get into ‘full battle rattle’ (as they call their battle gear) in a hot and hostile land, their job is both protective and sacrificial – as angelic a purpose as humans can take on.
“People like this woman, having suffered years of oppression and fear, have eyes and a heart to see this, and the desire to “‘touch the face of grace.’ Do we have the ability to see our soldiers in the same way? And not merely our soldiers: Can we see the ‘face of grace’ in the police who protect us in every town, day and night? Or in the fire and rescue teams who are ‘soldiers’ in their own right?
“My wife and I obviously pray that our son and his ‘band of brothers’ will come safely home to their personal ‘band of others.’ After listening to our son’s experience, though, we have added the prayer that Americans in every community will be given the eyes and heart to see the ‘Face of Grace’ in all who protect our lives and freedoms – especially in soldiers like our son.â€
(43) Readers Comments
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A Call to Arms Against Nigerian Scammers
here is a address one wanted me to send gifts to hAddress : 41 Agbowo
MissBirdlegs in AL
Whew! This should be in every newspaper and on every newscast. We’ll probably only see it here, though. Thanks, CJ.
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Miss Ladybug
Simply beautful, CJ. Thanks for sharing.
Helen Chen
You were right. This is great! Thanks, CJ.
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Antimedia
CJ, I hope you don’t mind. I “stole” this and posted it on Americac2c. You are still my hero and inspiration, and I cry whenever I think of what you’ve done for me.
Paul
wordsmith
Simply beautiful. Thank you for bringing this story to our attention. I’ll make sure it gets more widespread play.
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Mickey
Thank you CJ. What a wonderful post! and thanks for the tissue alert, I have them ready
LL
Man, that was BEAUTIFUL. Thanks for putting this up, CJ.
SK
Beautiful. CJ, thank you for posting this, and especially for being one of those faces.
AFSister
Perfect.
Simply perfect.
Words and feelings that EVERY American needs to hear, but sadly, probably will not.
Maeve
Thank you for sharing.
Honest
Thank you so much, I intend to read this on Freedom Radio.
God bless us all and God bless America.
Dave
Your link was sent to me by an angel CJ.
“Thank you” to both of you.
Dave Day
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David M
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 11/20/2008 A short recon of what%u2019s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
Critical Facts
CF, I’m not letting you defile this one. I realize I’m a little late, but I’ve got a country I’m trying to save and haven’t been able to keep up with the comments on this one. – CJ
Albion Wilde
Thank you for a beautiful post, CJ. Truly, all Christians are charged with being the image of Christ in the world — but how many fulfill that charge?
I don’t know whether he is a Christian; but I know this soldier is a witness for grace. His sacrifice of all the other things he could have been doing at home, pursing material comforts or worldly success, has cut through his parents’ skepticism as well as touched the heart of the grateful woman in the battle zone.
Thank You, Lord, for this U.S. soldier and the many others like him!
Susan Katz Keating
Wow. I hope this one goes viral. I’ll do my part and set up a link. Thanks for sharing this one, CJ.
sue
You know what CF, I don’t care if CJ bans me for this but Go directly to hell. You haven’t got a shred of decency in your body, nor any form or sense of compassion. I scarcely believe you are human. May God show you the compassion that you so lack for others on your judgment day.
CJ I apologize but I have seen him disgrace too many posts that his crap just doesn’t belong on. Thanks for the beautiful story.
Ky Woman
*snif*
CJ, You will be forever be my hero! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. As Susan said, it needs to get out there…A MUST Read.
Sue, sometimes the best course of action for those annoying little gnats is to ignore them. As long as they are encouraged by discourse, they won’t leave. But then again, here in Ky. we have cans of ‘whoop ass’ saved for the likes of CF.
MissBirdlegs in AL
Way to go, Sue!!
DDay
CJ
I was sent the link to your site by an angel.
Thank you to both of you.
Carole
Great post CJ. CF, go fly a kite!
Rita
What WONDERFUL young men are serving our country. God Bless them all and keep them safe until they come home.
NY-David
CF, you don’t get it. The main substance of this site and others like are to emphasize the good work that our troops are doing. I’ve voiced my disagreements previously about whether this war was the right response. But the end result is that we are in it now. Iraq may not like all aspects of our occupation, but they are not only seeing the best of what America has to offer, but seeing us offer it.
NY-David
Isaac
CF,
Then explain to my why AQ is having a bigger recruitment problem than the military?
You may disagree with what this woman did to thank a hero. In terms of politics, such foul heresies can be tolerated, but we are talking about a serviceman here, a person who swore an oath to protect you, so shut the hell up.
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Old Blue
Beautiful.
Judy
CJ, this is absolutely beautiful.
I’m hoping you won’t mind if I copy it as a comment on my blog page. thank you
britsarmymom
More than anyone, I wish I could thank the Iraqi woman for her touch. But I’ll thank you, too, CJ, for extending her reach. Nice Sunday AM gift.
brat
Thank YOU for this one, and my prayers stay with all the “band of others”, who also serve with “The Face of Grace”.
Yes, I WILL be posting this wherever I write. I will do my part to share.
God bless our troops.
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Claire
What an incredibly poignant and touching story.
It reminded me of when my son was in Diyala and a little boy approached him and said “Soldier can you give me a globe of the whole world?” He was taken back by such an odd request, but I reminded him that that little boy was beginning to realize that there is a bigger world around him than the terror ridden streets of Baqubah (at that time any way.) He also knew exactly who to go to when he had a request. He knew the soldiers would be kind and gracious to him as they had been since their arrival in the surge.
I found a bunch of blow up globes and told Mike to keep at least one in his pocket at all times just in case he saw his little friend again.
sue
Claire thats beautiful!! Please tell your son thanks for his service and thank you for raising such an outstanding American!! Prayers for both of you.
brat
Claire ((((((Mrs Hooah!)))))
You really ARE the best! And Mike is a daily testament to how awesome all our troops are: “kind and gracious” indeed.
Thank you.
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Jerry Hogan
I volunteer to write articles about the military for several local papers. I would like to use this in one of the articles. Is that an OK to do so??
JH
Steve M.
Great post CJ. It amazes me that things like this never make the nightly news….or maybe it doesn’t. I’m going to post this on my blog with a reference to this sight.
Jodi
Thanks for the beautiful letter. Americans should read this. Thanks to all of our troops and vets for sacrificing so much for our country.
DeniseR
CJ, thanks so much for a beautiful tribute to our service people. No mother has children to send them off to battle, but to know that someone is appreciating the special people they have become and their constant sacrifices so that we and many others can eat a Thanksgiving dinner in peace with our own families is priceless. Our country is so fortunate to have these special service people in our midst…Let’s take care of them in the future with good medical and mental health care so they can come back home and be happy here too.. We cannot forget their sacrifices, nor their families’ sacrifices. Thanks so much CJ for posting this, we need much more information like this to keep our efforts in perspective.