Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Reply From The Troops

There are many things I've never done. I've never picked up a rattlesnake. I've never eaten haggis. I've never ridden a bull. Up until yesterday, I never received a letter from Afghanistan.

The 715th Military Police Company, currently deployed at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, replied to the letter and candy that the girl scout troop sent them in November.


It was so exciting to open the letter. Those boys and girls are putting themselves in harms way for us, and for them to take a moment and acknowledge our support of them...well, it was pretty special for me.

Cassie read the letter to me and I welled up. Heck, I'm welling up typing this. She didn't get it. To her, it was a piece of paper with some cool pictures of the troops and the beautiful snow covered mountains. To me, it contains pictures of sons, brothers and fathers. I'm so proud of our troops and cannot begin to fathom their sacrifice for us. I hate being away from Angie and the kids during a three day business trip. I could never imagine the heartbreak of being away for a year. Not to mention that every day their lives are in danger as they carry out the orders of our commander in chief. I don't care if you agree with them being over there, or not. You gotta appreciate what they do.

I did a google search for "715 mpc" and learned that the 715th Military Police Company is part of the Florida Army National Guard based in Melbourne, Florida. They deployed on June 24, 2008 after a "short fuse" deployment (three months notice instead of the normal year notice). Knowing where their from makes it feel like I know them a little better.

And, I'll remember that as I pray for their safety.

SL

2 comments:

Travis Erwin said...

Very cool.

The Jon-Paul Lessards! said...

Good work! BTW, I know two little Daisy Scouts who are a few patches short on their tunics. And a troop leader who may be a few cookies short of a box ;)