Ohhhhhhhh Brandy. I know what you mean! I've hesitated many a time to thank someone who has served his or her country. I'm sure that many people have given the soldier their thanks. He may feel awkward about such a gesture. Offer up a prayer of thanks for the young man and his family for all they have done. I'm sure they will get their rewards from a Higher Power. :-)

When military people come to the hospital where I work (retired from service for a thousand years or just on leave) they are profoundly thanked and whatever their pets need is "on the house." Without exception they are sorta embarrassed and say that they just did what needed to be done. God bless them all! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

C with 3 Ds

Thank YOU, Chicka! That's always my fear, that I'll make them feel uncomfortable while trying to thank them. :D Or, that he isn't a soldier at all, but a poser in cammo from Walmart. LOL

Thanks, also, for your generous contributions to them at your hospital!!! It's so worth it.

Brenda

"...Or, that he isn't a soldier at all..."

Somewhere in Kahlifornia a hunter and his significant other would have been sitting at a Starbucks feeling VERY appreciated! LOL!

ps: Thanks for the mental image of you blubbering instructions to Mr. Youreit and his XY brain NOT understanding a word you said! :-)

LOL!!!! I could always cover my arse by saying, "Hey, thanks for shooting stuff!" :D

I searched everywhere for a Venus-Mars translation book this holiday season. Something every man needs...and every woman would appreciate.

Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: I'd like to thank this wonderful family, too!

" I could always cover my arse by saying, "Hey, thanks for shooting stuff!""

Hey.... good thinking. That would have covered you even if the dude was an avid paint-ball nut!!!

On a serious note, if he really was a G.I. in uniform, then chances are that he was either on his was back to report for duty or had just gotten home from a tour or for a short R&R. Either way, it probably was best to keep those moments to themselves. See! XY brains work in mysterious ways.

"Hey, thanks for shooting stuff!"
LOL! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Sounds like an idea for a new line of Hallmark cards. :-)

You did good, Brenda!

C with 3Ds and no guns

That, too, Fi guy. And here I thought I always worry too much, but the worries are VALID! Ahhhh! LOL

:D I'd love to try to pick out a picture to accompany my greeting card stylings. The line of cards could be called Brandy, and I'd give Maxine a run for her money. LOL

Brenda

Awesome tribute to a soldier from his mom! Wish I could find more pics of this!

Brenda

Local news story

A shot of the Hummer a tad closer

Wish I could personally thank all of the fine folks who made this incredible story happen!

Warning: This one will make even the most staid individual cry like a baby. :)

Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: Operation Puppy Love Helps Fallen Soldier's Mom Heal

Awwww Brenda! We saw that story on the news. What a tear jerker indeed! Seems like so many people had to agree to let this dog go home. Certainly not a replacement for the son that was lost but definitely a comfort for the family!

Happy retirement! :-)

I tend to be shy as well. We eat out once or twice a week. When I see a uniformed soldier(s) eating at the restaurant I ask the waitress to give me their bill. I then pay for their meal and tip anonymously.

That's the way to go, Mikey! Our town is fairly small, so whenever we do see a soldier, it's like seeing a rock star. :) I haven't had the opportunity to see one in a restaurant yet, but some day, I hope.

Brenda

Thank you, Sean!!

Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: Auburn Marine Receives Posthumous Silver Star

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Not *quite* sure where to post this story but I think here is OK....

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam.

After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands.

He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison.

He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience!

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied.

The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"

Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man.

Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"

........ And so ...... Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. :-)

AWESOME story, Chicka!!! You made my day! Thanks so much for posting this. :)

Brenda

SAN DIEGO Marine Maj. Brian Dennis told friends and family that he wanted one thing for the injured, abused dog he found in the desert in Iraq: the good life.

That life began Friday afternoon when the Marine's best friend arrived to a celebrity-style welcome at San Diego's Lindbergh Field.

"This dog who had been through a lifetime of fighting, war, abuse ... is going to live the good life," Dennis told his family in an e-mail from Iraq.

The dog's arrival was the latest chapter in a remarkable tale of friendship and loyalty that began unfolding in October, a few months after Dennis deployed to Iraq from San Diego to work as part of the military team building infrastructure along the Syria-Iraq border and training Iraqi forces to take over.

Dennis, 36, of St. Pete Beach, Fla., had volunteered for the assignment. It was a departure from his role as a fighter pilot. He had seen the country from the air. But on the ground, it was different.

Dennis wrote stories home about the reciprocal relationship that desert dogs, strays wandering outside border towns, had with Iraqis.

"The dogs get to eat the Iraqi scraps and have a home in the middle of the desert," he wrote in an e-mail. "The Iraqis get an incredible early warning system; these dogs hear anything approaching from miles away and go nuts and scramble to defend their territory."

While on patrol in the Anbar province, Dennis spotted what appeared to be a gray and white, male German shepherd-border collie mix. He named the dog Nubs after learning someone cut the ears off believing it would make the dog more aggressive and alert.

Within weeks, Nubs was greeting Dennis during routine patrol stops along border communities. The Marines fed him bits of their food, and by November, the Marine and his unit were keeping an eye out for the dog, who routinely chased their Humvees when they departed.

Life on the run, however, was taking a toll on the dog. He had lost a tooth and been bitten in the neck. In late December, Dennis found Nubs near death in freezing temperatures. The dog had been stabbed with a screwdriver.

Dennis rubbed antibiotic creme on the wound and slept with Nubs to keep him warm.

"I really expected when I woke up for watch he would be dead," Dennis wrote. "Somehow he made it through the night."

Dennis thought he had seen the last of the dog days later when his squad headed back to its command post some 65 miles away. He couldn't take the dog with him, and watched as it tried to follow the Humvees away from the border.

Two days later, while Dennis and a comrade were working on a Humvee, he looked up and saw the dog staring at him.

"Somehow that crazy damned dog tracked us," he wrote Jan. 9.

But the reunion was short lived. Military policy prohibits having pets in war zones, and Dennis was given four days to get the dog off the base or kill him.

The decision was easy: Nubs was going to San Diego. The logistics, though, were anything but easy.

With help from his Iraqi interpreter, Dennis managed to find a Jordanian veterinarian to get the care and paperwork needed to get it to the states. He also negotiated the red tape to get the dog across the border into Jordan.

His family and close friends helped raise the $3,500 needed to get the dog from Amman, Jordan, to San Diego, said his mother, Marsha Cargo.

"I just can't believe it. Out there in the middle of nowhere these two find each other," Cargo said.

At the airport, Nubs was greeted by Dennis' friends and a colleague, who has agreed to care for the dog and have it trained until Dennis returns in March from Iraq.

Nubs wagged his tail as he was showered with attention from Dennis' friends.

"We didn't expect him to be quiet this calm," said Marine Capt. Eric Sjoberg as he walked Nubs on leash outside the terminal.

Also on hand were an animal trainer and a veterinarian, who examined Nubs shortly after he landed. Nubs arrived with a minor, lingering leg injury believed to have occurred during his days in Iraq.

After rubbing Nubs on the head, Dennis' best friend Jeff Forrest bent down and picked the dog up.

"OK Nubs, let's go home," he said.

For now, though, Dennis will settle for the knowledge that Nubs is finally home  and waiting for his master to follow him. {{gwi:174369}}

I am overcome with gratitude, sadness, and determination today. So many lost, so many brave, so very many who have protected and served in ways others could not.

In memoriam, today and always.

Brenda