"Worth the read"

My niece-in-law Deb sent me the following. It brought tears to my eyes - guess it hits close to home with Jordan in the armed forces. P.S. If you're interested in purchasing a red shirt that says "Supporting our Troops", Military Family Support has them for $9.63. Just go to their website at www.mainlandbcmfrc.com and click on "Sponsorship".


Proud to be a Soldier!!! From the daughter of a Soldier. Last week I was at Canadian Forces Base Trenton. (Trenton, Ontario, Canada where I was attending a conference). While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen. Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.

When I saw the soldiers, probably 30 - 40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded Canadian who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line every day for us so that we can go to school, work and home without fear of reprisal.

Just when I thought that I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi". The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

The young soldier (he didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself) said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek. The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Corporal and had been in Afghanistan for 11 months now.

As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie talkie.

They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it. After about 1o to 15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her: "I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon."

At this point, the mom was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event unfolded. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause.

As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. Than young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney, with a tear rolling down his cheek. We need to remember every day all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices.

At the end of the day, it's good to be a Canadian. Just to keep you in the loop, so you'll know what's going on in case this takes off: Red Fridays. Very soon you'll see a great many people wearing Red every Friday. The reason? Canadians who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

We are not organized, boisterous or over bearing. We get no liberal media coverage on TV to reflect our message or opinions. Many Canadians, like you, me and all of our friends simply want to recognize that the vast majority of Canada supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect, starts this Friday and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home. This is sending a deafening message that every red blooded Canadian who supports our men and women afar will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV - let's make Canada on every Friday a sea of red, much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends and family, it'll not be long before Canada is covered in RED. It will let our troops know that the once "silent majority" is on their side more than ever, and certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is "We need your support and your prayers."

Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something red every Friday. If you agree, then send this on.

Their blood runs red - so wear red! Lest we forget, lest we forget.