A friend of mine forwarded this to me, and I thought it was worth reading:
Christy Ferer is a 9/11 widow who recently was a member of a group of
> celebrities (including Robert DeNiro and Kid Rock, among others) that took
> an Armed Forces Entertainment Office and USO-sponsored trip to Iraq to show
> support for the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines still over there.
> Following is an e-note she sent her escorts about the experience; in her
> cover note, she said she intends to submit it to the NY Times for
> publication. It is really powerful, and very moving, and will make you
> proud that you have chosen to serve your country, and proud to be an
> American. - BGEN Ron Rand
>
>
> When I told friends about my pilgrimage to Iraq to thank the US troops,
> reaction was underwhelming at best. Some were blunt. " Why are YOU going
> there?" They could not understand why it was important for me, a 9/11, widow
> to express my support for the men and women stationed today in the gulf.
>
> But the reason seemed clear to me. 200,000 troops have been sent halfway
> around the world to stabilize the kind of culture that breeds terrorists
> like those who I believe began World War III on September 11, 2001.
> Reaction was so politely negative that I began to doubt my role on the first
> USO / Tribeca Institute tour into newly occupied Iraq where, on average, a
> soldier a day is killed.
>
> Besides, with Robert De Niro, Kid Rock, Rebecca and John Stamos, Wayne
> Newton, Gary Senise Lee Ann Wolmac who needed me? Did they really want
> to hear about my husband, Neil Levin, who went to work as director of New
> York Port Authority on Sept.11th and never came home? How would they
> relate to the two other widows traveling with me? Ginny Bauer, a New Jersey
> homemaker and the mother of three who lost her husband David, and
> former marine Jon Vigiano who lost his only sons, Jon, a firefighter and
> Joe, a policeman.
>
> As we were choppered over deserts that looked like bleached bread crumbs,
> I wondered if I' d feel like a street hawker, passing out Port Authority pins
> and baseball caps as I said " thank you" to the troops. Would a hug from me
> mean anything at all in the presence of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and
> a Victoria Secrets model?
>
> We arrived at the first " meet and greet" ; it made me weep. (why?) Armed with
> m16s and saddlebags of water in 120 degree heat the soldiers swarmed over
> the stars for photo and autographs.
>
> When it was announced that a trio of 9/11 family members was also in the
> tent it was as if a psychic cork on emotional dam was popped. Soldiers from
> every corner of New York, Long Island and Queens rushed toward us to
> express their condolences. Some wanted to touch us, as if they needed
> a physical connection to our sorrow and for some living proof for why they >
> were there.
>
> One mother of two from Montana told me she signed up because of 9/11.
> Dozens of others told us the same thing. One young soldier showed me his
> metal bracelet engraved with the name of a victim he never knew and that
> awful date none of us will ever forget.
>
> In fact at every encounter with the troops there would be a surge of
> reservists -- firefighters and cops including many who had worked the rubble
> of Ground Zero, came to exchange a hometown hug. Their glassy eyes still
> do not allow anyone to penetrate too far inside to the place where their
> trauma is lodged; the trauma of a devastation far greater than anyone who
> hadn' t been there could even imagine. It' s there in me, too. I had forced my
> way downtown on that awful morning, convinced that I could find Neil beneath
> the rubble.
>
> What I was not prepared for was to have soldiers show us the World Trade
> Center memorabilia they' d carried with them into the streets of Baghdad.
> Others had clearly been holding in stories of personal 9/11 tragedies which
> had made them enlist. USO handlers moved us from one corner to the next
> so everyone could meet us.
>
> One fire brigade plucked the 9/11 group from the crowd, transporting us to
> their fire house to call on those who had to stand guard during the Baghdad
> concert. It was all about touching us and feeling the reason they were in
> this hell. Back at Saddam Hussein airport Kid Rock turned a " meet and greet"
> into an impromptu concert in a steamy airport hangar before 5000 troops.
>
> Capt. Vargas from the Bronx tapped me on the back . He enlisted in the Army
> up after some of his wife' s best friends were lost at the World Trade Center.
> When he glimpsed the piece of recovered metal from the Towers that I had
> been showing to a group of soldiers he grasped for it as if it were the Holy
>
> Grail. Then he handed it to Kid Rock who passed the precious metal through
> the 5000 troops in the audience. They lunged at the opportunity to touch the
>
> steel that symbolized what so many of them felt was the purpose of their
> mission-which puts them at risk every day in the 116 degree heat and not
> knowing if a sniper was going to strike at anytime.
>
> Looking into that sea of khaki gave me chills even in that blistering heat.
> To me, those troops were there to avenge the murder of my husband and 3
> thousand others. When I got to the microphone I told them we had not made
> this journey for condolences but to thank them and to tell them that the
> families of 9/11 think of them every day. They lifts our hearts. The crowd
> interrupted me with chants of " USA, USA, USA." Many wept.
>
> What happened next left no doubt that the troops drew inspiration from our
> tragedies. When I was first asked to speak to thousands of troops in Qatar,
> after Iraq, I wondered if it would feel like a " grief for sale" spectacle. But this
> time I was quaking because I was to present the recovered WTC recovered
> steel to General Tommy Franks. I quivered as I handed him the icy gray
> block of steel. His great craggy eyes welled up with tears. The sea of khaki
> fell silent. Then the proud four-star general was unable to hold back the tears
> which streamed down his face on center stage before 4,000 troops. As this
> mighty man turned from the spotlight to regain his composure I comforted
> him with a hug.
>
> Now, when do I return?
Thats a great read, seems like some of the liberals in this country have put politics above everything else and forgot why we are there, but I bet everyone of our military personel serving over there has' nt . Thanks for posting.
__________________
THE NRA, WHERE WOULD YOU AS A GUN-OWNER BE WITHOUT THEM.
GUN-OWNERS, UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL.
Well Rockytop I have not cried that much since I first saw my son return form Iraq! That is what it is all about!!!!!
How soon Hip and the liberals seem to have forgotten the big picture! Do they remember 9-11-2001? A war was started against the US and it continues still!
Hip read this twice, I want it to sink in as to why we are there!
__________________
The Tazman aka Martin Price
Proud father of a Devil Dog
powerfull reading
Gee, thanks Jorgy! This day just gets better and better!
