[Scan-DC] Young Marine

[Rapbep@aol.com]

All,

I apologize for taking up some bandwidth but I thought I'd share this with 
you.  I got it from a friend and it says alot about our young military troops 
and their commitment to our country and to us as individuals.


Subject: Fw: Subject: A young Marine restores my faith


> > >  SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2002 - ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
> > >  A young Marine restores my faith
> > >
> > >  Golden Pen Award
> > >  Each Sunday The Orange Register recognizes a letter that eloquently
> > >  expresses a viewpoint or engenders a debate on a topic of public
> > >  interest.
> > >
> > >  Today's winner is Ann Baker, a real-estate agent who lives in
> > > Huntington Beach
> > >
> > >  It was our normal Thursday morning business meeting at our
real-estate
> > >  office. No big deal. Before the meeting we hung around the bagel
> > > table, as usual, with our coffee. He stood aside, looking a little shy
> and
> > > awkward and very young, a new face in a room full of extroverted
> > > salespeople. An
> > >  average looking guy, maybe 5 feet 8 inches. A clean-cut, sweet-faced
> kid.
> > > I
> > > went over to chat with him. Maybe he was a new salesman?
> > >
> > >  He said he was just back from Kabul, Afghanistan. A Marine. Our
office
> > >  (and a local school) had been supportive by sending letters to him
and
> > > other troops, which he had posted on the American Embassy door in
Kabul.
> > > He
> > >  stood guard there for four months and was shot at daily.
> > >
> > >  He had come to our office to thank us for our support, for all the
> > >  letters during those scary times. I couldn't believe my ears. He
wanted
> > > to
> > > thank us?
> > >  We should be thanking him. But how? How can I ever show him my
> > >  appreciation?
> > >
> > >
> > > At the end of the sales meeting, he stepped quietly forward, no
> > > incredible hulk. As a matter of fact, he looked for all the world 15
> years
> > > old to
> > >  me. (The older I get, the younger they look.)
> > >
> > >  This young Marine, this clean-faced boy, had no qualms stepping up to
> > >  the plate and dodging bullets so that I might enjoy the freedom to
live
> > > my
> > >  peaceful life in the land of the free. No matter the risk. Suddenly
> > > the most stressful concerns of my life seemed as nothing, my
complacency
> > > flew
> > >  right out the window with his every word. Somewhere, somehow, he had
> > > taken
> > > the words honor, courage and commitment into his very soul and laid
his
> > > life on the line daily for me and us. A man of principle. He wants to
do
> > > it.
> > >  Relishes it. And he came to thank us? For a few letters? I fought
back
> > > the tears as he spoke so briefly and softly.
> > >
> > >  He walked forward to our manager and placed a properly folded
American
> > >  flag in his hands. It had flown over the Embassy. He said thanks
again.
> > > You
> > >  could hear a pin drop. As I looked around I saw red faces everywhere
> > > fighting back the tears.
> > >
> > >  In a heartbeat, my disillusionment with young people today quickly
> > >  vanished. In ordinary homes, in ordinary towns, kids like him are
> growing
> > > up
> > > proud to be an American and willing to die for it. Wow. We'll frame
the
> > > flag
> > > and put it in the lobby. He only came to my office once, for just a
few
> > > minutes.
> > >  But I realize I rubbed shoulders with greatness in the flesh and in
the
> > >  twinkling of an eye my life is forever changed. His name is Michael
> > >  Mendez, a corporal in the USMC. We are a great nation. We know
because
> > > the
> > >  makings of it walked into my office that day.



RON
MIDDLE ATLANTIC MILCOM
MARYLAND, USA