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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

I'm sharing this both as a proud mother and as someone who supports our
troops.  We often say, 'support the troops', especially around the
holidays, but very often, there is no face for 'the troops'.

I received a letter from Michael today.  I met him in a rather
roundabout way.  His mother Linda and I first met on a forum for Navy
Moms back when TJ first graduated from Prototype school.  As it turned
out, her son Michael is on the same sub as TJ-they work together on the
sub's reactor.  A few months ago, I realized that I had not heard from
Linda in a while so I wrote to her.  I got no response.  I searched her
email and found that she had a Myspace page, so I sent a 'friend'
request.  Still, after several days, no response. I looked at her page,
which is dedicated to her son and to all of our Silent*Service Sons and
saw that Michael also had a page, so I wrote directly to him. As it
turned out, Linda had died the previous week.

Michael has since become one of my friends on Myspace.  I wrote to him
yesterday because I was thinking about him this week.  I know he is on
leave, a newlywed, and I know this is the first Thanksgiving without
Linda.  I think the following note to me shows his character very well.
 This is the face of those who volunteer to protect us.  They have
strength, character, and wisdom.  I'm proud of Michael and TJ and the
hundreds of thousands of others who unselfishly give 110% of themselves
everyday.

> Thank you for your thoughts and your letter. Mom use to do very 
> similar things, she would feel selfish for having me come home and 
> hearing stories from moms and wives about their sons and husbands 
> that were not coming home, sometimes she would feel guilty for 
> wanting me to come home and then she would think of the moms and 
> wives that will never have there loved ones coming home again. I am 
> sure that everyone has their difficulties in dealing with loved ones
>  being gone. I am sure that it doesn't help knowing that I am home 
> which means that there was an opportunity for TJ to come home. I just
>  ask you to keep in mind how things work in the military and that I 
> am home now but I will not be home for Christmas, so that I can take
>  the watch and allow the rest of my division to come home for 
> Christmas. It would be a perfect world if we could all be home with 
> our families for every holiday, but we don't live in a perfect world.
>  TJ just like everyone else has to make the most out of the time that
>  he has available to him. I can say that he is pushing hard and 
> working efficiently and putting himself in a position to have more 
> free time than most of the people in his rank, because he is already
>  trying to qualify a watch usually reserved for those who are senior
>  first classes and Chiefs. Although none of the stuff about work 
> matters, I just want you to know that TJ is not like most guys who 
> just get off of work and run home to play games, drink beer and avoid
>  the ones that love them behind a massive time difference and work 
> schedules. TJ gets very passionate about wishing that he could talk 
> to you more and more often, and knowing that and that he is working 
> hard, but now working himself into the ground, and in the long run it
>  will afford him more free time to be himself and to spend his time 
> in how he chooses, to the best of his ability.



--
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda
http://www.myspace.com/tervetuloa13