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preacher 
Group: Members
Posts: 2416
Joined: Jul. 2006
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 12:16 pm |
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The Day I Found the Letter
I don't think I'll ever forget the day I found the letter.
We were in the process of moving in May of 2000. A new house, a new state, a new church/job in an old, familiar town...Mrs P's hometown to be exact. In the process of moving boxes, I found the letter.
More like letters, actually. An entire shoebox of them. Love letters some guy had written my wife, even going back to college days...and yes, they were as sappy as they were long. Ug. Even worse, I quickly discovered the identity of the jerk that had written my wife all those years ago.
Me.
Why she kept all those cards and letters I have no idea. I honestly had forgotten I had written them all, but I think I get it now...not because of those letters, but the love letter I recently found.
In my son's room.
I had tossed a bunch of mail and magazines in the Blonde Tornado's room, knocking over a stack of previous stacked items awaiting the now Marine to come home and sort or toss. In the process of collecting said mess, I found the letter I assume he didn't mean me to find so soon.
"Dear Mom and Dad," it began simply enough, and instantly I knew...I had found the letter he intended me to find after he would be killed in combat. My heart froze.
"First of all, I love you guys so much and if I ever did anything to disappoint or make you mad I'm sorry. I truly appreciate all the work and love you put into raising me and thank you so much for helping me become the man I am.
Even though I might be gone, take it as comfort that I am with my Father in heaven and will know no pain, nor tears, and now am at peace.
I love you guys so much. - Josh"
As the tears flowed and I prayed it never ever would have to be used for the purpose BT intended, I knew then and there...I would never forget the day found the letter.
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jenningsroad.org
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| Post Number: 2
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Ben2World
Group: Members
Posts: 23906
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 12:17 pm |
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Damn, another tear jerker! Love is pretty amazing, isn't it? 
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The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. -- St. Augustine
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| Post Number: 3
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| Post Number: 4
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Ben2World
Group: Members
Posts: 23906
Joined: Jun. 2005
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 12:43 pm |
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But still glad to have you back, Preacher.
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The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page. -- St. Augustine
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| Post Number: 5
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Echo
Group: Members
Posts: 6363
Joined: May 2008
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 12:52 pm |
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Wow!
Scary but so evident of the kind of a young man you have raised. A Tear jerker yes, but one that makes you smile through your tears. Hope you never have the need to read it again.
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If Light is in your heart, you will find your way Home. (Rumi)
The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk on the earth. Chinese proverb
http://echo-echosvoice.blogspot.com/
http://duffybarkley.blogspot.com/
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| Post Number: 6
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RebeccaD
Double Arch, Arches N.P.
Group: Members
Posts: 9848
Joined: Jul. 2004
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 1:15 pm |
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Wow.
You've done something right, Preacher.
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Bits of writerly thoughts and random short fiction found at
The Ninja Librarian Blog
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| Post Number: 7
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Lorax
Cultured hillbilly swine
Group: Members
Posts: 4925
Joined: Dec. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 2:49 pm |
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Don't worry, Preacherman.
There's a message waiting for me too. I have not opened it, but I already know what it says. It sits in his room.
This is the reality that these guys face as the USMC is first to fight. At some point after the training and on to other things, they come to the realization that they are in a serious situation. I asked my Josh just before enlisting twice if he's ready, because if he wants to fight, the Marine Corps will find him one. He assured me he understood. What else can a dad do? At that point....he's his own man.
Another reason why I don't worry is because these guys have each other's backs. They fight, bicker and argue among themselves, but then again.....what brother's don't? There is a code among them to take care of each other. I know that your Josh is in good company with mine and vice versa.
And just think, in less than a month, you'll see my point when our two young Marines get together at Chesapeake as soon as mine gets back there.
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| Post Number: 8
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JimInMD
Group: Members
Posts: 3112
Joined: Feb. 2011
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 2:52 pm |
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Lorax and Preacher, the offer still stands that if either of your Marines finds themselves with a layover in a DC area airport, they have a home cooked meal waiting for them if they like, even if I have to bring it to the airport for them.
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Checking out for a while, find me on FB.
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| Post Number: 9
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retired reddog
"I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Robert Frost
Group: Members
Posts: 1211
Joined: Jun. 2007
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 3:21 pm |
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(Lorax @ Mar. 21 2013, 2:49 pm)
QUOTE Don't worry, Preacherman.
...these guys have each other's backs. They fight, bicker and argue among themselves, but then again.....what brother's don't? There is a code among them to take care of each other.
They most certainly have each other's backs. They share a bond that transcends anything most folks will ever be able to understand. They are in a family that is not limited by blood, ethnicity, religion or generation.
Wherever two or more Marines bump into each other they will be instant friends even if they served decades apart (one of my dearest friends is a WW II Marine and I didn't enlist until '83). You can also count on the fact that they will talk about how each had it harder than the other and that the BS will get deep but the beer will not get warm.
Preacher & Lorax, know that your boys are doing something they love with people who treat them like family and most definitely have their backs.
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Good night Chesty, where ever you are!-(It's a Marine thing.)
“The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle!”
General John Pershing, United States Army
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| Post Number: 10
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VAN
Group: Members
Posts: 3175
Joined: Nov. 2006
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 5:45 pm |
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I have all the letters that my husband and I wrote back and forth to each other while he was away at Navy boot camp in 2004. It is an entire binder full! I haven't looked at them in years, but I know someday they will bring back intense memories of loneliness, separation, and longing. But also of determination, a desire to love each other more completely, and eventually our engagement
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"Long you live and high you fly. And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry. And all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be." -Pink Floyd
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| Post Number: 11
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spindle
Group: Members
Posts: 22196
Joined: Dec. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 8:14 pm |
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You did good, Mom and Dad.
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| Post Number: 12
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ponderosa
Group: Members
Posts: 3985
Joined: Jul. 2003
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 10:14 pm |
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(retired reddog @ Mar. 21 2013, 1:21 pm)
QUOTE
(Lorax @ Mar. 21 2013, 2:49 pm)
QUOTE Don't worry, Preacherman.
...these guys have each other's backs. They fight, bicker and argue among themselves, but then again.....what brother's don't? There is a code among them to take care of each other. They most certainly have each other's backs. They share a bond that transcends anything most folks will ever be able to understand. They are in a family that is not limited by blood, ethnicity, religion or generation. Wherever two or more Marines bump into each other they will be instant friends even if they served decades apart (one of my dearest friends is a WW II Marine and I didn't enlist until '83). You can also count on the fact that they will talk about how each had it harder than the other and that the BS will get deep but the beer will not get warm. Preacher & Lorax, know that your boys are doing something they love with people who treat them like family and most definitely have their backs.
A few weeks ago, a 20 year old marine in uniform walked into our church and went to the back of the chapel. He was noticed by a 92 year old marine, a WWII vet, who stood and made his way to the back and introduced himself. They embraced, sat together during the service, and hung out talking for quite a while after it was over. It was pretty cool to see.
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The harder the toil, the sweeter the rest.
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| Post Number: 13
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City Man
Group: Members
Posts: 6490
Joined: Dec. 2007
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 10:37 pm |
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Words escape me to be able to convey the special feeling you have bestowed upon me when there is something that touches the heart and is shared so as to touch other hearts too, well done Sir, Thank you.
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It never hurts to do good – Eek the Cat
The quest for adventure is a never ending pursuit, an all consuming way to live life, it is a deep feeling that will never go away, embrace that feeling and have fun with your adventures.
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| Post Number: 14
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paula53
Group: Members
Posts: 662
Joined: Feb. 2007
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 11:21 pm |
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To the young Marine, just starting out, and the older ex-Marine who is in his twilight years, let me say thank-you for your service. Always Semper Fidelis, to your family, community and nation.
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| Post Number: 15
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BradMT
Group: Members
Posts: 3410
Joined: May 2005
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Posted on: Mar. 21 2013, 11:41 pm |
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I wish the wars this country has engaged-in over the last half century amounted to anything worth the blood and gold expended... I believe they haven't.
My first memory of a Marine was in my local church in the 1960's... I'll never forget that dress uniform. He never made it back. That never left me.
Little did I know I'd marry the daughter of a USMC devil-dog... three landings in the Pacific in the second wave as a forward gunnery observer (including Peleliu where he received his purple heart).
I love that man and led him to Christ on the back porch of his home where he wept over fallen comrades, the closest of which died in his arms on a forgotten beach whispering his name, never to see this earth again.
It's a fraternity I'll never know because I wasn't there, but one I respect immensely...
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Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty. – Socrates
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| Post Number: 16
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| Post Number: 17
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Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
