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Through Their Eyes
HEROES
This is dedicated to all of our Heroes
Till they all come Home
Presentation by Kay Gibson
and the Houston Marine Moms
Song: Heroes by Branded, Spring, Texas
http://www.branded-duo.com/
War and Why I Chose to be Here
This is the best example of war that I can give you that will give you some idea. Listen to the song " Til The Last Shots Fired" by Trace Adkins. This hit me like a ton of bricks and it describes how I feel almost every day out here. hopeless and lost but with a sense of purpose and a desire to give all that I have to the freedom of my family and friends.
Im sitting at work listening to this song and in the distance I can hear the faint explosions of a fire fight. I can hear rifles firing and grenades exploding and I am filled with a sense of pride that I doubt I will ever feel when im not in this god forsaken country where the future is unpredictable and completely unknow. All we have over here is the faith that god is going to take us to where we belong no matter what happens to us. I pray everyday not for me or my safety but the strength to fight with courage and honor no matter what comes my way and for the safety and strength of my friends and family back home. see even though I am over here the reason that I am over here is for everyone of you. to keep you safe and protect you no matter what it means from me. just remember that when and if any of you think that I don't love each and every one of you with all my heart. I am over here sacrificing and suffering for your safety because I couldn't stand by and let anything bad happen to any of yall.
Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers for me. you have made everything that I have done in my life possible and there is no way that I could have ever done it with out every single one of you. so for the next 6 months, and the foreseeable future I will be here waiting and watching ready for anything to come your way and you can bet that when the sun goes down on your house every night that I am wide awake over here standing guard for all of you.
LCPL F. Jr., Jack D.
Camp Leatherneck
Helmand Province, Afghanistan
Til The Last Shots Fired
by Trace Adkins
And the West Point Cadet Glee Club
Houston Marine Mom's Package Saves the Life of a Marine
To top off Michael's email he was able to call yesterday!!! I've just been in absolutely the BEST mood. Not only did he call, but we were able to talk for a long time and it was so wonderful. He shared so many stories and had my laughing so hard. He wanted me to thank all his "Moms" and to let ya'll know that he and his fire team received their care packages and they were a wonderful morale booster. He said all of them had the Channel 11 footballs in their care package and they were out in the open area throwing the footballs around and other Marines were asking, "Hey where did ya'll get the footballs?" Michael said at first they would all respond, "The Houston Marine Moms!". Michael said after awhile they were all laughing and they would just say "Our Moms".
He said they call the footballs their WMD's. I asked why and he said that when the lights go out at night they all throw them really hard at each other and just have the best time. He was laughing so hard sharing these stories with me. He had my rolling.
He told me how wonderful the care packages were and wanted me to tell everyone thank you. He said that one guy, LCpl. D'Augustin did get a girl care package and everyone was giving him a hard time. Michael said, "D'Augustin got some really nice smelling lotion and everyone really likes it, so everytime he goes to sleep they steal it from him." I told Michael I was really sorry about the mistake, and if he wanted I would send D'Augustin another package. He told me not to worry about D'Augustin because everytime I send something to him D'Augustin thinks it's for him too. He said when my husband and I sent the last care package D'Augustin came over to his cot picked up the box, started fishing through it, and said, "What'd we get this time?" :o)
Michael said they had the most fun with D'Augustin's package. He said he wasn't sure who we were sending the pack to, but the panties were size 20, and he said one of the guys got on top of the humvee and jumped off with the panties over his head and yelled, "Look at me, I'm an Airborne Ranger!!!!". He said one of the guys attached the panties to an antenna and it blew in the wind like a windsock. He said it entertained them for quite awhile.
Then of course, they had the tampons. When he brought this up my imagination was just running wild, but I let him continue. Michael said they had to go on a mission and D'Augustin wanted the chapstick and lotion for the trip. He grabbed a bunch of the items out of his care package and got in the humvee. As luck would have it he grabbed the tampons, and Michael said everyone was teasing him about "not forgetting his feminine hygiene products". Michael said things were going well, and then the convoy was ambushed. He said a Marine in the convoy was shot. Michael said the wound was pretty clean, but it was deep. He said they were administering first aid but couldn't get the bleeding to slow down, and someone said, "Hey use D'Augustin's tampons". Michael said they put the tampon in the wound. At this point Michael profoundly told me, "Mom did you know that tampons expand?" :o) "Well, yeah!". They successfully slowed the bleeding and got the guy medical attention. When they went to check on him later the surgeon told them, "You guys saved his life". If you hadn't stopped that bleeding he would have bled to death. Michael said, "Mom, the tampons sent by the Marine Moms by mistake saved a Marines life." At this point I asked Michael, "Well what did you do with the rest of the tampons?" He said, "Oh, we divided them up and we all have them in our flak jackets, and I kept two for our first aid kit".
I am absolutely amazed by the ingenuity of our Marines, and can't believe that something that started out as a mistake ended up saving someone's life. My sister said she doesn't believe in mistakes. She said that God had a plan all along. She believes that female care package was sent to D'Augustin to save our Marine. Either way ladies our efforts have boosted the morale of many Marines, provided much needed items for our troops, AND saved the lives of a Marine! God bless each of you for your efforts and hard work, and God bless our Marines!
