Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I
was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me
beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one
of the greatest act's of patriotism I have ever seen.


Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as
they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was
abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the
soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me.
I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this
country and supports our troops and their families. Of course I immediately
stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting
their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and
home without fear or reprisal.


Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our
service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up
to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi," the little girl
then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.


The young soldier, he didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself,
said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly
the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug
she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek. The mother of the little
girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier that
her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now.


As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her
father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom
was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for
a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military
looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back
and forth on it.


After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over
to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he
told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had
just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your daddy
told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming
home very soon." The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and
as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom.



I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event
unfolded. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people
resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, their
were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act
of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear
rolling down his cheek.


We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families
and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's
good to be an American.