My Sister Wrote This. Please Read It

David Nunn · December 04, 2007 17:37

It was a beautiful fall day in San Angelo, Texas. The wind was blowing nicely, but it was warm and the many trees along the river were loaded with the yellow and red leaves fluttering and falling quietly. The local powers that be had found local ranchers and sponsored 26 injured soldiers to come hunting in west Texas. They and their wives were flying in from all over the country to the Midland airport, put up at as fancy a hotel as they have in Midland, wined and dined, and then brought to Tom Green County for a hunting trip. They were going to have a motorcade through San Angelo at 10:00am, and the public was invited to come show their support. We met a disabled hunter in Africa and got some insight this past summer as to how much a deer hunt can mean to a person that has been hurt and thinks maybe they can no longer have outdoor hobbies or pastimes.

I left my house at 8:15 or so, as there were 90 miles to cover to get to show support to these soldiers for their sacrifice. The fact that I did not know them and they did not know me made me more rather than less determined to show my appreciation. I wanted to take my dog Jessi with me, and I recently bought her a fluorescent orange vest. I made some alterations to it the night before so she could wear it to show her support for the soldiers too. I had a flag to take to wave as they passed. I had thought that Jessi and I would find a place on the route where we would sit on my tailgate and wave as the soldiers passed. One of the reasons I wanted to drive 90 miles to wave and holler for 3 or 4 minutes was I was not sure on a weekday morning that there would be a crowd. But as I got into San Angelo I could see that west Texas did not forget the soldiers. The schools let all the ROTC kids out. The businesses along the route let their people out and tied on balloons and ribbons. There was not a place for Jessi and I to park and sit to watch. There was a park nearby where the motorcade would go near the river and I found a parking place in the park and put Jessi's vest on her, got my flag and we walked toward the crowd. Lots of soldiers from Goodfellow were there, an Honor Guard, the drum corps from one of the local high schools, lots of kids with their ROTC t-shirts and huge flags, and then lots of us just plain thankful people. Lots of us.

True to form, the motorcade was late, but as more and more people gathered on foot, the more I was glad they had time to join us. They probably thought they could park in the route and sit on their tailgates.

Jessi found a State Trooper that she was pretty sure would love her and he did. She got pretty bored as we waited. The local soldiers in their fatigues lined the street we were on and I was trying not to get in their way. Jessi and I walked up and down some, as she started to sing a time or two due to other canine attendees behind the group in the park. I was very aware of my location and was determined not to be between the motorcade and any of the soldiers or ROTC formations when the motorcade arrived. But for now, there was nothing to see and we were just walking up and down a small patch trying to allay some of Jessi's boredom. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the soldiers approach. This soldier walked directly up to me and stopped in my space and said something not very loudly. And with the drums and kids and wind I did not hear. I looked directly into the face of a beautiful girl in her fatigues with most of her hair tucked up under her cap. I was afraid I was annoying the soldiers, and I said "I'm sorry, I could not hear what you said", almost dreading her reply. She said "may I please pet your dog?" I told her she most certainly could and introduced her to Jessi. Jessi, being the most gentle and lovable mutt ever, stood up and hugged this girl around the waist. The soldier's hands went into the ample fur around Jessi's neck and she hugged Jessi back. I think she closed her eyes. I could sense that she has a friend at home she misses very much and just needed to feel a dog's magic touch. That was the first time that day I had thought about how far away from home some of our local soldiers are and what a hardship they face serving our country even if they are not at this time, overseas or wounded. I hope she gets to see her own dog very soon.

The sirens started nearing. The first in line was the SAPD motorcycle escort. Then the Honor Guard marched by. Then came the pickups and trailers loaded with our soldiers and their hunting gear. They waved with their bandaged hands and pointed with their injured arms at the dog in the hunting vest. We were close enough to look into their faces and they seemed grateful, but embarrassed. They saluted the soldiers and were obviously impressed by the ROTC kids. There were lots of us there. We waved our flags and shouted "THANK YOU" to the soldiers. We could only see 26 soldiers, but we all knew we were thanking and paying tribute to soldiers everywhere. These boys were hurt and we wanted them to know we were thankful.

After the motorcade passed, we all slowly went our separate ways. It was a great turnout. We were a great and a grateful crowd. We waved our flags and loved our countrymen and our country. We loved our soldiers near and far.

It was a beautiful fall day in San Angelo, Texas.

My Sister Wrote This. Please Read It

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