The Daughter of a Soldier

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 acts of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone rose abruptly to their feet, 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 of 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 soldiers.

He kneeled down and said “Hi.” The little girl asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, he didn’t look any older than about 22 himself, said he would try. He asked what she wanted to give her daddy. Suddenly, the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, and gave him the biggest hug she could muster. Then she kissed him on the cheek. “Please give those to my daddy,” she said.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter’s 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 moment.

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 the 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 when 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, there 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.