MAKING MY JOB EASY!

Had a couple of readers write in overnight with links to great stories.

Here is one...actually a sort of diary written by a lady travelling with a VIP crowd on a Defense Department sponsored visit to the troops. Some NASCAR drivers were also in her party.

It'll make you proud.

Jeff Hammond was using the phone, and as I was waiting on him, I overheard a conversation. A young troop was talking to his son on the phone and was asking him if he was bored and ready to return to school from his holiday vacation. All I could think about was this soldier missing time with his son.

These troops are missing Christmas and birthdays. They’re missing all the fun times with their children. Over at the bar, the NASCAR guys gave $500 to the bartender and told him to serve beer until he run out of money. I’m sure they made some fans with that gesture! One troop told me our visit meant more to the troops than we could imagine. These guys are mingling with the troops, not just up on a stage.

Everyone kept saying how much it meant for us to come over. What they don’t understand is how we were the ones receiving all of the benefit. I have never been so proud to be an American. These troops are the most professional people I have ever met.

(Thanks to Beckie, proud Army mom of Sarah in Baghdad...)