Thank You, Georgia
Posted: Friday, July 31, 2009
by Ryan Stroud
He was not the president of the United States, nor was he a king of another country. He wasn't the wealthiest man in the world either but on June 11, thousands of citizens of Georgia lined the streets as a vehicle carrying his coffin passed by. They were there to pay their last respects to him, a man they probably never even met, because he was a hero, not only to those standing there on the sides of the street, but to the rest of America.
I opened my e-mail to see a message from my grandmother. She is a proud, patriotic woman married to a war veteran and loves to pass along e-mails about any service members being honored or supported. For this, I love her even more.
I looked at the e-mail titled "A Hero's return home ... This is the way the South does it!!!" This title made me smile. I was born in Tennessee and raised in Georgia. I consider Georgia my home and it will forever be. In the e-mail was a link to watch a video, so I clicked on it.
The link, http://blip.tv/play/AYGJ5h6YgmE , left me in tears and made me extremely proud, not only to be an American Soldier, but also a citizen of Georgia.
The e-mail went like this: "A true Welcome Home to a Hero.
"Killed in action the week before, the body of Sgt. 1 st Class John C. Beale was returned to Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Ga., just south of Atlanta, on June 11, 2009.
"The Henry County Police Department escorted the procession to the funeral home in McDonough, Ga. A simple notice in local papers indicated the road route to be taken and the approximate time.
"Nowadays one can be led to believe that America no longer respects honor and no longer honors sacrifice outside the military. Be it known that there are many places in this land where people still recognize the courage and impact of total self-sacrifice. Georgia remains one of those graceful places. The link is a short travelogue of that day's remarkable and painful journey. But only watch this if you wish to have some of your faith in people restored."
After watching this video, my faith in people has been restored. It's amazing to see so many people show their support for a Soldier and it makes me extremely proud of what I'm doing in the Army. As a Soldier watching this video, I can't thank the people standing on the sides of the road enough for their support. It really means a lot to us to see you standing for us and not against.
And so I say, thank you, Georgia. You make me proud to call you home.
Ryan Stroud is a military trained journalist who has served in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, US Army. Prior to his military experiences, Stroud grew up playing, coaching, and refereeing soccer. Also, Stroud focused many years of his life playing, touring, and recording/producing local music acts. He has a wonderful wife of 4 years, a 2 year old son and a newborn daughter.
Stroud's biggest writing influences are Jim Butcher, Chuck Palahniuk, Edward Lee, Jack Ketchum, Christopher Moore and Ben Fox.
He currently resides in Huntsville, Al, with the 59th Ordnance Brigade at Redstone Arsenal.
Stroud would also like to take a moment to thank his friends who are currently in battle over in Iraq. God bless all of you.
This Article has been viewed 1,073 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Thank you for sharing Ryan, I enjoyed the video very much. All those people lined up along the road, one would think he was a very important person. Well I suppose he was an important person to his country, family and friends. good article
Loved it! I cried too!-B
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