live4christp1
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2005
- Messages
- 5,749
I received the following from a friend via email today and was very moved. Thought I would share it with my friends. God bless our troops!!!!!
I SENT THE FOLLOWING EMAIL TO MY FRIENDS IN THE CHRISTIAN MOTORCYCLISTS OF AMERICA TO THANK THEM FOR THE PHOTO VIDEO OF SPC GUS BRUNSON'S FUNERAL. THE BIKERS WERE VERY ACTIVE IN SEEING THAT LITERALLY MILES OF ROADWAYS FROM THE CHURCH TO THE CEMETERY WERE COVERED WITH PEOPLE SHOWING THEIR RESPECTS TO THE BRUNSON FAMILY. THE LOCAL NBC STATION COVERED THE FUNERAL BUT IT WAS A SHORT PIECE WITH NO FOOTAGE FROM THE GRAVESIDE.
GUS' BROTHER TOLD ME THE BEST WAY FOR THOSE OF US IN COMPANY H TO HONOR SPC BRUNSON'S MEMORY WAS TO CHARLIE MIKE. FOR THOSE CIVILIANS WHO MIGHT READ THIS...IT SIMPLY MEANS CONTINUE THE MISSION...FINISH THE JOB.
THE LINK TO THE PHOTO TRIBUTE FOLLOWS MY LETTER.
SWANSON
Hey Mark and Pam,
Thanks for the email with Gus Brunson's funeral video. Saturday before last I was one of the guys in the Red Berets at the funeral services. Gus was in my unit, Co. H 121st Airborne, LRS. My wife Dawn and I have known Gus' family for many years. When Gus was killed another good friend of mine was killed as well, SSG Carl Fuller.
Carl served with me in Iraq during the war in 2003 and had volunteered to go back to help the 48th Infantry Brigade. We called ourselves charter members of COPs (crazy old patriots). We both went back into military service as a result of 9-11. He was 44 and leaves behind two teenage children. Carl and Gus were born again Christians. I thought about this as I drove the Adjutant General, Battalion Commander and their wives from Antioch Baptist Church in Sylvester Georgia to the cemetery in Albany.
They commented that they had never seen such a show of support...all the people along the way with American flags. Hundreds of people, young and old from all walks of life lined the roadside, hands over hearts, showing respect for the sacrifice, the ultimate price that my brother paid. I took comfort in knowing everyone along the way would be home safe in their beds later that night and in knowing that my brothers would spend eternity safe at home with the Lord. A quote came to mind as I drove, "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." I also thought of the words of Jesus, "Greater love hath no man, than he lay down his life for a friend."
I wasn't able to get from Albany to Atlanta in time for Carl's funeral later that day but did rush Adjutant General Poythress and his party to the airport so they could get to the other funeral. I don't believe he has missed a funeral for any fallen Georgia Guardsman. That is a heavy burden that he and his wife handle with great compassion and dignity.
In Co H we call ourselves the "Band of Brothers', following the great tradition of the U.S. Army Paratroopers. Roughly half of the Band of Brothers were at each funeral. Last Sunday when I got home from church with my family I checked my emails and got the photos from Carl's funeral. I had held it together long enough and was overcome with emotion at this point. But as difficult as it was for me, I quickly realized my pain was nothing compared to the loss felt by the Brunson and Fuller families.
Pray for them. Pray for all the families who have suffered loss. Pray for our leaders, from the Platoon Sergent in the desert who carries on with "green peas" that are there to fill the positions of his fallen troops, all the way to the President who shoulders the great burden as Commander in Chief.
In the days since we buried my buddies I've talked at length to a number of my fellow "Old Army" soldiers who continue to serve in the Guard and Reserve. I'm going to stick my neck out and leave you with some of our thoughts.
1. Don't call us "weekend warriors". We are American Soldiers, fighting and sometimes dying for freedom. We are well trained, well equipped and fully prepared to answer the call to duty anytime, anywhere, no questions asked.
2. Don't assume we do it for the benefits; i.e. , to get an education, for money or to impress the girls. A heck of a lot of us already have our education, good jobs and in my case at least, the best wife a guy could ever hope for. We do it because we are patriots and despite what the news might have you believe there are a lot of us still around. For the record, we're raising our children to be patriots as well.
3. Don't feel sorry for us. We volunteered to serve the Great State of Georgia and The United States of America. Nobody made us do it. Soldiers aren't perfect and neither is our country. Sometimes we both make mistakes. We are however, honorable, brave people who proudly serve in the defense of the greatest nation in the world, bar none. We consider it our duty and privilege to serve.
4. Don't call us heroes. Yes, we are the vanguard of the force, sometimes enduring savage conditions and unimaginable circumstances but at the end of the day, the vast majority of us are simply doing our jobs. If only a select few of us are heroes then rest assured that sports stars and celebrities, regardless of what "good works" they might do, are not heroes.
5. Don't ask yourself why we do what we do. Ask yourself why more people don't. Freedom is not free. It is not preserved with poster boards but rather by the sacrifice of the American Soldier many of whom like me are Citizen Soldiers.
SPC Robert Swanson, COP
http://www.peanut.org/gus/flash_detected.html
I SENT THE FOLLOWING EMAIL TO MY FRIENDS IN THE CHRISTIAN MOTORCYCLISTS OF AMERICA TO THANK THEM FOR THE PHOTO VIDEO OF SPC GUS BRUNSON'S FUNERAL. THE BIKERS WERE VERY ACTIVE IN SEEING THAT LITERALLY MILES OF ROADWAYS FROM THE CHURCH TO THE CEMETERY WERE COVERED WITH PEOPLE SHOWING THEIR RESPECTS TO THE BRUNSON FAMILY. THE LOCAL NBC STATION COVERED THE FUNERAL BUT IT WAS A SHORT PIECE WITH NO FOOTAGE FROM THE GRAVESIDE.
GUS' BROTHER TOLD ME THE BEST WAY FOR THOSE OF US IN COMPANY H TO HONOR SPC BRUNSON'S MEMORY WAS TO CHARLIE MIKE. FOR THOSE CIVILIANS WHO MIGHT READ THIS...IT SIMPLY MEANS CONTINUE THE MISSION...FINISH THE JOB.
THE LINK TO THE PHOTO TRIBUTE FOLLOWS MY LETTER.
SWANSON
Hey Mark and Pam,
Thanks for the email with Gus Brunson's funeral video. Saturday before last I was one of the guys in the Red Berets at the funeral services. Gus was in my unit, Co. H 121st Airborne, LRS. My wife Dawn and I have known Gus' family for many years. When Gus was killed another good friend of mine was killed as well, SSG Carl Fuller.
Carl served with me in Iraq during the war in 2003 and had volunteered to go back to help the 48th Infantry Brigade. We called ourselves charter members of COPs (crazy old patriots). We both went back into military service as a result of 9-11. He was 44 and leaves behind two teenage children. Carl and Gus were born again Christians. I thought about this as I drove the Adjutant General, Battalion Commander and their wives from Antioch Baptist Church in Sylvester Georgia to the cemetery in Albany.
They commented that they had never seen such a show of support...all the people along the way with American flags. Hundreds of people, young and old from all walks of life lined the roadside, hands over hearts, showing respect for the sacrifice, the ultimate price that my brother paid. I took comfort in knowing everyone along the way would be home safe in their beds later that night and in knowing that my brothers would spend eternity safe at home with the Lord. A quote came to mind as I drove, "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." I also thought of the words of Jesus, "Greater love hath no man, than he lay down his life for a friend."
I wasn't able to get from Albany to Atlanta in time for Carl's funeral later that day but did rush Adjutant General Poythress and his party to the airport so they could get to the other funeral. I don't believe he has missed a funeral for any fallen Georgia Guardsman. That is a heavy burden that he and his wife handle with great compassion and dignity.
In Co H we call ourselves the "Band of Brothers', following the great tradition of the U.S. Army Paratroopers. Roughly half of the Band of Brothers were at each funeral. Last Sunday when I got home from church with my family I checked my emails and got the photos from Carl's funeral. I had held it together long enough and was overcome with emotion at this point. But as difficult as it was for me, I quickly realized my pain was nothing compared to the loss felt by the Brunson and Fuller families.
Pray for them. Pray for all the families who have suffered loss. Pray for our leaders, from the Platoon Sergent in the desert who carries on with "green peas" that are there to fill the positions of his fallen troops, all the way to the President who shoulders the great burden as Commander in Chief.
In the days since we buried my buddies I've talked at length to a number of my fellow "Old Army" soldiers who continue to serve in the Guard and Reserve. I'm going to stick my neck out and leave you with some of our thoughts.
1. Don't call us "weekend warriors". We are American Soldiers, fighting and sometimes dying for freedom. We are well trained, well equipped and fully prepared to answer the call to duty anytime, anywhere, no questions asked.
2. Don't assume we do it for the benefits; i.e. , to get an education, for money or to impress the girls. A heck of a lot of us already have our education, good jobs and in my case at least, the best wife a guy could ever hope for. We do it because we are patriots and despite what the news might have you believe there are a lot of us still around. For the record, we're raising our children to be patriots as well.
3. Don't feel sorry for us. We volunteered to serve the Great State of Georgia and The United States of America. Nobody made us do it. Soldiers aren't perfect and neither is our country. Sometimes we both make mistakes. We are however, honorable, brave people who proudly serve in the defense of the greatest nation in the world, bar none. We consider it our duty and privilege to serve.
4. Don't call us heroes. Yes, we are the vanguard of the force, sometimes enduring savage conditions and unimaginable circumstances but at the end of the day, the vast majority of us are simply doing our jobs. If only a select few of us are heroes then rest assured that sports stars and celebrities, regardless of what "good works" they might do, are not heroes.
5. Don't ask yourself why we do what we do. Ask yourself why more people don't. Freedom is not free. It is not preserved with poster boards but rather by the sacrifice of the American Soldier many of whom like me are Citizen Soldiers.
SPC Robert Swanson, COP
http://www.peanut.org/gus/flash_detected.html
