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Speaker 1: This is a merit in Dayton, Ohio. Nice to have

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Speaker 1: you on the program. Hi, russ I actually just wanted

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Speaker 1: to thank you. I am a wife and sister of

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Speaker 1: two Army soldiers. My brothers served three tours in Afghanistan,

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Speaker 1: and my husband's now when Iraq set to do a year,

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Speaker 1: and it's just it's nice to know that there are

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Speaker 1: other people going over there and telling them that they're

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Speaker 1: doing a great job and we're all ready for him

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Speaker 1: to come home, and that we love them and we

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Speaker 1: support them and they're doing the right thing. Well, thank you.

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Speaker 1: They are special people. It was an honor to be

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Speaker 1: able to talk to them and convey what I think

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Speaker 1: to be the majority sentiments of the of the people

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Speaker 1: in this country. But I want to tell you they

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Speaker 1: they're When we were kanadahar Um Candahara is the place

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Speaker 1: where they're still are. Skirmish is going on and there

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Speaker 1: was mortar fire the night we were there. Uh, nowhere

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Speaker 1: near us, but at the base. The base is huge. Uh.

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Speaker 1: One of one of the things that that that I

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Speaker 1: noticed when I had that troop event is that these

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Speaker 1: people would all tell me what what an honor it

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Speaker 1: was to meet me, And I just you know, I

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Speaker 1: I thank them, but I I'm honest here, folks. I

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Speaker 1: can't tell you how small I felt compared to these.

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Speaker 1: And these are the age range anywhere from eighteen to

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Speaker 1: thirty and even older. I mean, some of the commanding

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Speaker 1: officers over there have been the career military, had been

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Speaker 1: around for a long time. And and I mean, I'll

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Speaker 1: be honest, uh about when I got there second day,

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Speaker 1: I was looking forward to leaving. I mean, I it

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Speaker 1: was not a pleasant experience in terms of just living.

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Speaker 1: It was it was. It was not anything in American

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Speaker 1: as accustomed to. And I had it better than the

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Speaker 1: troops did in the accommodations that I had. Uh. And

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Speaker 1: there were nothing to write home about. I'm and I'm

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Speaker 1: not complaining about. It's just the way it is. And

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Speaker 1: I'm glad I saw it, and I knew it was

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Speaker 1: going to be that way when I went. But like

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Speaker 1: anybody else, I was looking forward to the end of

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Speaker 1: the week when it was time to come home. And

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Speaker 1: I met a couple of guys in Candahar, a couple

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Speaker 1: of nineteen year olds. Uh. The day I did by

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Speaker 1: troop event was their first day, and I said, how

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Speaker 1: long your schedule to be? Here a year, sir. They

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Speaker 1: both had copies of my books and they didn't know

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Speaker 1: because they just got there that day. They didn't know

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Speaker 1: that I had an event scheduled there. They just they

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Speaker 1: showed up, both of them. They had one of them

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Speaker 1: had one of the books they haven't had the other

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Speaker 1: copy the other book, and asked me to sign them.

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Speaker 1: Um And just just to show you, they were excited

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Speaker 1: to be there. They signed up for it, they were

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Speaker 1: glad they were there. It was they They're glad of

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Speaker 1: training was over and they had finally gotten to go.

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Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what I told him in Candahar,

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Speaker 1: in this in this group towards the end of my

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Speaker 1: one hour wasn't a speed well, I guess you called

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Speaker 1: it a speech, but I just I said, I want

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Speaker 1: to tell you, guys, I feel very small standing here

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Speaker 1: in front of you, uh, compared to what you were doing,

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Speaker 1: what I'm doing seems insignificant. And I don't mind admitting

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Speaker 1: this to you, And I says, I get older, I

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Speaker 1: have more and more respect for all of you who

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Speaker 1: do what you do. And I think one of the

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Speaker 1: reasons is that when I was your age, I had

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Speaker 1: a chance and didn't do what you're doing. It was Vietnam,

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Speaker 1: and it was the the beginning of the time when

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Speaker 1: the country was turning against that war and and so forth.

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Speaker 1: And I had a lot of renumber that was pretty safe,

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Speaker 1: so I really wasn't worried about it. But I didn't join.

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Speaker 1: You guys have all joined. And as I get older

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Speaker 1: and continue to mature, and I have a greater appreciation,

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Speaker 1: uh for what people like you, throughout our country's history

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Speaker 1: have done and what you've meant. I'm literally in awe

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Speaker 1: of you. You're you're you're better people than I am.

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Speaker 1: Uh you and you know you. And I told him

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Speaker 1: the story of the true if I took to Miami

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Speaker 1: to the Versacei Mansion. I may not have mentioned this

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Speaker 1: to your folks. It was about no. Nine months ago

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Speaker 1: and I was done in Miami with some friends and

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Speaker 1: they said, let's go to Rasachi mansion. I said, I

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Speaker 1: want to go to Versaci mansion. My house is nicer

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Speaker 1: than that. Oh you gotta see this. So we went

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Speaker 1: in there and I found what I thought just a

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Speaker 1: bunch of young people trying to pair up and go

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Speaker 1: to the clubs. Years old. I'm telling this story to

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Speaker 1: the troops and said that the little women are wearing

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Speaker 1: these little mini skirts that barely cover anything, and a

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Speaker 1: guy in the front roasted, what's wrong with that? And

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Speaker 1: I said, nothing's wrong with that. I'm not that's a

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Speaker 1: point I'm not criticizing. I'm saying this country is is

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Speaker 1: so magnificent that we can have people who couldn't care

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Speaker 1: less about whatever threats we face. They're just out there

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Speaker 1: having a good time. And yet here you are, same age.

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Speaker 1: I'm in awe of what you do. You could be

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Speaker 1: the same kind and I'm not being critical, but you're here.

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Speaker 1: And I just wanted to tell him how much I

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Speaker 1: personally appreciated them, and then wanted to convey how much

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Speaker 1: I'm sure all of you do too, And that's that

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Speaker 1: was just that, that was the real reason I went

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Speaker 1: over there, and I got that done