Speaker 1: This is a merit in Dayton, Ohio. Nice to have
Speaker 1: you on the program. Hi, russ I actually just wanted
Speaker 1: to thank you. I am a wife and sister of
Speaker 1: two Army soldiers. My brothers served three tours in Afghanistan,
Speaker 1: and my husband's now when Iraq set to do a year,
Speaker 1: and it's just it's nice to know that there are
Speaker 1: other people going over there and telling them that they're
Speaker 1: doing a great job and we're all ready for him
Speaker 1: to come home, and that we love them and we
Speaker 1: support them and they're doing the right thing. Well, thank you.
Speaker 1: They are special people. It was an honor to be
Speaker 1: able to talk to them and convey what I think
Speaker 1: to be the majority sentiments of the of the people
Speaker 1: in this country. But I want to tell you they
Speaker 1: they're When we were kanadahar Um Candahara is the place
Speaker 1: where they're still are. Skirmish is going on and there
Speaker 1: was mortar fire the night we were there. Uh, nowhere
Speaker 1: near us, but at the base. The base is huge. Uh.
Speaker 1: One of one of the things that that that I
Speaker 1: noticed when I had that troop event is that these
Speaker 1: people would all tell me what what an honor it
Speaker 1: was to meet me, And I just you know, I
Speaker 1: I thank them, but I I'm honest here, folks. I
Speaker 1: can't tell you how small I felt compared to these.
Speaker 1: And these are the age range anywhere from eighteen to
Speaker 1: thirty and even older. I mean, some of the commanding
Speaker 1: officers over there have been the career military, had been
Speaker 1: around for a long time. And and I mean, I'll
Speaker 1: be honest, uh about when I got there second day,
Speaker 1: I was looking forward to leaving. I mean, I it
Speaker 1: was not a pleasant experience in terms of just living.
Speaker 1: It was it was. It was not anything in American
Speaker 1: as accustomed to. And I had it better than the
Speaker 1: troops did in the accommodations that I had. Uh. And
Speaker 1: there were nothing to write home about. I'm and I'm
Speaker 1: not complaining about. It's just the way it is. And
Speaker 1: I'm glad I saw it, and I knew it was
Speaker 1: going to be that way when I went. But like
Speaker 1: anybody else, I was looking forward to the end of
Speaker 1: the week when it was time to come home. And
Speaker 1: I met a couple of guys in Candahar, a couple
Speaker 1: of nineteen year olds. Uh. The day I did by
Speaker 1: troop event was their first day, and I said, how
Speaker 1: long your schedule to be? Here a year, sir. They
Speaker 1: both had copies of my books and they didn't know
Speaker 1: because they just got there that day. They didn't know
Speaker 1: that I had an event scheduled there. They just they
Speaker 1: showed up, both of them. They had one of them
Speaker 1: had one of the books they haven't had the other
Speaker 1: copy the other book, and asked me to sign them.
Speaker 1: Um And just just to show you, they were excited
Speaker 1: to be there. They signed up for it, they were
Speaker 1: glad they were there. It was they They're glad of
Speaker 1: training was over and they had finally gotten to go.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you what I told him in Candahar,
Speaker 1: in this in this group towards the end of my
Speaker 1: one hour wasn't a speed well, I guess you called
Speaker 1: it a speech, but I just I said, I want
Speaker 1: to tell you, guys, I feel very small standing here
Speaker 1: in front of you, uh, compared to what you were doing,
Speaker 1: what I'm doing seems insignificant. And I don't mind admitting
Speaker 1: this to you, And I says, I get older, I
Speaker 1: have more and more respect for all of you who
Speaker 1: do what you do. And I think one of the
Speaker 1: reasons is that when I was your age, I had
Speaker 1: a chance and didn't do what you're doing. It was Vietnam,
Speaker 1: and it was the the beginning of the time when
Speaker 1: the country was turning against that war and and so forth.
Speaker 1: And I had a lot of renumber that was pretty safe,
Speaker 1: so I really wasn't worried about it. But I didn't join.
Speaker 1: You guys have all joined. And as I get older
Speaker 1: and continue to mature, and I have a greater appreciation,
Speaker 1: uh for what people like you, throughout our country's history
Speaker 1: have done and what you've meant. I'm literally in awe
Speaker 1: of you. You're you're you're better people than I am.
Speaker 1: Uh you and you know you. And I told him
Speaker 1: the story of the true if I took to Miami
Speaker 1: to the Versacei Mansion. I may not have mentioned this
Speaker 1: to your folks. It was about no. Nine months ago
Speaker 1: and I was done in Miami with some friends and
Speaker 1: they said, let's go to Rasachi mansion. I said, I
Speaker 1: want to go to Versaci mansion. My house is nicer
Speaker 1: than that. Oh you gotta see this. So we went
Speaker 1: in there and I found what I thought just a
Speaker 1: bunch of young people trying to pair up and go
Speaker 1: to the clubs. Years old. I'm telling this story to
Speaker 1: the troops and said that the little women are wearing
Speaker 1: these little mini skirts that barely cover anything, and a
Speaker 1: guy in the front roasted, what's wrong with that? And
Speaker 1: I said, nothing's wrong with that. I'm not that's a
Speaker 1: point I'm not criticizing. I'm saying this country is is
Speaker 1: so magnificent that we can have people who couldn't care
Speaker 1: less about whatever threats we face. They're just out there
Speaker 1: having a good time. And yet here you are, same age.
Speaker 1: I'm in awe of what you do. You could be
Speaker 1: the same kind and I'm not being critical, but you're here.
Speaker 1: And I just wanted to tell him how much I
Speaker 1: personally appreciated them, and then wanted to convey how much
Speaker 1: I'm sure all of you do too, And that's that
Speaker 1: was just that, that was the real reason I went
Speaker 1: over there, and I got that done