Miscellaneous Items
Current Magazines, Books, Crossword Puzzles etc. Non Perishable Foods, Pop Top Can Foods( soups, chili,etc) Thanksgiving cards, Thank you letters.

Please NO PORK OR PRODUCTS CONTAINING PORK! NO ALCOHOL!

Thank you so much for your support of our Troops!

April 11th, 2007

Send a Care Package to a Soldier...

We've heard it time and time again from soldiers who have called into our show... your cards, letters and care packages mean more than you could ever imagine. Keeping morale high when you're thousands of miles away from the people you love and being shot at every day is a daily challenge. Coming home from the field of combat and getting a card, even from a complete stranger, that just says "Thank you for everything you do. Come home safe" can make a soldier's day. You can also send care packages of all sorts of things to help the people defending this country keep their spirits up for the upcoming holiday season. Below are a list of fantastic websites specifically devoted to getting care packages to our troops deployed all around the world. Let 'em hear from you. Even a "Thank You" card today can change a soldier's life tomorrow...

Here is a list of some more organizations that provide services to send care packages overseas!

www.packedwithpride.com (a local, non-profit organization in Sacramento)

www.anysoldier.com/

www.treatsfortroops.com/

www.opgratitude.com/

www.operationmilitarypride.org/packages.html

www.soldiersangels.org/

www.operationusocarepackage.org

www.americasupportsyou.mil

Click Here for a special tribute to our soldiers returning home...

Click Here for "A Soldier's Gift to R.A.D."

For Soldiers suffering from the effects of radiation exposure on the battlefield, and how you can help them...

www.iraqradiation.com

Pet Care for Soldier Pets...

There are a lot of dogs and cats and (other animal friends) that have parents who are currently serving in the U.S. Military and deployed to lands far away. When that happens, sometimes there is no one around to take care of us their pets. So, if you'd like to volunteer to help a military family pet as a foster parent, or if you are a military family and need temporary care for your pet, check out this website...

Click Here to Help a Soldier's Pet...

The columns and poems below are in dedication to all the men and women past and present who have suited up and put their lives on the line to protect this country. You can find all of these on Dawn's...

"Turkey Soup for the Soul USA Page"

July 10th, 2006

Ben Stein's Last Column

For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time.

Ben Stein's Last Column...
============================================

How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.

They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer. A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if th ey will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or eve n remotely close to any of them.

But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.

By Ben Stein

April 10th, 2006

Images to Remember...

Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News
When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember b ringing that Marine home. And they should."

Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News
The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."

September 25th, 2005

The Final Inspection

The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you ?
Have you always turned the other cheek ?
To My Church have you been true?"

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God

"Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."

May 22nd, 2005

Your Honor

Unselfishly, you left your fathers and your mothers.
You left behind your sisters and brothers.
Leaving your beloved children and wives,
Put on hold your dream, your lives.

On foreign soil you found your self planted,
To fight for those whose freedom you granted,
Without your sacrifice, their cause would be lost,
But you carried onward, no matter the cost.

Many horrors you had endured and seen,
Many faces had haunted your dreams.
You cheered as your enemies littered the ground,
You cried as your brothers fell all around.

When it was over, you all came back home,
Some were left with memories to face alone.
Some found themselves in the company of friends,
As their crosses cast a shadow across the land.

Those who survived were forever scarred,
Emotionally, physically, permanently marred.
Those who did not, now sleep eternally,
Beneath the ground they had given their lives to keep free.

With a hand upon my heart, I feel,
The pride and respect my reverence revealed.
In the tears that now stream down my upturned face,
As our flag waves above you, in her glory and grace.

Freedom was the gift that you unselfishly gave,
Pain and death was the price that you ultimately paid.
Every day, I give my utmost admiration,
To those who had fought to defend our nation.

-Author Unknown





They Don't Wear Purple Hearts In Heaven

I lost my brother to a foreign land;
I was too young to even understand
There was a knock at the front door,
then Mamma wasn't smiling anymore.
The man at the door was a Marine;
the first I've ever seen.
Momma told me to go out and play,
then the preacher came and they started to pray.

Tears ran down Mamma's eyes,
and I heard her say, "Why, Lord, Why"?
Father stood there seemingly mindless,
all he said was, "We've lost another of America's finest.

The Marine handed Mamma a small velvet case,
inside was a Purple Ribbon, attached to a
gold heart with Washington's face.
I asked Mamma if it were mine,
but she said, "It's your brother's, Sunshine."
"Momma can we send it to Kevin?" she answered...

"They don't wear Purple Hearts in Heaven."

-Author Unknown

It's the Soldier

It's the soldier, not the reporter
who has given us, freedom from the press.

It's the soldier, not the poet, who has
given us freedom of speech.

It's the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It's the soldier, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It's the soldier, who salutes the flag, serves under the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who gives the protester the right to burn the flag.

-Author Unknown

May 16th, 2005

May is National Military Appreciation Month, a special time to recognize the sacrifices of our troops and their families. For ideas on what you can do to help support our great armed forces go to www.americasupportsyou.mil

Also, you can check out my tribute page to the military by clicking here.

Here is my "Turkey Soup for the Soul" for this week...
--Dawn

Flag of the Free

Look at the flag as it floats on high,
Streaming aloft in the clear, blue sky,
Rippling, leaping, tugging away,
Gay as the sunshine, bright as the day,
Throbbing with life, where the world may see-
Flag of our country, flag of the free!
What do we see in the flag on high,
That we bare our heads as it passes by,
That we’ll thrill with pride, our hearts beat fast,
And we cheer and cheer as the flag goes past-
The flag that waves for you and me-
Flag of our country, flag of the free?
We see in the flag a nation’s might.
The pledge of a safeguard day and night,
Of a watchful eye and a powerful arm
That guard the nation’s homes from harm.
Of a strong defense on land and sea-
Flag of our country, flag of the free!

We see in the flag a union grand,
A brotherhood of heart and hand,
A pledge of love and a stirring call
To live our lives fro the good of us all-
Helpful and just and true to thee,
Flag of our country, flag of the free!

Flutter, dear flag, o’er the lands and seas!
Fling out your stars and your stripes to the breeze,
Righting all wrongs, dispelling all fear,
Guarding the land that we cherish so dear,
And the God of our fathers, abiding with thee,
Will bless you and trust you, O flag of the free!

-Walter Taylor Field

May 9th, 2005

REASONS

Every time you take a breath free of chemicals,
Breathe once for our troops.

Every time you speak your opinion and not go to jail,
Voice your appreciation for our troops.

Every time you practice your religion without punishment,
Praise our beloved troops.

Every time you are able to vote for a leader,
Mark one for our fighting troops.

Every time you see our flag flying high on a pole,
Salute it for our fallen troops.

Every time you hear the Star Spangled Banner play,
Stand to show support for our present troops.

Every time you hear a newborn babe wail,
Cry for our future troops.

You needed reasons to give support in this war,
Now that you have them… Support Our Troops.

Poem Copyright Laura Walters
Dedicated to Eric Siddons

Updated May 3, 2005

Welcome to my "Turkey Soup USA" page!! There's an important reason why I have put this page up on my website. Just because things have quieted down for our country militarily (for now anyway), that doesn't mean we shouldn't respect and praise the brave people in our armed forces every day. In honor of these Men and Women in the U.S. Military that serve this wonderful country, we dedicate this page to them. Thank you for serving and protecting our freedoms.

Here's a bunch of really great emails and forwards that have been sent to me by some great listeners and some very dear friends of mine. Now more than ever, I think they give us something to think about....

May 3rd, 2005

May is National Military Appreciation Month, a special time to recognize the sacrifices of our troops and their families. For ideas on what you can do to help support our great armed forces go to www.americasupportsyou.mil

Also, you can check out my tribute page to the military by clicking here.

Here is my "Turkey Soup for the Soul" for this week...
--Dawn

"The Silent Ranks"

January 17th, 2005

Enjoy Your Freedom &
God Bless Our Troops

I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease..

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen,"

When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea

Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.

Enjoy Your Freedom & God Bless Our Troops

An Open Letter to the Dixie Chicks

Earlier this week, while performing in London, you stated that you were ashamed that our President is from your home state. I wonder if you realized how many Americans would be listening. This American was listening. This Texan is ashamed that you come from my state. I serve my country as an officer in the United States Navy. Specifically, I fly F-14 Tomcats off carriers around the world, executing the missions that preserve the very freedom you claim to exercise. I have proudly fought for my country in the skies over Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan without regret.

Though I may disagree wholeheartedly with your comments, I will defend to the death your right to say them, in America. But for you to travel to a foreign land and publicly criticize our Commander in Chief is cowardice behavior. Would you have so willingly made those comments while performing for a patriotic, flag-waving crowd of Texans in Lubbock. I would imagine not.

How dare you pocket profits off songs about soldiers, their deaths and patriotism while criticizing their Commander in Chief abroad, even while they prepare to give their lives to ensure your own freedom of speech.

Please ask yourself, what have you done to deserve that sacrifice? Do not try to justify your comments by claiming that you made them only because you care about innocent lives. Never once in our history have we committed troops to war for the purpose of taking innocent lives. We do it to protect innocent lives, even yours. If the world leaders of the late 1930's had the vision and courage of our present Commander in Chief, perhaps the evil men who caused the death of millions in WWII would have never had the opportunity to harm a soul. The potential loss of millions of lives in the future at the hands of today's evil men necessitate action.

In a separate correspondence, I am returning to you each and every Dixie Chicks CD and cassette that I have ever purchased. Never again will I allow my funds to support your behavior. All you have done is to add your name to a growing list of American
"Celebrities" who have failed to realize that they have obtained their successes on the backs of the American blue-collar workers such as our servicemen and women.

To Natalie Maines: This Texan? this American will continue to risk his life to guarantee your freedoms. What will you do to deserve it?

From My Friend Danae...

This is an e-mail from my good friend Danae and I thought it was worth sharing. Danae is the wife of a Navy SEAL. Her husband is my buddy John, he is a Navy SEAL instructor at BUD's School. They both live on Coronado Island in San Diego....

I have to tell you, I think I have spent the last two days just welling up with tears more times than I can count (yes it may be hormonal..). No, but it hit me driving home from work the other day. After all we have heard about anti war this and that, when it finally began, the flood of American support is truly great. Especially in town like this one, where wives and children, parents, grandparents, and brothers and sisters, can be seen standing on the decks waving goodbye to a line of saluting men ( and women) in their dress whites..standing at attention, lining the decks of this massive carrier...high atop, waves our flag. The support is everywhere,..so I am driving, Lee Greenwood singing "God Bless The USA-aaaa-aaaaa.."..and I am just crying, like ugly-hiccupy-crying...I am so proud, and so sad, and a little scared..and more proud.... I drive up and over the Coronado bridge, and I looked out over the ocean, and I can see these carriers out there, just watching, and waiting.. protecting. Again, more crying now,.. so of course I had to call John...just to tell him, thank you, and how amazed and proud I am of him too. Although he may not be over there, I just can't believe the amount of dedication he has given to be what he is, to be a protector of this country, and how filled with pride he must be, to be an American... I also had to tell him how lucky I felt ( selfishly) to not be one of those wives waving good bye....(more crying)!!!!!! ANYWAY, I am done now... !!! We love ya, and we will chat soon!

Love,
Danae

http://www.politicsandprotest.com/

From an American Revolutionary Soldier...

I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in his bloody hands. He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of food, wounded from months of battle and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his family surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war. He stands tough, with fire in his eyes and victory on his breath.
He looks at us now in anger and disgust and tells us this... I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your children graduate too illiterate to read it. I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home because it rains. I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech and you remain silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business. I orphaned my children to give you a government to serve you and it has stolen democracy from the people. It's the soldier not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press. It's the soldier not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech. It's the soldier not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate. It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!!! "Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen."

Trying to Help
by Dennis Miller

All the rhetoric on whether or not we should go to war against Iraq has got my insane little brain spinning like a roulette wheel. I enjoy reading opinions from both sides, but I have detected a hint of confusion from some of you. As I was reading the paper recently, I was reminded of the best advice someone ever gave me. He told me about the KISS method ("Keep it Simple, Stupid"). So, with this as a theme, I'd like to apply this theory for those who don't quite get it. My hope is that we can simplify things a bit and recognize a few important facts.

Here are 10 things to consider when voicing an opinion on this important issue:

1) Between President Bush and Saddam Hussein.....Hussein is the bad guy.
2) If you have faith in the United Nations to do the right thing, keep
this in mind. They have Libya heading the Committee on Human Rights and Iraq heading the Global Disarmament Committee. Do your own math here.
3) If you use Google, search and type in "French Military Victories," your reply will be "Did you mean French Military Defeats?"
4) If your only anti-war slogan is "No war for oil," sue your school
district for allowing you to slip through the cracks and robbing you of the education you deserve.
5) Saddam and Bin Laden will not seek United Nations approval before they try to kill us.
6) Despite what some seem to believe, Martin Sheen is NOT the
President. He plays one on T.V.
7) Even if you are anti-war, you are still an "Infidel" and Bin Laden
wants you dead, too.
8) If you believe in a "vast right-wing conspiracy," but not in the
danger that Hussein poses, quit hanging out with the Dell computer dude.
9) We are not trying to liberate them.
10) Whether you are for military action, or against it, our young men and women overseas are fighting for us to defend our right to speak out.
We all need to support them without reservation.
I hope this helps.

The Average Military Man

The average age of the military man is 19 years.

He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country.

He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm Howitzers.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.

He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.

He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.

He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.

If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food.

He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime.

He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them.

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.

Beardless or not, he is not a boy.

He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.

Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration... with his blood.

Who Packs Your Parachute?

Charles Plumb was a U.S.Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Captain Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied.

Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"

Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"

Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory - he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute.

He called on all these supports before reaching safety. Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, or congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

Got Your Back

I am a small and precious child,
my dad's been sent to fight...
The only place I'll see his face,
is in my dreams at night.
He will be gone too many days
For my young mind to keep track.
I may be sad, but I am proud.
My daddy's got your back.

I am a caring mother.
My son may go to war...
My mind is filled with worries
That I have never known before
Everyday I try to keep
my thoughts from turning black.
I may be scared, but I am proud.
My son has got your back.

I am a strong and loving wife,
with a husband soon to go.
There are times I'm terrified
In a way most never know.
I bite my lip, and force a smile
As I watch my husband pack...
My heart may break, but I am proud.
My husbands got your back...

I am a man who's lonely now.
My nights are all alone.
I wake each morning tears in eyes,
For my wife is not at home.
I'm proud of her for standing up
Her devotion right on track.
She guards are freedom, I am proud,
My wife has got your back.

I am a soldier, Serving Proudly,
Standing tall.
I fight for freedom, yours and mine
By answering this call.
I do my job while knowing,
The thanks it sometimes lacks.
Say a prayer that I'll come home.
It's me who's got your back.

I would urge all of you as good, God fearing, patriotic, AMERICAN
citizens to stand by all of the people that are already over there preparing to give their lives for us and our way of life.

Let us not have another Vietnam and all the callous
hatred that our people had to come home to face.

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, THEY DESERVE ALL THE SUPPORT WE CAN GIVE THEM!!!!!

PRAY FOR THEIR SAFETY!!