:regardless of your political views...

< < Regardless of Your Political Views
< < <<
< < <<
< < << This is a small, but true story to give you an idea of the
< < <<kind of man
< < << and the kind of woman we have in the White House right now.
< < << As you may know, the President and Mrs. Bush visited the
< < <<Washington
< < << Burn Center on Friday 14 September. Among those they visited
< < <<was LTC
< < << Brian Birdwell, who was badly burned in the Pentagon attack.
< < <<Mrs. Bush
< < << went into Brian's room, spoke to him for about a minute, all
< < <<the time
< < <<as
< < << if they had been life-long acquaintances.
< < << She then turned to Brian's wife Mel, who at this time had been
< < <<at the
< < << hospital for probably 2 1/2 days, and apparently, according to
< < <<Mel
< < << herself, was dirty, grimy and had blood on her shirt. Mrs.Bush
< < <<hugged
< < << Mel for what Mel said seemed like an eternity, just as if Mel
< < <<were one
< < << of her closest family members.
< < << Mrs. Bush then told Brian and Mel that there was "someone"
< < <<there
< < << to see
< < << him. The President then walked in, stood by Brian's bedside,
< < <<asked
< < << Brian how he was doing, told him that he was very proud of
< < <<them both
< < << and that they were his heroes. The President then saluted
< < <<Brian. Now,
< < << at this point in time, Brian is bandaged up pretty well. His
< < <<hands are
< < << burned very badly as well as the back of him from the head
< < <<down.
< < << His movements were very restricted. Upon seeing the President
< < <<saluting
< < << him, Brian began to slowly return the salute, taking, from the
< < <<accounts
< < << so far, about 15-20 seconds to get his hand up to his head.
< < <<During all
< < << of this, 15-20 seconds, President Bush never moved, never
< < <<dropped his
< < << salute. The President dropped his salute only when Brian was
< < <<finished
< < << with his, and then gave Mel a huge hug for what also probably
< < <<seemed
< < << like an eternity.
< < << As a note to those of you who might not be familiar with
< < <<military
< < << protocol, the subordinate normally initiates a salute and will
< < <<hold it
< < << until the superior officer returns the salute. In the above
< < <<incident,
< < << President Bush acted in the role of the subordinate to show
< < <<his
< < <<respect
< < << and high regard for the injured man.
< < << No further comments. Pray for our leadership. Thank God for
< < << what we
< < << are, have, and will be.
< < << Major Carl "Ferris" Buhler, USAF
< < << Air Force Executive Issues Team
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