From the daughter of a Soldier:





Last week I was in Melbourne attending a conference. While I was in the

airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to

clap and cheer.

I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of

patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving through the terminal was a group of soldiers in their uniforms, as

they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone)was abruptly

to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers,

probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm

not alone.

I'm not the only red blooded Australian who still loves this country and supports

our troops and their families.

Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung

heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to

school, work, and enjoy our home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our

servicemen and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one

of the male soldiers. He knelt down and said "hi," the little girl then

asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

The young soldier didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would

try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Suddenly the little girl

grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could

muster and then kissed him on the cheek.

The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told

the young soldier that her husband was a Corporal and had been in Afghanistan

for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney,

missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.

When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a

military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and

talking back and forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney,

bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you."

He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

He finished by saying "Your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you

more than anything and he is coming home very soon."

The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom.

I was standing no more than 6 feet away as this entire event unfolded.

As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their

applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very

few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of moment

turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.

We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank

God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an

Australian.