Today Bob posts some good news from the war that he experienced himself firsthand....at the airport in Atlanta.
"...I wasn't prepared for what happened today.But it doesn't stop there....
As my flight from Cincinnati to Atlanta was beginning its descent, the flight attendant began her normal spiel about landing and gates, and assistance finding your connecting flights and so on. Then she announced that I was on board and on my way back to Afghanistan after spending two weeks with my family.
The plane erupted into applause. I was stunned."
"They formed us into a line upstairs at the USO, probably 200 or more of us, and took us downstairs in two long lines. Soldiers and Marines paired two by two in a long line snaked through the airport towards the Army Personnel Command desk to do our formalities. As we wove through the airport, the throngs of travelers began to applaud.While these stories are not unique, I believe that this is a great demonstration that the public opinion battle over the war is not lost as some might want to claim. I am sure that not all of those applauding support the war in Iraq, and maybe not even the War on Terror, but were merely showing their respect.
I wasn't prepared for that, either. Again, I struggled not to lose it. It was like cracking the seal on a warm, freshly shaken coke. All the bubbles rush towards the cap, bringing the contents of the bottle along. That's what it felt like. I managed to keep all my fluids contained; but it was another close call. "
But if the public opinion had truly been lost, I don't think we would see such public displays of support, even if the military is highly respected.
Success can breed further success. Staying the course with our current strategy can continue to bring good news, even if it isn't reported widely. If that continues, the next good news story from the war will be the news from home.....
12 comments:
President Bush is pleased.
I was looking at some poll numbers on Rasmussen today. It seems that after 6 years of war, America is divided pretty much 50/50 on the issue. As much as the media would like to play it up as an "unpopular war", the polling doesn't reflect that.
Also, President Bush's numbers are up this month. He currently has a 39% favorable rating on Rasmussen, up from a low of 34 or 35 earlier in the month.
Too bad I didn't have a chance to applaud those soldiers.
Great post! I fly a lot and I see this kind of thing all the time. I saw a young, disabled soldier given a wad of cash by someone in first class recently. The soldier took the gift as it was intended, with honor and courtesy.
Contrast this story with Oakland's refusal to allow soldiers off the plane.
Bill and Bob have a great blog. Thanks for posting about it.
Gotta love the South! We respect and love our military folks down here.
Here is a song for our men and women in the military:
I Wanna Go Home
The author has given permission to those currently serving in the military who buy the song to share it with nine of their best buddies, wives, husbands, parents, or children.
If you like it, pass it on.
If you want a free copy for review I explain how to get one at the above url.
Could it be that just like we mistook the opinion of the French press for the opinion of the French people (i.e. who'd have guessed that a pro-American like Sarkozy would be elected), so too have we bought the American media's party line about the war's unpopularity?
Could our media be misleading us about the real American opinion of the war?
I just got some very good news from Karridine:
The author of I Wanna Go Home, Karridine, has authorized me to give away 1,000 free copies of the song to our men and women in the military for personal use only. However, recipients of a free copy can let anybody listen to it if they want. Members of the military can put it on their i-pod, use it on their computer, or make one CD.
You can find out how to get a free copy at 1,000 Free Copies.
"America is divided pretty much 50/50 on the issue"
I'm not sure that's true. I've seen all sorts of reports where polls show lots of people opposing the war, but when you read the actual poll questions what they oppose is the "handling" of the war. As a supporter of that effort, I would definitely put myself in that category - I would much rather see far more aggressive ROEs for one thing. That doesn't mean I don't support the war effort.
As a born and bred Southerner, I love reading stories like this. People in the South tend to be very patriotic and represent a larger percentage of military enlistees than any other region. Glad some fellow Atlantans showed we haven't been taken over by carpetbaggers yet.
I live in ATL and I've seen several processions of soldiers like you describe. All have received standing ovations from everyone around. Hartsfield-Jackson obviously sees a lot of soldiers because it's the busiest airport in the world and is in a region with a lot of infantry bases (Carolinas and GA account for a whole lot of east coast Army and Marine troops). There was also a pretty good round of applause on my flight from LAX to ATL yesterday when the flight attendant announced that there were several soldiers on the flight who were headed to some "advanced training". Definitely good to see.
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