« Vote for Marine Corps Moms at Milblogging.com | Main | Vice President Cheney" "One Team, One Fight." »
December 28, 2005
The Liberty Limited
Jarhead Dad passed along this wonderful story from the Philadelphia Daily News by Ronnie Polaneczky about a very special tribute to our wounded troops.It started last Christmas, when Bennett and Vivian Levin were overwhelmed by sadness while listening to radio reports of injured American troops. "We have to let them know we care," Vivian told Bennett. So they organized a trip to bring soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital to the annual Army-Navy football game in Philly, on Dec. 3. The cool part is, they created their own train line to do it.Mr. Levin owns his own rail car, so that was a start . . . and he convinced 15 other rail car owners into lending their cars for the day. Amtrak donated transport of the cars to D.C. where the wounded troops were taken in grand style to the game, then returned them to their owners. Someone else donated seats on the 50-yard line - 100 of them - plus lunch. Each of the troops were allowed to bring a guest. However, Polaneczky noted:
The Marines, though, declined the offer. "They voted not to take guests with them, so they could take more Marines," says Levin, choking up at the memory.No media. No publicity. Just a wonderful outpouring of support in a tangible way.
The most poignant moment for the Levins was when 11 Marines hugged them goodbye, then sang them the Marine Hymn on the platform at Union Station. "One of the guys was blind, but he said, 'I can't see you, but man, you must be f---ing beautiful!' " says Bennett. "I got a lump so big in my throat, I couldn't even answer him." It's been three weeks, but the Levins and their guests are still feeling the day's love. "My Christmas came early," says Levin, who is Jewish and who loves the Christmas season. "I can't describe the feeling in the air."Thank God for people like the Levins who make things happen. The 88 troops who made this trip will have a wonderful memory to hold on to when life gets hard. And a killer story to tell their grandchildren.
Posted by Deb at December 28, 2005 05:40 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.marinecorpsmoms.com/mt-tb.cgi/756
Comments
One important thing I really like about blog posts is that they provoke an idea in my head. The moment that happens, I feel as I have to provide feedback wishing it will be helpful to other people. Due to the fact there are so many blogs with different points of view, they question your perception. It really is at these moments when you have good insignt the rest might not have had, which include the blogger her/himself. I find myself returning to your web site simply because you have some brilliant insights and also you are already at this a very long time, that is very impressive and tells me you know a lot. Keep provoking thoughts in others!
Posted by: Ernesto Coyle at March 21, 2010 02:44 PM
Waarom neemt Sander zelf geen twitter! Als hij zo graag wil twitteren:D ik zou 'm volgen hoor!
Posted by: Seattle Limos at July 9, 2010 05:02 PM
To begin with attractive site. I'm uncertain if it could have been talked about, but when using Firefox I can never get the whole weblog to load with out refreshing several times. May just be my modem. Enjoy!
Posted by: symptoms of autism at July 20, 2010 09:04 PM