A kiss from a WWII vet…and Gary Sinise touched me…

It gives me great pleasure to introduce a guest blogger "MD" to WWST. I hope to see more posts from her. Welcome MD!! LDR

Ok, everyone, get your minds out of the gutter, this is a sweet story…

As members of the D.C. Wounded Team, MF and I had the opportunity to represent Soldiers’ Angels at the America Supports You (ASY) concert at the Pentagon on Friday, May 16. It was wonderful to see so many home front organizations represented. It was amazing how many had similar stories to our founder’s, Patti Patton Bader: many saw a need and created assistance/support organizations to fill that need. We were given a table to display our information and needless to say, with so many people employed at the Pentagon, military and civilians alike, Soldiers’ Angels made quite a few new fans. Of course, it didn’t hurt that we shared a table with the Red Nose Institute whose founder wore a red clown nose the entire time, even keeping it on for the picture of all the volunteers!

Gary Sinise, a wonderful supporter of our military and star of film and small screen, performed with his band, the Lieutenant Dan Band. They were amazing and some of the band members were vets as well. The music was wonderful and we got a break from our Angel duties while the music played.

After the concert, the ASY staff asked all of the volunteers from the various organizations to line up in front of the stage for a picture with the band. While we were waiting for Mr. Sinise to finish signing autographs (as expected, the line was HUGE), I saw an elderly gentleman seated close to the stage. He was wearing a baseball cap that had WWII and Purple Heart embroidered upon it. I approached him, introduced myself, and as I handed him an SA pin and coin, I thanked him for his service. He took my hand and kissed it...As we lined up for the picture, he asked if he could be included and of course, we made sure he was standing in the very front. After the picture was taken, we all walked back to our respective booths to start cleaning up. This WWII vet noticed my SA backpack, on which I display various pins given to me by service members and their families. One in particular caught his attention – the Purple Heart pin given to me by a Colonel from the 82nd Airborne, as thanks for taking good care of his warriors as they pass through WRAMC. He told me he was a Purple Heart recipient, so I asked him if he would like my pin and his eyes lit up. Without hesitation, I removed it from my backpack and watched as he pinned it next to the Soldiers’ Angels pin already on his hat. This time, he gave me a kiss on the cheek, totally warming my heart and making my day.

Oh yeah, as we were lining up for the pic, Mr. Sinise and his band mates joined us once we were all set. Of course, the shorties were in the front (one shorty, reporting for duty, lol). Mr. Sinise touched my arm, wanting to make sure I was in the picture. I did my best not to swoon, sigh…

So it was a wonderful day all around: we spread the word about Soldiers’ Angels, we heard some great music, I received a kiss from a WWII vet…and Gary Sinise touched me…

MD