President George W. Bush consoles Ronald Klopf and Lisa West-Klopf, both of Aguanga, Calif., during a gathering of military support organizations Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. Their son, Lance Cpl. Jeromy West, was killed November of 2006 while serving with the U.S. Marines in Iraq.
Our friend Allison Scamman from Stratham sends the following report on a trip to she and others from NH took this week in support of our troops:
Hello All,.
We had the most amazing trip to Washington,DC with the Gold Star and Blue Star families that have come together from all over the US and joined a group called Families United-Supporting our loved ones to victory. Also the Vets for Freedom were there with us. President Bush had us all for breakfast at the White House and then opened it up for a tour. We are wearing the red shirts and the Vets are tan. The visit to Arlington National Cemetery was also very moving with few dry eyes ,even for General Pace..
Just click this link and you can see our visit with the President. He then let us tour the White House (beautiful). He was wonderful to all of us, no matter what you think of him- he is a man of true character and compassion..
Love,
Allison
When you follow the link, you will read the President’s words with those with him in support of the troops. This particular line is something that struck me:
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. When the history books are finally written about this chapter in the war against extremists and radicals, they will recognize certain truths: one, that we recognize that if we were to retreat from the Middle East the enemy would not be content to remain where they are, but they would follow us here. We recognize that the best way to protect our homeland is to defeat an enemy overseas so we do not have to face them here on the streets of America. And we recognize that liberty is powerful, that liberty will yield the peace that we want for generations to come; that will recognize that this generation of Americans did the hard work now, so that future generations could live in security and peace.
That is the very essence of what the new world war is all about. We can argue about strategy and methods of how to conduct the war all day. We shouldn’t have to argue over whether or not we must fight it, however. September 11, 2001 showed us that whether we want to participate in it or not, we are at war. And they WILL follow us anywhere…
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Click here for more pictures of Tuesday’s gathering on the South Lawn of the White House. And remember—