A Story Worth Sharing
(Posted 6/28/03)
"At Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC recently the Sergeant
Major of the Army,
Jack Tilley,
was with a group of people visiting the wounded soldiers. He saw a Special
Forces soldier who had lost his right hand and suffered severe wounds of his
face and the side of his body.
Sgt Tilley wanted to honor him and show respect without offending him,
but he wondered what he could do or say in a situation like this. How do you
shake the right hand of a soldier who has none? He decided to act as though
the hand was not missing and gripped the soldiers wrist while speaking words
of comfort and encouragement to him.
But there was another man in that group of visitors who had even brought
his wife with him to visit the wounded who knew exactly what to do. This man
reverently took the soldier's stump in both of his hands, bowed at the
bedside and prayed for him. When he finished the prayer he stood up, bent
over the soldier and kissed him on the head and told him that he loved him.
What a powerful expression of love for one of our wounded heroes! And what a
beautiful Christ-like example!
What kind of a man would do such a thing ? It was the wounded mans
Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush; President of the United States.
This story was told by the SMA Jack Tilley at a Soldiers Breakfast held
at Red Arsenal, AL, and recorded by Chaplain James Henderson who is
stationed there."
