This is a merit in Dayton, Ohio. Nice to have you on the program. Hi, russ I actually just wanted to thank you. I am a wife and sister of two Army soldiers. My brothers served three tours in Afghanistan, and my husband's now when Iraq set to do a year, and it's just it's nice to know that there are other people going over there and telling them that they're doing a great job and we're all ready for him to come home, and that we love them and we
support them and they're doing the right thing. Well, thank you. They are special people. It was an honor to be able to talk to them and convey what I think to be the majority sentiments of the of the people in this country. But I want to tell you they they're When we were kanadahar Um Candahara is the place where they're still are. Skirmish is going on and there was mortar fire the night we were there. Uh, nowhere
near us, but at the base. The base is huge. Uh. One of one of the things that that that I noticed when I had that troop event is that these people would all tell me what what an honor it was to meet me, And I just you know, I I thank them, but I I'm honest here, folks. I can't tell you how small I felt compared to these. And these are the age range anywhere from eighteen to thirty and even older. I mean, some of the commanding officers over there have been the career military, had been
around for a long time. And and I mean, I'll be honest, uh about when I got there second day, I was looking forward to leaving. I mean, I it was not a pleasant experience in terms of just living. It was it was. It was not anything in American as accustomed to. And I had it better than the troops did in the accommodations that I had. Uh. And there were nothing to write home about. I'm and I'm not complaining about. It's just the way it is. And I'm glad I saw it, and I knew it was
going to be that way when I went. But like anybody else, I was looking forward to the end of the week when it was time to come home. And I met a couple of guys in Candahar, a couple of nineteen year olds. Uh. The day I did by troop event was their first day, and I said, how long your schedule to be? Here a year, sir. They both had copies of my books and they didn't know because they just got there that day. They didn't know that I had an event scheduled there. They just they
showed up, both of them. They had one of them had one of the books they haven't had the other copy the other book, and asked me to sign them. Um And just just to show you, they were excited to be there. They signed up for it, they were glad they were there. It was they They're glad of training was over and they had finally gotten to go.
And I'll tell you what I told him in Candahar, in this in this group towards the end of my one hour wasn't a speed well, I guess you called it a speech, but I just I said, I want to tell you, guys, I feel very small standing here in front of you, uh, compared to what you were doing, what I'm doing seems insignificant. And I don't mind admitting this to you, And I says, I get older, I have more and more respect for all of you who
do what you do. And I think one of the reasons is that when I was your age, I had a chance and didn't do what you're doing. It was Vietnam, and it was the the beginning of the time when the country was turning against that war and and so forth. And I had a lot of renumber that was pretty safe, so I really wasn't worried about it. But I didn't join.
You guys have all joined. And as I get older and continue to mature, and I have a greater appreciation, uh for what people like you, throughout our country's history have done and what you've meant. I'm literally in awe of you. You're you're you're better people than I am. Uh you and you know you. And I told him the story of the true if I took to Miami to the Versacei Mansion. I may not have mentioned this
to your folks. It was about no. Nine months ago and I was done in Miami with some friends and they said, let's go to Rasachi mansion. I said, I want to go to Versaci mansion. My house is nicer than that. Oh you gotta see this. So we went in there and I found what I thought just a bunch of young people trying to pair up and go to the clubs. Years old. I'm telling this story to the troops and said that the little women are wearing these little mini skirts that barely cover anything, and a
guy in the front roasted, what's wrong with that? And I said, nothing's wrong with that. I'm not that's a point I'm not criticizing. I'm saying this country is is so magnificent that we can have people who couldn't care less about whatever threats we face. They're just out there having a good time. And yet here you are, same age. I'm in awe of what you do. You could be the same kind and I'm not being critical, but you're here.
And I just wanted to tell him how much I personally appreciated them, and then wanted to convey how much I'm sure all of you do too, And that's that was just that, that was the real reason I went over there, and I got that done