 | A Boy Named Patrick - A Veteran's Day Tribute
November 20, 2007 | 
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Here is
Deborah Tainsh's touching story that she told on November 12,
2007, day after Veterans Day, to K to 8th grade students and
their parents at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic school in
Columbus, GA near Ft. Benning. (Some in attendance were troops
and veterans.)
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There was once a man named David who was a
United States Marine. He went to a war in a place called Vietnam
in 1966 to help bring freedom. After he came home from that war
he kept on being a Marine and in 1970 he had a little boy named
Patrick, who loved football, beaches, surfing, and
skateboarding, and especially reading.
Patrick watched his dad be a Marine for over
twenty years. During this time Patrick kept reading not only
surfing and skateboarding magazines, but history books, too. | | 
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One day when Patrick was a man, he told his
dad and best friend, "I want to do something that will make a
difference in the world, I'm going to be a soldier." And so he
did. And in 1999 he went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for boot camp
and then went to Fort Polk, Louisiana where he worked and
trained hard to become a United States Army Cavalry Scout . . .
Then in 2003 Patrick had to say good bye to his mom and dad
because he had to go fight a war in Iraq to protect his country,
friends, and family from terrorists and to help fight for the
freedoms of the boys and girls in that country where they and
their families were treated very badly by their country's
leader. |
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Patrick once wrote a letter to
his mom and dad telling them that he cried for the
children because they were hungry and he didn't have
food to give them. He said he couldn't understand
how a country's leader could treat the people so
badly and make them live in such dirty conditions
with trash and wild dogs everywhere. And so
Patrick's mom and dad keep a photo in their living
room of Patrick surrounded by Iraqi children. |
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Almost a year after Patrick had been fighting
the enemy in Iraq so very hard with his other soldier friends he
was killed and went to live with God. But his mom and dad were
so very proud that he had died while serving others by helping
to create their freedoms like the ones he had loved as an
American. They knew that so many boys and girls in America had
grown up and died using bad drugs or dinking alcohol, and this
made them sadder for those children and their moms and dads.
Before Patrick died he wrote a letter that his mom and dad would
receive if he did not get to come home to live again. In that
letter he said that he wanted his family and friends to be proud
of him and to always remember him for who he was and who he had
become. He wrote that he had never been prouder of anything than
to fight and die with an American flag on his shoulder. That he
was never prouder than to be a United States Army Cavalry Scout.
And that he hoped the people of Iraq would someday enjoy the
same freedoms that he had enjoyed as an American.
So, if it were not for men like Patrick, his dad, and other moms
and dads of today and in the years before today, other people in
other countries would never get to live in such freedom and our
freedoms could be taken away. The freedom of democracy, a
government by the people and for the people, the freedom of
speech, the freedom to pray, the freedom to go to church, and
school, the freedom to have equal rights between men and women,
the freedom to own a business and homes, and to travel anywhere
we want to in our beautiful land, from sea to shining sea. | |
So we honor the brave soldiers like Patrick
thanks to President Woodrow Wilson. One year after the end of
World War I, in 1919, on Armistice (truce) day November 11, the
day that commemorated the end of WWI on November 11, 1918 when
the fighting stopped at 11 a.m., the 11th hour of the 11th day
of the 11th month, a proclamation was created to express the
pride in the heroism of those who had died during the war. In
1938 the Congress of the United States declared it a federal
holiday. In 1954 the name of the holiday was changed from
Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor all those American
veterans who have served in all wars to protect our country and
our freedoms. | |
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic school students
holding letters that spell... Veterans Day | |
So Patrick and all
his soldier friends who still live are veterans and we celebrate
them on Veteran's day because these brave men and women, too,
stand in front of us to protect us and to keep our flag and
freedoms safe from those who want to hurt us and our country.
God bless all our soldiers and veterans and God bless America. | |
By Deborah Tainsh
Copyright
November 11, 2007 About Author:
Deborah Tainsh, Gold Star Mother of Sgt Patrick Tainsh KIA Baghdad, Iraq, 2/11/04, is the author of Heart of a Hawk - One family's sacrifice and journey toward healing, recipient of the Military Writers Society of America's Spirit of Freedom award. Deborah is also a supporter of America's military and their families. She is a national speaker, writer, and peer mentor for TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors and Good Grief Camp for Young Survivors) located in Washington, D.C. She and her husband, USMC Sgt. Major (Ret) David Tainsh live in Harris County, Georgia, near Columbus and their son, Phillip. Comment on this story |
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