Regular readers of Citizen Grouch know that Young Son recently completed his Boy Scout Eagle project and was awarded the rank of Eagle for creating and shipping 220 zip lock bag comfort kits for Marines in Afghanistan. The idea was to make the bag a size that would fit into the cargo pocket on the field uniform worn by a Marine. Young Son included a letter from himself in each kit plus those from local grade school children. About a month after shipping the kits he got several nice letters from Marines who received the kits. We all thought that was the end of it.
Today a letter arrived from a Marine gunnery sergeant who is part of a scout sniper group serving in Afghanistan. He called Young Son 'sir' and wrote about a member of his team who loved beef jerky (which the kits contained) but who was killed in action before he could receive his package from Young Son. His letter was blunt as would be expected from a gunnery sergeant and sincere. He even said Young Son was 'freaken amazing' for providing the kits to his Marines. He included a picture of most of his team with their weapons and the colors. When Young Son read the letter aloud to me we were both blown away by the impact of it. His Eagle project mattered to the men serving in the war zone enough that these young and tough warfighters took the time to assemble for a picture for him to include in the thank you note. I was choked up when Young Son finished reading it to me. We looked at each other temporarily unable to speak. He understood that he received a great honor from the Gunny.
Today a letter arrived from a Marine gunnery sergeant who is part of a scout sniper group serving in Afghanistan. He called Young Son 'sir' and wrote about a member of his team who loved beef jerky (which the kits contained) but who was killed in action before he could receive his package from Young Son. His letter was blunt as would be expected from a gunnery sergeant and sincere. He even said Young Son was 'freaken amazing' for providing the kits to his Marines. He included a picture of most of his team with their weapons and the colors. When Young Son read the letter aloud to me we were both blown away by the impact of it. His Eagle project mattered to the men serving in the war zone enough that these young and tough warfighters took the time to assemble for a picture for him to include in the thank you note. I was choked up when Young Son finished reading it to me. We looked at each other temporarily unable to speak. He understood that he received a great honor from the Gunny.
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Awesome.
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