Saturday, April 12, 2008

You have to read this.....

Received this e-mail from an old Navy pal. Either he received this mail or one of his friends did. Too bad our own politicians don't see our troops as this guy does.



Gentlemen

I am an Australian and my son is an Australian - as far as we are
concerned there is not place on God's earth better than Australia , and
there are no people better than Australians.

That was until the past week or so.

My son is in the Australian Army and he is currently on deployment in
Iraq . I can not go into his duties in great depth, but shall we say
that he and his fellow army buddies are on a glorified guard duty
looking after the Australian Embassy. They don't go out looking for
"action", though it is a different story in Afghanistan , there the
Aussie troops chase the baddies over the hills and into the valleys..

My son and I just ended a long 'phone conversation and here are some of
his comments, believe me this is what he said. We have all seen the
cowpie emails written by some clown in his lounge room pretending to
be at the coal face, but this is what was said.:

"Before I came over here I thought we (the Australian Army) were pretty
[beep] hot..... was I ever wrong!....The Yanks (I hope you don't mind me
using that word) are so professional from the top to the bottom that it
is almost embarrassing to be in their company, and to call yourself a
soldier....don't get me wrong, we are good at what we do but the Yanks
are so much better.....they are complete at what they do, how they do it
and their attitude is awesome....they don't complain they just get on
with the job and they do it right.....I carry a Minimi (SAW) so I am not
real worried about a confrontation but I tell you I feel safer just
knowing that the US Army is close by....If we got into trouble I know
that our boys would come running and we could deal with it but they
would probably be passed by a load of Hummers. No questions asked, no
glory sought, the Americans would just fight with us and for us because
that is their nature, to protect those in need of protection.....We use
the American Mess so you could say that we are fed by the
Americans.....they have every right to be pissed at that but they don't
bitch about that they just make us feel as welcome as possible....what
gets to me is that the Yanks don't walk around with a "we are better
than you attitude" and they could because they are, they treat us as
equals and as brothers in arms. If nothing else, coming here has taught
me that the Americans are a truly great Nation and a truly great bunch
of people.....Let's face it they don't HAVE to be here, they could stay
in America and beat the [beep] out of anyone who threatened them, BUT THEY
ARE HERE because they believe they should be here, and the Iraqis would
be screwed if they weren't here.....When I come home, you and I we are
going to the US, we will buy some bikes and we are going riding...."

The reason why I am sharing this with you is because I realize that you
(as a nation) must get pretty pissed with all the criticism you receive
by the so-called "know it alls" who are sitting at home - safe. The
reality is that they are safe, just as I am, because of America . If the
world went arse up tomorrow there is f**k all we ( Australia ) could do
about it, but I know that the Americans would be there putting
themselves on the line for others. That to me is the sign of greatness.

The most precious thing in my life is my son, I look at him and I thank
God that I am fortunate enough to be able to spend time in his company.
We laugh, we discuss, we argue, we dummy spit, we have the same blood I
am not happy that he is where he is but that is his duty. He joined the
Army to protect and to defend, not to play games. I mightn't like it but
I accept it. My reasons for not liking it are selfish and self centered.
I felt assured that he would be safe because he is in a well trained
army with an excellent record, BUT NOW, I feel a whole lot better
knowing that he is with your sons, daughters, brothers and sisters.

Whilst he was growing up. I was always there to look after him, I would
not let harm befall him and I would always put myself before him to
protect him I can't do that now. When it comes to looking after him now
he and his mates will do the job, but also THANK GOD FOR AMERICA.

Gentlemen, I have rambled on for too long. but as I finish I say to you,
as a foreigner and outsider, a nation is only a collection of its people
and its attitude is the attitude of its people, collectively and as
individuals. I am really glad you are here on this Earth and I respect
you as a nation and as people.

Stand up and feel proud because you deserve it, there is no one else who
will do what America does without question. The next time someone howls
you down, take some comfort in the fact that America is defending their
right to act like an idiot.

Finally, thank you for looking after my son.

XXXXX XXXXXX