You are standing in line at the ticket counter at the airport and are amazed at the number of people traveling in this bad economy.  I guess at Christmas time, everyone goes home, no matter how tight money is.  This certainly doesn’t help you move past the 26 people in front of you any faster, but it does explain the crowd.  Out of the corner of your eye, you see a young man and young woman walking past you.  Dressed in desert camouflage uniforms, carrying heavy backpacks, you immediately know these are U.S. soldiers or marines….not just because of the uniforms, but because of the upright way they walk and carry themselves.  You continue to glance and notice that the woman couldn’t possibly weigh more than 125 pounds, yet she walks upright, head held high, carrying that backpack that must weigh 75 pounds!  Guys and girls in the military, traveling home for a Christmas visit.  This is a common sight.

Your thoughts bounce back to stories you heard from your granddaddy about his service in the United States Army.  He dropped everything, left his family and friends, just to serve a cause that his government thought was important.  You remember how proud he was of his service and how his face glowed when he talked about it.  You know he was proud and you were proud of him.  For a brief moment, you think about walking over to the young man and young woman and giving them thanks for their service to our country.  You know your granddaddy would.  But, this time it is a little different.  After all, you are still mad at our President for getting us into this mess to begin with.  It angers you that the rest of the world looks on us so poorly, mostly because of the mistakes they think we have made in the conduct of this latest war.  The amount of money we have spent on this war maddens you.  So, you stand still and move slowly through the ticket line.  The young man and young woman disappear into the crowd.

Finally, with your bags checked and your ticket in hand, you arrive at your departure gate.  Here too, the crowd is stifling.  You grab the only seat available in the departure area, and get out the magazine you purchased at the gift store.  Just as you start reading, you hear the announcement that Flight 865 is arriving at your gate.  You know it will only take them a few minutes to empty the plane, do a little cleaning, and then you can board.  Finally, you get to leave things behind and begin your Christmas with your family.  As the passengers start filing off the plane, you notice a man and woman, probably in their middle 50s, waiting anxiously and watching every passenger as they walk out the jet way door.  The man is wearing a black ball cap and he looks like a hard working type.  His hands are a little beat up and he looks like he earns every cent he gets.  The woman, apparently his wife, is standing close to him.  The expression on her face is pure anticipation.  Every few moments, she glances up at her husband.  She knows him well, and she knows how he is going to react when this reunion happens.

All of a sudden, a young man walks out of the jet way door, his head high and he is wearing the same desert camouflage uniform and the same heavy backpack as the two you saw earlier.  The man and woman rush over to him, the soldier puts his backpack on the floor, and the man in the ball cap collapses in this soldiers arms.  This hard working guy probably never cries, but this is just too much for him.  After years of dad holding the son up, now the son keeps dad standing straight. Mom stands watching them both with tears in her eyes. This father hugging this  son is probably the best Christmas gift she has ever had.

This reunion brings a flood of tears to your eyes.  You notice many others having the same reaction you have.  You are seeing the reunion of a military family at Christmas time.  For a moment, you wish you had gotten out of line and said something to the young military man and young military woman you saw in the main terminal.  You wish you knew what to say to this family, holding each other in a flood of tears.  You flash back to six years ago when everyone in the airport stood still and clapped with appreciation when a small group of military people walked through the airport terminal.  Back then, after the events of 911, everyone had great gratitude for our men and women in uniform.  You know that personally, you still do.

This is not about politics.  This is not about the last President, or the current one, or the President-Elect.  This is not about Congress, or political parties, or any other of the myriad of things we have been bombarded with; things that created lines between us.  This is about YOUR personal gratitude that there are those who are willing to give their best years in service for those of us who just stand and wait.  This is about people who take a call, knowing that it could well be the last call of their life.  It is about pure, simple gratitude for a job well done.

The Gratitude Campaign knows that showing your thanks is often a little embarrassing, it often seems like an intrusion into the lives of others, and that doing it very publicly is sometimes a little awkward.  They have developed a way to allow you to show your respect and gratitude every time you see a man or woman in uniform, and to do it in a personal way that both YOU and THEY will understand.  Please visit the website of the Gratitude Campaign and view their video.  Learn about the single gesture that you can give, as a sign of gratitude to our men and women serving in the United States military.  It only takes a couple of minutes for you to view the video and a couple  seconds for you to make the sign.  They will nod back graciously, and you will have the comfort of knowing that you showed your real gratitude for a job well done.  Oh, and if you are the type that doesn’t mind open displays of affection, it is OK to grab them and give them a big hug.

The Gratitude Campaign - Please Visit and View the Video

Update 12/20/2008:  I have embedded one of the videos from the Gratitude Campaign for your viewing.  Please take a minute to email a link to this post to your friends, so they can visit our blog and view this very informative video.

Phil Ellis

Note:  The encounter I described in this post is fictional, but I think this exact same situation happens every day.  My thoughts are certainly not those of the fictional character who is mad about our current situation.  This post was written simply to draw attention to the Gratitude Campaign.  I made a blog post about this organization last year at Christmas.  Gratitude for our men and women in national service is just as important this Christmas. If you are interested in reading the post from last Christmas, click here.