Thanksgiving With the Troops
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
“Be careful not to parade your acts of tzedakah in front of people in order to be seen by them! If you do, you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So, when you do tzedakah, don’t announce it with trumpets to win people’s praise, like the hypocrites in the synagogues and on the streets. Yes! I tell you, they have their reward already! But you, when you do tzedakah, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Then your tzedakah will be in secret; and your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you. -Matthew 6:1-4 (CJB)
I find it interesting that often, when nobody is looking, Trump seems to act far more like a noble human being than he does when the cameras or twitter are rolling. Maybe all our prayers for him are working.
Nate- I think he hams up the Horrible Orange Man thing a bit, it’s a common defense for anybody who is aware that predators really like nice people, or even ust people who want to be nice at some point.
Someone posted on Twitter that Trump sent a fake motorcade to one of his golf courses as he boarded an unmarked plane for Afghanistan, and that the “MSM” idiots swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Then crickets for what he was really doing. Since I no longer watch any sort of TV “news” I don’t know anything more about it, but I hope it’s true.
How fake is it when pols go to a soup kitchen,a march, church service or what ever ‘spontaneous’ event and they take a whole entourage of reporters with them so they can record the pol being an ‘ordinary’ guy…? Makes me want to barf.
OrdinaryCatholic, You can barf all you want, but here’s the deal: AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) has it own cameramen and reporters. There’s usually a contingent with the heavies aka VIPS or DVs (Distinguished Visitors) on trips or visits to record the events. The crews from AFRTS are not always in uniform. The recorded materials are broadcast on AFRTS to bases and ships at sea. Also released to non DOD outlets. Also the services’ history commands receive footage for their archives.
These visits are important for morale of troops. Also important for the families at home to view and maybe catch a glimpse of their son, daughter, husband, wife, father or mother, etc.
When my father was a commanding officer overseas as a family we often ate holiday meals at the mess hall.. So did the master sergeant. The junior airmen were unaccompanied and they appreciated seeing families. It also gave my father a chance to see that the holiday menu was traditional and meal was well prepared..
As an adult living on an air station in the South Pacific for 3 years at Christmas we always sang I’ll Be Home for Christmas which ends with “if only in my dreams”.
Presidents travel with a press contingent. Don’t know for sure but I think there’s lottery for who get to go on these trips. If the president helps serve he’s 2 feet from the troops in the chow line. Something to write home about when you’re stationed in some s….hole or there’s a chance you might come home in a box.