This morning there was a sendoff mission for the 67 soldiers of the 407th Civil Affairs unit in Arden hills - the staging time was 0415. A friend of mine called me yesterday, asking if he'd read that right...was it really supposed to be 1600, or 4:00 in the afternoon? Nope, 4 a.m. Oh-dark-thirty. Jeff Good, the Northwest Metro Ride Captain, said he was going to be there at 0400 with hot coffee.
I received an email at 6:30 this morning from John Redfield, the SW Metro RC. This is what he said:
-----
It was 12 degress when I got to the Army reserve in Shoreview for the send off this morning. I was worried about where to park since I was early - a little before 4:00 AM. I know Jeff said to park at the back - not sure where at the back - didn't matter 'cause there were already 25 cars of PGR members there when I pulled in.
We ended up with 102 PGR members there, for 67 troops going away. I am so proud to be a part of this organization. 4:00 AM, on a Thursday morning, 12 degrees and we got a hundred people standing out in a parking lot to wish these troops well. It was awesome!!
We gave them a PGR Flag that was well signed - Jeff Good and I presented it.
The Major asked Jeff, "How Many?" And Jeff said a hundred and two. The Major turned to the troops and said, "Remember this room. When you have a bad day and things are getting to you, remember this room - this is why we wear the uniform. You have to be here - they don't. Remember this room!"
All in all it was totally awesome. Everyone kept saying, "I figured there would be 10, maybe 15 people here - I figured I had to come because no one else would."
Anyway - figured you would want to know. Totally - Totally awesome!!
-----
That's the first email I got this morning. What a way to start the day...the only way it could have been better was if I'd been member number 103 in Shoreview this morning. Who would have guessed the ratio would be 102 to 67? I choked up totally when I read that.
Yeah, John...I couldn't have said it better myself. TOTALLY AWESOME.
Monica
