...deserve props here.

Got this e-mail today.....it touched me.

"Walter Reed Medical Center

At Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC recently, the Sergeant Major of the Army, Jack Tilley, was with a group of people visiting the wounded soldiers.

He saw a Special Forces soldier who had lost his right hand and suffered severe wounds of his face and side of his body.

The Sergeant Major wanted to honor him and show him respect without offending, but what can you say or do in such a situation that will encourage and uplift? How do you shake the right hand of a soldier who has none? He decided to act as though the hand was not missing and gripped the soldier's wrist while speaking words of comfort and encouragement to him.

But there was another man in that group of visitors who had even brought his wife with him to visit the wounded who knew exactly what to do. This man reverently took the soldiers stump of a hand in both of his hands, bowed at the bedside and prayed for him. When he finished the prayer he stood up, bent over the soldier and kissed him on the head and told him that he loved him.

What a powerful expression of love for one of our wounded heroes! And, what a beautiful Christ-like example!

What kind of a man would do such a thing? It was the wounded man's
Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush, President of the United States.

This story was told by the Same Sergeant Major at a Soldiers Breakfast held at Redstone Arsenal, AL, and recorded by Chaplain James Henderson, stationed there."


Now, don't think I'll back off yet, DMV.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/injured.asp  for the true story. here it is from the horse's mouth so to speak:

According to MSG Richard Puckett of the Sergeant Major of the Army's (SMA) office, the gist of the story is true, but the detail about the President's praying with a wounded soldier is an embellishment:

For the past several months the Sergeant Major of the Army has been speaking to groups about his visits to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals to see soldiers injured in Afghanistan and Iraq. The story involves the SMA and a visit by the President of the United States. The SMA and the President have never visited soldiers at the hospital together. The SMA's story of President Bush's visit to one particular soldier was relayed to him by one of the Special Forces soldiers in the hospital that day.

On one visit he spoke to a young special forces soldier who lost his hand in an accident involving a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. As he was leaving, the soldier stuck his limb to the SMA and SMA Tilley gingerly shook the bandages to not injure him further. He presented him a coin and said "God Bless You."

The same soldier was visited several days later by the President, who was awarding medals to many of the wounded soldiers. The soldier stuck his limb up to the President as he was leaving, and President Bush cupped his limb with both hands and said "God Bless You." He then knelt down and kissed him on the forehead.

The story that is spreading around the internet is a well-woven embellishment of the SMA's story.

MSG Richard Puckett
Public Affairs Advisor
to the Sergeant Major of the Army
Office of the Sergeant Major of the Army

"The same soldier was visited several days later by the President, who was awarding medals to many of the wounded soldiers. The soldier stuck his limb up to the President as he was leaving, and President Bush cupped his limb with both hands and said "God Bless You." He then knelt down and kissed him on the forehead."

So GW didn't kneel and pray other than that the story rings true. But read and beleive what you will.

Snopes is a great source for finding the facts. Check out some of the Kerry searches there.
They just corrected the embelishment. But GW did act in a thoughful and caring way. Or would someone spin that he grabbed the guys hand and tore it off and threw it in the bedpan next to bed?
I guess it could even be argued that "God Bless You" and kneeling to kiss his forehead is a form of prayer.
Has all the makings of a prayer in my mind. But thats just my opinion

eh, i wasn't trying to take the props away from the man -- i think what he DID actually do was cool enough without any embellishing.

haven't looked for anything about kerry there. he's not getting my vote, and i've generally got very little use for him. 😛

HEY: Don't put kerry down, he did the same thing only difference it was to a lobbiest who received a paper cut while counting out kerrys bribe money. JonR

Its called baby kissing, the people in office have been doing this crap for many years.