2003 Soap Box Archives

Letter For The Fallen Hero 04/25/03

I recently received an e-mail requesting me to write a letter of
condolence to some parents who had lost a son in the war. Which I did.
It occurred to me that there are many other parents who also lost a
precious child in the conflict and that I could not write a personal
letter to all of them, since I don’t have their names and addresses.
But I wanted to make my feelings known to them, I decided to publish my
original letter in this column in hopes that it will reach at least a
few of the bereaved families and convey my deep and heartfelt
condolences and gratitude to them in their time of despair.

I have changed the family name and will use the generic name of John
for the fallen soldier.

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith,

While I am well aware that no amount of condolences can take away the
pain of losing your precious son, John, I nevertheless wanted, in my
humble and inept way, to write a few words and express my deep sympathy
and great sense of gratitude.

Gratitude to you as parents for raising a son who believes in this
Nation enough to pay the ultimate price for its freedom. And make no
mistake about it, it was the freedom and survival of America that he
was fighting for.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I would ask a favor of you. Please don’t believe
the rhetoric you hear on major television networks and read in the
newspapers which would lead you to believe that support for our
military is lukewarm.

Take it from one who travels the length and breadth of this great
Nation every year and knows the true feelings of the American people.
They love and support our military loyally and caringly.

Your son died a hero and will be remembered as such by the citizens of
America. Every time we sing The National Anthem or say The Pledge of
Allegiance, we will be paying homage to John. Every time we exercise
our right to free speech and free elections, it will be because of
brave ones like John who stood in the gap for all of us.

America owes a great debt of honor to John and his fellow soldiers, and
as just one American, let me say that I will honor his memory and the
memories of all the fallen heroes.

I have a flag pole in my back yard where Old Glory flies forty feet
above the green rolling hills of Tennessee. I am going to walk out
into my back yard and salute that flag and say a prayer and thank
Almighty God for brave young men and women like John Smith. And I’m
going to ask God to help you get through this most difficult of all
times, and I’m going to ask God to bless America yet again.

Please accept my deepest condolences and heartfelt sadness that I feel
for the two of you.

God Bless,
Charlie Daniels