News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Thanksgiving

Date: November 23, 2000

A Thanksgiving treat.

A report by a young lady, Catherine, age 12, is our Thanksgiving gift because the children are everyone's gift. The report will be permanently archived in our Voices Of The Future section which features reports by young people.

A happy, healthy and blessed Thanksgiving.... God Bless our POWs. MIAs and those who wait. And, Thank You Catherine.

"THE REAL PATRIOTS

When you hear that someone is a patriot what does it mean to you? Do you think of wars? Soldiers? Those are just some things involved in patriotism. A patriot is someone who is loyal, faithful, supportive, and loving to his or her country. Most soldiers are. They are willing to die for their country. You should hope that soldiers fighting wars for us are patriots. If they aren't they might just turn their back on the country and decide it is not worth their life. Most soldiers are patriots. People like David Demmon, Charles Dale, James Mclean, Robert Masoda, and David Munoz were captured in wars and never seen again. These men risked everything including not seeing their families again to fight for our country. They never came back or were heard from again. They were possibly tortured, starved, or even killed at the word of the their country. These are examples of patriots. These men are truly patriotic.

John Thompson, my great uncle, ws captured in World War two. When he was captured he had already suffered a bullet through the groin. The Germans in Europe captured him and many other American soldiers. They were forced to march for three days and anyone who stopped was executed on the spot. John Thompson weighed about 200lbs when he left for the war. He was very well filled in with a muscular body. When he came back three years later he weighed about 135lbs. He made the three-day march to the prisoner camp with a bullet hole in his groin. He suffered from exhaustion and pain like many soldiers do for their country in every war.

Now does the word patriot mean something to you? Does knowing that soldiers risked their lives for you strike you differently than before? If most of the soldiers who have, are and will fight in wars weren't patriots we might not have the countries we do today. They have risked and done so much but received so little credit. That's why patriotism is important. It is a slefless act by those who take it to the grave.

By: Catherine"