The last 6,000 American troops are to be out of Iraq by December 31.
Have you come across this ad on YouTube?
That's my nephew and his family in the picture!
Earlier this month, my family marked the 1st anniversary of my nephew coming home from Iraq. While David was deployed there was a documentary made called Operation: Family Connect. The collection of films told the stories of three military families and what they experienced while they were apart. My nephew and his family were one of the families.
David was deployed just after his son Ian's birth, so not only was he looking forward to seeing his beautiful wife, Ariana, but he was also excited about spending time with her and his son as a family.
At this time of year, my heart turns to other military families who will not be able to be with their loved ones for the holidays. For almost 4,500 troops this day will never come, they made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and for us.
Today I would like to share The Rathburn Reunion video with you to give you a glimpse of what our military families go through as they wait for their soldier to return to them and the moment they spot each other across a field. This is putting a face on what so many have or will experience.
To our troops who are still deployed in Afghanistan and other parts of the world, I wish you a speedy and safe return to your loved ones. Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.
My nephew, David Rathburn, has been home for a year now. As a family they just celebrated their son's second birthday. I am so proud of them and wish them a very Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart.
My nephew, David Rathburn, has been home for a year now. As a family they just celebrated their son's second birthday. I am so proud of them and wish them a very Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart.
Please take some time this busy season to thank our troops in any way you see fit, it will make your heart sing and show them how much we care.
17 Thoughtful Comments:
Awesome sweety!
Thank you for sharing this with us!
Oh Shelle..
How beautifully touching..!
thanks for sharing!
warm loving thoughts and prayers..
tight squozen hugs from the heart!
Loui♥
That was emotional and gave me my cry for the day. We support the anysoldier program where we send care packages to a unit in Afghaistan every month - its a very rewarding experience for me. Our military does not get the recognition it deserves. Bless them all.
Beautiful post! Bring them on home asap!!! Your nephew's family is precious. Please thank him for his selfless service from all of us bloggers. It doesn't go un-noticed. I hope you are doing well, Miss Shellbelle. I know it's a busy time of year and can be emotional with the loss of a loved one, but remember they are not "lost" at all! They are laughing at you from above when you burn the Christmas dinner or when you reach to high on the Christmas tree to hang an ornament and it accidently falls over... keep that spirit alive! Thoughts and well wishes to you and yours = )And I don't know if I told you, but I loved, LOVED that comic you sent to me. It was hilarious. Thank you!
I've never seen a reunion that didn't make me cry and this was no exception. Many of our friends have had children deployed and my own son was deployed in the first gulf war. It's wonderful to see them come home.
I know how proud you are of David & his sister Bridgette who also is a soldier. That clip really shows how deep that service goes - that even the family pays a price. Thanks for sharing. Love ya!
Thank you for sharing this touching video with all of us. Seeing and hearing the emotions that your nephew and his family experienced brings the reality of the sacrifice our troops and their families make every single day right into our hearts. I am so grateful for each and every one of them.
So glad that lovely family is together again...blessings on them, and on the other wonderfully courageous military families.
What a beautiful family...they look so young to have gone through so much. I think sometimes we forget just what these people go through and we should never forget or never neglect to say "thank you" for what they have done for us.
This is so moving! Thank you and I will go and check out other videos. My Dad was military and I remember the joy of him coming home after he had been in Viet Nam. hugs, Linda
What a beautiful, touching post! I'm so glad they are coming home!
To all soldiers-
Thank you for your bravery! You are so appreciated!
Jennifer
omg! NOW you've done it.....crying my eyes out right before I hit the sack!! Oh Rhonda...thank you for sharing this. It truly has brought the importance of our troops back to me and makes me say even more prayers that they can all come home to their families.
Plz tell david thank you for protecting me and my family.....
Tears in my eyes. The soldiers and their families give up so much for us. Thank yours for me.
Beautiful and very moving! Thank you for sharing! :o)
I am crying over this one, Rhonda. What a wonderfully sweet family video. I know you are proud of him/them. Thank you for sharing this.
Contrast this to what my cousin experienced after his second tour of duty. He came home excited to see his wife, and she served him with divorce papers. While he found out how much he missed her, she had found a boyfriend.
I am so thankful that he has now found a wife now who is perfect for him and is trueblue. That's what these guys deserve. And when he came back from his third tour of duty, she was waiting for him, to become his bride! I could not be happier.
Love you...
XO,
Sheila :-)
Beautiful write up! It's very touching and made teary eyed quite a bit.
Thumbs up to you for posting this and to all the US soldiers and from other countries. They truly take pride of every effort to protect every citizen from every nation. Thank you for sharing this. :)
I'm a little late to the party. But that was a beautiful post. It's 2018 now and we still have our soldiers deployed all over the world. May the Lord keep them safe and bring them home again.
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