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Martin Savidge, embedded with the 1st Marine battalion, 1st
Marine Division, was talking with 4 young Marines near his foxhole
this morning live on TV. He had been telling the story of how well
the Marines had been looking out for and taking care of him since the war
started. He went on to tell about the many hardships the Marines had
endured since the war began and how they all look after one another.
He turned to the four and said he had cleared it with their commanders
and they could use his video phone to call home. None of these
Marines had been able to talk with their families for many weeks. The
19 year old Marine next to him asked Martin if he would allow his
platoon sergeant to use his call to call his pregnant wife back home whom he
had not been able to talk to in over a month. A stunned Savidge, who
was visibly moved by the request, nodded his head - yes. The young
Marine ran off to get the sergeant.
Savidge recovered after a few seconds and turned back to the three
young Marines still sitting with him. He asked which one of them would
like to call home first? The Marine closest to him responded without a
moments hesitation, "Sir, if is all the same to you we would like to
call the parents of a buddy of ours. Lance Cpl Brian Buesing of Cedar Key,
Florida, who was killed on the 23rd of March near Nasiriya. We would
like to see how his folks are doing and let them know their son died
bravely."
At that Martin Savidge totally broke down and was unable to speak.
All he could get out before signing off was, "Where do they get young
men like this?" |