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Topic: Note (02/07/13)
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TITLE: A Promise Not Forgotten | Previous Challenge Entry
By Loni Bowden-Horn
02/10/13 -
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Jeremy had been touted as a hero for his bravery in saving so many of the men and women under his command before a roadside bomb had exploded and left him vulnerable and powerlessly waiting for aid to arrive. He didn’t recall much after the shrill whistling; high-pitched blast had ascended in the air and struck him from behind leaving an indescribable excruciating pain coursing through his entire body. Jeremy was mercifully rendered unconscious and when he came to could vividly recall the swollen, limp shell of a man he had come to be. A sensation of tingling, heat and throbbing made him look under the sheet at his right leg but there was nothing left below his knee but a red and pus-filled oozing sore on his amputated limb.
He was no hero. The only reason that he had gone to war was to prove to his father that he wasn’t as worthless as he had been told. The words kept coming back like a recording on a tape, “Jeremy, you are a no good piece of garbage that will never amount to much”. “You are a sorry example of a son and I wish you had never been born.” Those words were seared in his mind like a piece of cattle being branded by a hot, scolding iron. The mark it had left pierced his soul to the very core. There was no one to go to that could ease his pain. His mother had died at a very young age of a broken heart from the abuse and suffering she had endured from her husband all of those years. It had left him a lonely, scared little boy with nowhere to turn.
Jeremy had been wallowing in his self-pity and despair that he had forgotten about the correspondence he had received several months after his hospital stay, trying to recover from his injuries. Who cared about him? His father certainly had not shown any love while he was growing up so he wouldn’t have sent his son any kind of letter. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to open it, after all what did he have to lose.
A note dropped from the envelope and it appeared to be written in a child’s scrawl. Jeremy read the following as tears streamed down his face:
Dear Brave Soldier,
Thank you for keeping our country safe. My name is Holly and I am 10 years old. I am writing to tell you what a special person you are. My daddy was a soldier. He was killed in the war. I miss my daddy. My mommy said he asked Jesus in his heart so he is now up in heaven. It says in the Bible that Jesus is our friend and that he loves us. Do you love Jesus? I hope you know him, but if you don’t you can ask him now. I will pray for you.
Jeremy dropped to his knees and cried out to God. He didn’t know exactly what to say. He asked Jesus to forgive him for all the wrong he had done but that he wanted Jesus in his heart. He asked God to be the father he had never had in his life before. Jeremy wanted someone to love him. It was then he felt a sense of peace wash over him.
How could he thank this little girl? He knew what he had to do. He sent her his purple-heart medal and told her he could never repay for saving his life but he wanted her to have his medal. He was very sad before he received her letter and she had brightened his day. For now, he knew Jesus as a true friend and savior and he would never forget the promise he made to her that day to never stop telling others about Jesus.
**Note: The idea of this writing came from a story I read about a soldier giving a girl his purple medal because of the letters she wrote to him but the story is fictitious and is dedicated to all of the soldiers who protect our country and freedoms. They inspire us each and every day for their bravery.
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