Honorary WCC 2004 Attendees, Sean Lee, Rusty and Dave Cawdrey Options

[JeffBowlsby]

This thread is to give a big 914Club acknowldegement to Sean, Lawrence and Dave. Please add to it as you feel inspired. None of these gentlemen were able to attend the WCC for various reasons, but we know each of them very much wanted to be here and would have been here if at all possible. We missed your participation.

Sean, you played an extremely important role in putting the 914 WCC 2004 together and we wanted to publically recognize your contribution. Besides being behind the scenes from tthe beginning to the end, he took care of website issues, the event graphics, the T-shirts and any number of other crisis large and small. And from a computer somewhere far removed from the Bay Area no less.

Lawrence and Dave...Our thoughts are with you guys. You both have daily battles larger than we can imagine, yet you have been such an important part of our 914 community. Keep hope alive and we can only hope to see both of you again soon.

We will be sending each of these three Honorary Attendees a 914 WCC 2004 Goodie Bag just as each of the attendees received including T-shirts, a numbered Rallye Shield and other souvenirs from the event.

We wish you and your families the best...until our 914 paths cross again...

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[Rusty]

Thank you, everyone. I do appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

There are days that this is very challenging. But the biggest challenge doesn't come from what we are asked to do; it comes from what we are asked to do without. No, I don't mean sleep or food. We miss the ones we love, we miss our homeland, and we miss the things that are dear to us. Birthdays, holidays, and one of a kind events like the WCC.

Leading young Americans in combat is perhaps the highest privledge that can be bestowed upon a man. The fact that familes entrust to me their most cherished posession: their loved ones, is an awesome honor and responsibility. Perhaps my commander, the same one who wrote the funny memo about toolboxes, said it best:

There are people out there who would like to see you and your soldiers killed in a thousand different and equally shitty and irreversable ways.  The only thing that stands between them and achieving that goal is leaders who are on the ground, continually checking the small stuff; leaders that know their soldiers, that train their soldiers, that are sharing the same hardships; leaders that aren't afraid to make a correction, that will stand up and take responsibility, that will be the one who is accountable; leaders who understand that the American public has entrusted us with what they hold most valuable - their children, their husbands and wives, their parents.  They are counting on us to do our jobs well and bring them safely back home.

Keep doing what you do so well, we wouldn't be this far along if each of you weren't competent strong leaders, committed to these soldiers.  But don't stop, don't ever stop.  Know, check, correct and train.  

Know your soldiers, talk to them, encourage them, be proud of them, be tough on them, be tougher on yourself, celebrate with them when they succeed, help them to overcome what they fail at, kick them in the ass when they need it, treat them with respect and accept nothing less than the same in return, thank them - a lot; most of all, take care of them.

This weekend, a great American hero passed on. This man, and his confidence in the shining light of our Republic, changed the world. I see no less in the men and women that I have the privledge to lead.

Thank you again for your support and kind words.

-Lawrence

P.S. Dave... I have no idea what quiz you're talking about.