On
July 4th the Post Commander, Bob Fleming, announced the kick-off of the
“Gratitude Campaign”. This program originated in
Seattle,
Wash. by Scott Truitt. What
started out as a simple idea to say “Thank You” to soldiers on the street has
blossomed into a full scale campaign. Many Americans want to express their
gratitude to members of our military.
So
he decided it would be nice to simply have a gesture to say thank you quickly
and comfortably.
"The sign language sign for “Thank you” starts at the chin and we thought geez,
if you don't know what this means, you might not take it kindly. And that's
certainly not the message we wanted to send."
“The gesture starts with your hand on your heart as if you're about to do the
Pledge of Allegiance. And then you just bring the hand down and out in front of
you. It actually means “Thank you from the bottom of my heart". (See “Thank You”
picture to right of article)
Even if soldiers don't know exactly what the gesture means, they'll realize if
it originates from the heart, its got to be good.
The gesture is not limited to just the Soldier whose job it is to respond around
the world at a moments notice to ensure that people are safe and free from
tyranny and injustice, but to
the firefighter, whose job it is to respond to fires in the city they serve, the
police officer, whose job it is to enforce the laws and ensure that you’re safe,
maybe the paramedic who responds to the call for emergency medical assistance
and perhaps saves a life. Take a moment to show your appreciation for what they
do.
This campaign was brought to the Commanders attention from his friendly Middle
East News Correspondent, Mel Painter. Mel Painter and his class at the NavalAcademy
have committed themselves to getting the word out.
Post 560 should be the first Post in
Texas to help promote this campaign.
Below is a list of links that
we believe our members may find useful.
American Legion Post 560 is not
responsible for the information found at these links - they are provided to you
as a courtesy.