Serendipity, Soldiers and Scouts

It's happening again...that serendipitous chain of events which ultimately results in new bonds made with not only people here in the Wabash Valley, but also soldiers half a world away.

It began earlier this week when my brother Jim reminded me his old buddy Buss (a close family friend) is over in the Middle East. I knew that. I last saw Buss when he came home on emergency leave for his mother's funeral.

When I walked in and saw him I just wrapped my arms around him and hugged him hard; held him tightly. He didn't let go for a long time. I felt like a surrogate mom in that moment and my heart ached for him.

And now he's back to work somewhere in the desert. So I sent a quick email which he answered just as quickly, assuring me it was fine to write, that he loved mail from home.

As I often do, I shared a little of Buss on the air and the request line rang. It was a guy named James Walker, calling to see if I could help him reach Buss. He served under him in the 192nd, some time ago. I aired James' call, during which he mentioned Buss' full name and the phone rang again.

This time it was Dr. Hay's wife from Rosedale, wondering if this would be the same family as a Buss Wood she knew in that small midwestern town.

And now the Cub Scout leader who emailed me just days ago asking if I might know of a unit her scouts could adopt has a name, a unit to support and that ever-vital APO address.

See, nowadays we can't send care packages to "Any Soldier" as generous Americans have done in the past. In the modern world where terrorism is an ever-present threat, that's not safe anymore. So if you don't know a soldier personally, you can't send mail. Reaching Buss now gives that scout pack an outlet for their thoughtfulness and generosity.

When I got done airing all of this, I grab the audio and sent it to Buss. I thought he might enjoy hearing some of the voices from home that talked about him today on HI-99. It's my way of trying to bring a little of home to our warriors in the service.

And yes Mrs. Hay, that was Buss' grandfather and namesake you knew back when in Rosedale. And I agree, he'd sure be proud of his grandson today.