President comforts local soldier

[vraiblonde]

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyid=45706

They might make you register to read the whole story, but this is a guy we know - they live in the farmhouse by our greenhouse and he used to drive a truck for Larry.

On New Year's Day, President George W. Bush personally visited Sgt. Randal Divel in the U.S. Army's burn center, the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Sgt. Divel, 36, a Middletown resident, invited the president to go hunting with him, Kim Divel, the sergeant's wife said. "The president told him, 'We'll concentrate on getting better first, and then we'll talk.'"

Bandages on Sgt. Divel's body cover second- and third-degree burns he obtained from an explosion while serving the 243rd Engineer Co. of the Maryland Army National Guard in Iraq on Dec. 24. The president's visit did what medicine alone could not: boost his morale.

President Bush wasn't in a hurry, Ms. Divel said. He gave Sgt. Divel a coin engraved 'Seal of the President of the U.S.' On the back was an image of the White House and the words: George W. Bush, Commander in Chief.

The coin is now Sgt. Divel's prized possession. "He's really excited," Ms. Divel said. The president's comforting manner impressed her, she said. He touched her husband's bandages. He put his arm around her.

So, one more time: http://www.fisherhouse.org/

Your donation to Fisher House enables women like Kim to be able to be with their loved ones in the event of tragedy. Kim is disabled and makes next to nothing at her job, and Randy is Guard so you know he doesn't make piss. Without Fisher House, there's no way she'd have been able to be with him while he's convalescing.

 

[Lenny]

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyid=45706

She had planned to take a photo, but was petrified. A secret service agent grabbed her camera and wrestled it to the ground. (Remember all the Gerald R. Ford jokes on SNL?)

Why was W wearing a paper gown, cap, booties and rubber gloves while the wife wasn't? Because he could have dragged germs between all the burn patients going from room to room, she was only staying with her husband in the room. We also don't want our President getting infected with Pseudomonas, a common infection in burn units.

But that won't prevent the Democrats claiming it was solely for the photographic imact in a mid-term election year - just you watch.