American Valor - Military Tribute

This weekend I contacted Scott Truitt, Founder of the Gratitude Campaign.  We explained to Scott our purpose here at American Valor and asked if we could include his Gratitude Campaign information on our site.  Scott said "Yes!…and thank you for your service."

The Gratitude Campaign: Just say THANK YOU

"For the past several years as I’ve been traveling around the country, I’ve been approaching Soldiers in airports and thanking them for serving for us. On several occasions I have noticed that it felt a little awkward for both of us. There are several reasons, some of which I am even just now learning as I produce this film and talk to more Service Men & Women and
Veterans. But they have always appreciated being thanked, and I have always felt better having expressed my gratitude.

I started to think that it would be nice if civilians had a gesture or sign that they could use to say "thank you" quickly and easily without even having to approach. I did some research and found the sign that we are now using.

Is this limited to the military? Not at all. If you look around you I’m sure that you’ll find lots of people who are serving their communities, from local to global. If you appreciate their service, give them a sign. Say "thank you from the bottom of my heart."

-Scott Truitt, FOUNDER, The Gratitude Campaign

In September, 2007, Scott was interviewed by News Reporter Deborah Feldman with KING 5 News.  These are excerpts from that interview:

"What began as a simple idea to say thank you to soldiers he passed on the street, has blossomed into a full scale campaign for Seattlite Scott Truitt.

He says many Americans want to express their gratitude to members of our military, but most aren’t really sure how to proceed.

"I think there’s a lot of politics wrapped around the military and that can get confusing for a lot of people," he said.

Both Truitt’s father and father-in-law spent decades in the military, but even so, he realizes approaching strangers can be a little awkward at times.

"For several years I’ve been walking up and saying thank you to them when I’ve see them and sometimes its a really comfortable situation, and sometimes its not so comfortable," he said.

So he decided it would be nice to simply have a gesture to say thank you quickly and comfortably.

After a little research, he came up with a new idea.

"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," he said.

Truitt hopes his Gratitude Campaign will spread across the country, and says even if soldiers don’t know exactly what the gesture means, they’ll realize if it originates on the heart, its got to be good. "

By DEBORAH FELDMAN / KING 5 News

Click on the Screen above to watch the Movie

Our heartfelt thanks to Scott Truitt and all the volunteers at http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/

If you have any trouble viewing the movie above, you may download it from the Gratitude site at:  http://www.gratitudecampaign.org/fullmovie.php

Thank you Scott Truitt for all the love and effort you have put into this campaign.  It is truly an honor to know you!

Thanks to John C. and Dave who forwarded this from one of their old classmates:

Gentlemen,

I am an Australian and my son is an Australian - as far as we are concerned there is no place on God’s earth better than Australia , and there are no people better than Australians. That was until the past week or so.

My son is in the Australian Army and he is currently on deployment in Iraq. I can not go into his duties in great depth, but shall we say that he and his fellow army buddies are on a glorified guard duty looking after the Australian Embassy. They don’t go out looking for "action", though it is a different story in Afghanistan, there the Aussie troops chase the baddies over the hills and into
the valleys.

My son and I just ended a long ‘phone conversation and here are some of his comments, believe me this is what he said. We have all seen the bs emails written by some clown in his lounge room pretending to be at the coal face, but this is what was said:

"Before I came over here I thought we (the Australian Army) were pretty shit hot. Was I ever wrong!. The Yanks (I hope you don’t mind me using that word) are so professional from the top to the bottom that it is almost embarrassing to be in their company, and to call yourself a soldier. Don’t get me wrong, we are good at what we do but the Yanks are so much better. They are complete at what they
do, how they do it and their attitude is awesome. They don’t complain they just get on with the job and they do it right.

I carry a Minimi (SAW) so I am not real worried about a confrontation but I tell you I feel safer just knowing that the US Army is close by.

If we got into trouble I know that our boys would come running and we could deal with it but they would probably be passed by a load of Hummers. No questions asked, no glory sought, the Americans would just fight with us and for us because that is their nature, to protect
those in need of protection.

We use the American Mess so you could say that we are fed by the Americans. They have every right to be pissed at that but they don’t bitch about that they just make us feel as welcome as possible. What gets to me is that the Yanks don’t walk around with a "we are better than you attitude" and they could because they are, they treat us as equals and as brothers in arms. If nothing else, coming here has taught me that the Americans are a truly great Nation and a truly great bunch of people.

Let’s face it they don’t HAVE to be here, they could stay in America and beat the shit out of anyone who threatened them, BUT THEY ARE HERE because they believe they should be here, and the Iraqis would be screwed if they weren’t here. 
When I come home, you and I we are going to the US, we will buy some bikes and we are going riding…"

The reason why I am sharing this with you is because I realize that you (as a nation) must get pretty pissed with all the criticism you receive by the so-called "know it alls" who are sitting at home - safe. The reality is that they are safe, just as I am, because of America. If the world went arse up tomorrow there is f**k all we ( Australia ) could do about it, but I know that the Americans would be there putting themselves on the line for others. That to me is the sign of greatness.

The most precious thing in my life is my son, I look at him and I thank God that I am fortunate enough to be able to spend time in his company. We laugh, we discuss, we argue, we dummy spit, we have the same blood. I am not happy that he is where he is but that is his duty. He joined the Army to protect and to defend, not to play games. I mightn’t like it but I accept it. My
reasons for not liking it are selfish and self centered.

I felt assured that he would be safe because he is in a well trained army with an excellent record, BUT NOW, I feel a whole lot better knowing that he is with your sons, daughters, brothers and sisters.

Whilst he was growing up. I was always there to look after him, I would not let harm befall him and I would always put myself before him to protect him. I can’t do that now. When it comes to looking after him now he and his mates will do the job, but also THANK GOD FOR AMERICA.

Gentlemen, I have rambled on for too long. but as I finish I say to you, as a foreigner and outsider, a nation is only a collection of its people and its attitude is the attitude of its people, collectively and as individuals. I am really glad you are here on this Earth and I respect you as a nation and as people.

Stand up and feel proud because you deserve it, there is no one else who will do what America does without question.. The next time someone howls you down, take some comfort in the fact that America is defending their right to act like an idiot.

Finally, thank you for looking after my son,

Peter T.