The Gratitude Campaign – Scott Truitt
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. "
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!
Tags: American Valor, grateful, gratitude, thanks, valor
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April 20th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
I have been involved with Deaf people over half my life and now own and operate an interpreting referral agency and work as a nationally certified interpreter. I find your mission abmirable. Unfortunately, regardless of the region, I have never seen a Deaf person sign, “thank you” using the sign you are showing in your video. The sign, “thank you” has the same general movement but the placement in the video is incorrect and should start from the chin not the chest. The sign you are using is more associated with “willing, admit, etc” It would seem that a Deaf perosn was not brought into consult on the project or this mistake never would have been disseminated to the extent that I’m sure it has. I’m sure that it would be costly to correct now. Anyway, it’s too bad.
April 20th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
You may be correct, but Scott would be the better person to consult on this matter. If there is an error in the gesture, as you claim, he would be the only one who could correct it.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Actually Christine, it’s not too bad at all! It’s incredible…the symbol was created as a new gesture to say “thank you from the bottom of my heart”. We could have easily just used the symbol for “thank you” but in this case it’s something different and specific to those who serve us on a daily basis, it’s to express a gratitude deeper and more appreciative. I think it’s more disheartening that you think the Deaf community cannot accept a new sign into their language given the current circumstances and how many soldiers are sacrificing everything to provide us with the life we have now.
July 10th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
My sister surfed whole internet to comments related to this subject… Best regards
November 28th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
I am a columnist I wrote my Nov 21 column about Truitt’s Gratitude Campaign. You can access it at the Website above, and click the archive link below the current column.
November 28th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Why was my comment deleted?
November 29th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Susan,
Sorry for the delay. Your comment was not deleted. I’ve been away from the blog for a while and did not have a chance to approve it. It has now been approved and poosted. By the way, I read your article on Truit and really enjoyed it. I was glad to see your reference to the origin of the symbol of the heart to extended hand. We had a very heated discussion here shortly after we posted the original article. It was with a “self-proclaimed expert” on hand signing. She jumped up and down saying there never was such a sign in official signing. Sometimes I believe people get so engrossed in their own limited opinions that they become blinded to the truth.
Thank you for commenting here and your article.
Dad
October 3rd, 2011 at 6:17 am
[...] years ago a man from Seattle, Scott Truitt, who traveled extensively, wanted to find a way to say ‘thank you’ to the many military [...]