See Picture explanation below.

We can never thank these Men and Women enough.

(See picture above) When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."

See picture discription below.

We can never thank these Men and Women enough.

(See Picture above) The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."

Trying to Increase Readership

I am trying to increase readership and I saw a directory of blogs called Globe of Blogs. I am linking to that site with this entry. We will see what happens. Wish us luck.

Cool E:mail from my Wife

Hi everyone,

I just want to pass on to you a news article from the son of our friends, Buddy and Nancy Mincey. We have all heard so much negativeness about US being in Iraq it is refreshing to hear something positive.

Also asking each of you to keep Allen in your prayers for his safety and ability to continue on with helping to Iragi people.

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Thought y'all would enjoy the interview Allen did with the Atlanta newspaper while he was home. Nancy
HI All,
This is an interview Allen did while he was home on leave earlier this month. It was in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It looks like he will be coming home a little earlier than we originally expected.
Stacy

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3 YEARS AT WAR: American lives altered: Family has become even more preciousRichard Halicks - StaffSunday, March 19, 2006

Allen Mincey --- soldier, mechanic, artist, husband, daddy--- can fix a lot of things, from a broken automatic pistol to a broken Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

"The only thing we haven't done to a Bradley is hang a green-tree air freshener on the rear-view mirror --- 'cause the Bradley doesn't have a rear-view mirror," says Army Spc. Mincey, 41, who works in a support battalion of the Georgia National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq.

But one thing he can't fix, and the thing he worries about a lot, is his absence from his wife, Stacy, and their 3-year-old son, Ben. When Mincey was called up and sent to Fort Stewart for training, Ben was barely 18 months old. Then Mincey and the 48th went to Iraq.

"This whole time, I've been thinking, my son's not going to know me," said Mincey, who was recently home in Savannah on leave. He talked about the photograph of him that his wife gave to Ben. "My kid thinks I'm a one-dimensional object he can carry around. The back of my daddy's head is a big white thing."

But his fears turned out to be groundless.

"When I stepped off the airplane for my leave, he goes, 'That's Daddy, Mommy. That's Daddy.' I honestly didn't think he would know me."

In a phone interview on the last day of his leave, Mincey ponders how he has changed since the United States went to war in 2003. His long months in Iraq have left their marks.

"I've always realized that life was short and precious and things like that. Now I have a real good, real ugly, real upfront and personal view of just how short life can be," he said "I feel a lot more forgiving when people do the wrong thing. Do I look at my family differently? They were precious to me before, but they are very, very, very precious to me now."

He said he and Stacy are able to talk every other day on the phone, which helps, and Ben gets to hear the sound of his father's voice, if not see his face. Mincey often paints watercolors in his spare time (the harsh climate didn't agree with his acrylic paints) as a way of taking his mind off of where he is.

There's one thing that the war hasn't affected.

"Has it changed me politically? Absolutely not," Mincey declares.
He is as gung-ho today as he ever was, and he trusts his leadership, from line officers all the way up to the White House.

"I voted for President Bush," he says. "I believe in what he says. I believe in his views. I back him 150 percent. . . . I know why I'm in Iraq, and I know that anything we need to do to make the world a safer place to live --- yeah, I trust his judgment."

Mincey acknowledges that it's a strange sentiment for one who misses home so much, but he'll be sorry to leave Iraq.

"There's so much more to be done for the country," he said, "so much more to be done for the people."
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--Please visit my husbands tribute page at :http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/extra/terror/tribute/view.cgi?id=11584