BLACKFIVE: Merry Christmas, LT

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Merry Christmas, LT

Posted By Subsunk

From the Wall Street Journal, and Mr. William McGurn,

This Thursday morn, Julie McPhillips will awake to the great hope that is Christmas Day. And amid her joy for the Savior born of woman in a Bethlehem stable, she will offer two prayers.

from Julie McPhillips. First to Fight: Lt. Brian McPhillips in Kuwait.

The first will be for her son, Lt. Brian McPhillips, killed in action in April 2003 as the First Marine Division fought its way into Baghdad. The other will be for the man on whose orders Lt. McPhillips was sent to Iraq: George W. Bush.

You see, Julie McPhillips knows a side of the president that never seems to make it into the newspapers. Since a meeting in the Oval Office a few years back, the two have exchanged letters, many written in the president's hand. Through the sadness that binds them together, they look eye to eye and let their hearts do the talking.

In my years in the West Wing, I read many horrible things about this president. Some were by former military officers who ought to know better, especially the one who accused him in print of not caring about our war dead. More frequently, legitimate differences over the war led some to indulge in hateful accusations about the man who led it. Few came from people like Julie, who spoke directly with the president about a subject painful for both: the brave young lieutenant who was born to one and laid down his life under the command of the other.

When Mrs. McPhillips came to the White House, she was joined by her husband, David -- a Marine combat vet of Vietnam -- as well as Brian's younger sister, Carolyn. They sat on one of the sofas in the Oval Office. When the president entered the room, he said, "I have two daughters, and I can't imagine what it would be like to meet with the man who was responsible for their death."

"It's comforting," Mrs. McPhillips replied softly. And thence commenced a 45-minute exchange about Brian, about Iraq, about what the president hoped to accomplish in the Middle East, and so on. When the president learned that Carolyn was a teacher, he wrote a note to her kindergarten students, asking them to excuse her for missing class that day. At various points, their conversation was punctuated with observations on the challenges and consolations of faith.

Read the whole thing. The rest is just as good. I'll post the rest in the comments to avoid any plagiarizing for those who can't read behind the WSJ login.

Merry Christmas folks. God Bless You all, Men and Women of the US Armed Forces.

Subsunk out.