a sappy persuasive essay, patriotic style

[boogieshoes]

hey gang, i'm posting here an essay i wrote about my grandfather, Lee Mauratt, trying to persuade my co-workers to sign a 'thank-you for your service' card for him.  if you'd also like to say 'thank you' to Grandpa, please leave a comment to this post.  i will be printing this post out friday evening, and including it in the card to him.  i'd appreciate a signal boost on this one guys.  thanks in advance! :-) 

-bs

I’d Like to Tell You About a Hero

 

 

Dear [Company I Work For] Family:

 

We’re all familiar with stories about modern-day veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, and many of us know someone who is currently or has been over there personally. Many of our co-workers are veterans themselves, of Viet Nam, the first Gulf War, or other conflicts. With this in mind, I’d like to share a little bit about a personal hero of mine: my grandfather, Lee Mauratt.

 

Lee volunteered for service in the US Navy in 1944, during World War II. He arrived early at his duty station in San Francisco, where he and another seaman were ordered to the USS Warhawk, a troop transport ship. Some months before Lee had enlisted, the Warhawk had been attacked by a Japanese suicide motorboat, which tore a 26-foot hole in the side and killed 61 men. The Warhawk spent the intervening months in dry dock for repairs, and was now ready to sail, except that it needed two sailors to man the ‘bird-dog’, or the radio communications room. Radio communications was a new field at the time, and much of the equipment and procedures were considered classified and secret. The Warhawk’s captain often told Lee and his companion in the tower that they were the two most valuable men on the ship, and that if the ship was to come under fire, they were to go to his stateroom as it was the safest place on the ship.

 

In 1946, the Warhawk made port in Chicago, where Lee mustered out and later met my grandmother, Elsie. The USS Warhawk was decommissioned in August of that year. Throughout the subsequent years, Lee has remained steadfast in his support of our Armed Forces. As with many World War II veterans, he does not talk much about his wartime experiences, even though they have had a marked impact upon him. Lee served proudly in the Navy, and he has always considered himself a Navy man, even today. My mother and I were with Lee when he personally donated a plaque to the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, TX, commemorating the USS Warhawk and those who served on her. He never fails to go up to today’s uniformed servicemen and women and say ‘Thank you’. After living through the Viet Nam era, and seeing our returning soldiers were treated, it is an important thing to him to make sure our soldiers know they are appreciated. 

 

After the war, Lee maintained his interest in radio communications and Navy ships. In fact, he is intensely interested in the marine products we make here at [Company], and I am still looking for a good photo or poster that I might be able to send him. (Lee doesn’t own a computer, so sending him URLs and email is out of the question.) Unfortunately, Lee is 83, now, and age has not been as kind as it might be. He requires a cane to move around. He has had to curtail many of his favorite activities – our family likes to get together at the beach each year, but Lee can no longer walk on the sand; it is too soft to provide a good support. He likes to walk through his neighborhood, and visit military museums, but he has arthritis in his back, and walking can be a strain. Sometimes even sitting is painful. Lee’s pain is constant, and I thought he could use some cheer. 

 

In light of this, I thought I would ask my friends and family at [Company] to sign a ‘Thank you for your service’ card I bought for him. I think it would help him enormously to see that many people still remember and appreciate the sacrifices he and his generation have made. The card is beside the pumpkin in engineering. Please take a few minutes to make my hero, Lee Mauratt, happy. All you have to say is ‘Thanks’.

 

Thank you,

[boogieshoes]

Comments

[masgramondou.livejournal.com]

Thank you Lee. Without the service of Americans like you all of us British folks would have faced a very different future - indeed I, and many others, most likely would not be here because our fathers and grandfathers would probably have been killed in the war instead of surviving it.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Lee. Both for your service in uniform, and for your service after you put the uniform away. You have helped others in uniform to know that they are not forgotten. That is no small thing, and I appreciate you for it.

[eviloverqueen.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sir. I'm more grateful than you know.

[oldcurlywolf.livejournal.com]

Thank You Lee

[riteturn.livejournal.com]

Thanks Sparky.

[luke-jaywalker.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your service, man. It's the sacrifices guys like you have made, that allow guys like me to have present standard of living. Not *all* of us fail to appreciate that.

[lonewolf545.livejournal.com]

Bravo Zulu, Lee.

[lwj2.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sir.

You and your fellow servicemen and women are the reason our flag flies today.

Leon Jester
Roanoke, VA

[koyote.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I've got Navy going back forever- I did my time in as well. I don't know what you said then, but nowdays it goes like this:

"Outstanding, sailor!"

[house-pundit.livejournal.com]

Thank you for serving your country, Lee. I enjoy my freedom every day and sleep sound in my bed every night because of you and your buddies. Thank you.