We never met, but I love Toby Keith. Not just his music, but\u2063 the man.\u200d This is my\u2064 short anecdote that \u200bexplains why.\u200d <\/p>\n

In 2004 my son was on his first of about a dozen combat deployments to the Mideast. He was then a 2nd Lieutenant with the \u206410th\u2062 Mountain Division. It was the first of his many\u2063 extended separations from his wonderful wife and, later, his precious son and\u2064 daughter. \u2062My wife and I traveled to Ft. Drum to visit with him and his \u2064wife,\u2064 and to be there when he boarded the plane, headed to war. \u200c <\/p>\n

While \u2062there, I met a few members of \u200bhis unit. One of my enduring recollections was of the support given \u200cto soldiers and their families by the Battalion Command Sergeant Major\u2019s wife as they said their goodbyes, not knowing what the future held \u2064for any of them.<\/p>\n

Not long \u200cafter\u2064 the battalion\u200d deployed, they were engaged in \u200dstreet fighting in Baghdad and\u2064 suffered their first KIAs. Like all parents of deployed soldiers, I lived on pins and needles, reading and watching the news for any developments that could change our lives.<\/p>\n

At \u200cthe time, many\u200b people were repeating the mantra, \u201cI support the troops,\u201d but \u2064not everyone could or \u2064did act on that. I wanted to make some small \u200dgesture to show support for the families that the soldiers had left behind, to show that people they did not even know appreciated their sacrifice, too.<\/p>\n

At the time \u2062I was a \u2062partner in a major international law firm<\/a><\/a>. I spoke with the firm\u2019s chairman, Gordon Rainey who is an Army veteran, and we came up with a plan. It was not a huge thing, but a way\u2064 just to\u2063 show that other people appreciated and had not forgotten the soldiers\u2019 families\u2064 back home.<\/p>\n

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Gordon and I collaborated on a letter of support to the wives and families of every soldier in the battalion. Gordon signed it as chairman on behalf of our firm. I made arrangements\u2064 to have the \u2062letter, together\u2062 with a small package of appreciation, delivered to the wives \u2063of every soldier in the battalion at Ft. Drum in upstate New York.<\/p>\n

The other items I wanted to\u200d include in our \u200dlittle packages for the wives \u2062were a single yellow rose<\/a>\u200c and a CD with Toby Keith\u2019s hit song, \u201cAmerican Soldier,\u201d which had just \u200dbeen released the prior November.<\/p>\n

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