Monday, October 5, 2009

Colonel Kez

My sister is extraordinary, which is not news to those of you who know her. The latest of her exploits - serving a U.S. Army medical team in Haiti as its go-to person, and serving their patients as a fluent and bold advocate with the Army - is chronicled on her blog in several parts. Naturally, she was appreciated:
And then [the U.S. Ambassador] asked for Madame Keziah F. I walked up, shook his hand, and as he passed me the plaque, I heard the US soldiers.

Throughout the entire ceremony, they had been silent, applauding politely when they saw everyone else applauding. When Colonel Hershey was awarded 2 plaques, they clapped. When a plaque was announced for the entire MEDRETE team, they clapped. But when my name was announced, they leapt to their feet and gave me a shout-out. If you've never experienced an Army shout-out, I'm sorry, I can't do it justice. Imagine a score of deep male voices shouting out a secret code of Army brotherhood, something that you can't imitate and you can't fully understand. But when you look at their faces, you realize that you don't need to. And it's all you can do to keep from crying.

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