[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 16, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TOUCHING THE FACE OF GRACE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2008

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to call to the attention of the 
House an article written by my constituent, Mitchell L. Hubbard of 
Winchester, Virginia, about his son's experience while deployed to 
Iraq. His son's story should make us all think about our armed forces, 
as well as the police and first responders, who risk so much to serve 
us every day.

 Touching the ``Face of Grace'': Do We Have the Ability, or Desire, To 
                   See our Soldiers in the Same Way?

                        (By Mitchell L. Hubbard)

       Whatever your political take on the war in Iraq, nothing 
     can alter it more than having a loved one in the midst of it. 
     Nor is anyone's current perspective balanced until they hear 
     at least some things from a soldier's point of view.
       My wife and I learned these truths when our son--a 2004 
     Handley graduate--decided to join the Army in 2006. His 
     reasoning was simple: He wasn't comfortable knowing that 
     thousands of others his age were sacrificing their own 
     freedoms to protect his. When he signed up to join those 
     thousands, it changed our perspective as well.
       Up to that point, it had always been other peoples' sons 
     and daughters doing the fighting. Now it would be our own 
     child. Naturally, no one wants their child to volunteer to go 
     in harm's way for freedom's sake. It was something of a 
     conviction, though, when my wife and I had to ask ourselves 
     why it shouldn't be our own son in the Middle East, why we 
     should be spared the rituals of anxiety, prayer, hope, and 
     waiting that tens of thousands of other families over here 
     have already endured.
       In early June, we flew to Fort Hood, Texas, to see our son 
     deploy for a 15-month tour in Iraq. Again, one's perspective 
     is limited until one attends a deploying ceremony for a unit 
     of soldiers. Spouses, children, parents, siblings, and 
     friends, all crowding a gym, all clinging closely to their 
     treasures-in-uniform, accompanied by flags, prayers, cheers, 
     and tears. Our son had joined a ``Band of Brothers.'' My 
     wife and I had joined the ``Band of Others,'' who would be 
     waiting at home. Both those going, and those left behind, 
     carry the War on Terror in a personal way.
       Still, those of us left behind need to see something of 
     what our soldiers see, and not only what is offered us in the 
     news. To that end, here is one story our son, Luke, shared 
     with us by phone, that must be shared with anyone who claims 
     an interest in what our soldiers are doing in the Middle 
     East.
       Stationed outside a city on the Tigris River, Luke had 
     accompanied his colonel into town as part of a security team, 
     while the colonel spoke with a local sheik. While standing 
     guard, Luke noticed a woman approaching from behind, and 
     cautiously turned in her direction, his rifle at the ready.
       An interpreter told our son it was OK--the woman just 
     wanted to touch a soldier. Still uneasy, Luke stood still 
     while the woman reached out her hand and touched his face, 
     tears in her eyes.
       Looking to the interpreter for meaning, our son was told: 
     The woman had simply ``wanted to touch the face of grace.'' 
     It seems this trembling woman, like most of the people in her 
     town, looked upon our soldiers as angels of grace, sent by 
     God to protect her from the violence and oppression her 
     people had come to know up to then. Learning this, our son 
     squeezed and kissed the woman's hand, and she left, weeping.
       The ``Face of Grace.'' How many of us, safe at home 
     debating the politics of the War on Terror, have ever seen 
     our soldiers in such a light? How many of us have ever even 
     read such an uplifting newspaper account of our soldiers?
       To be sure, our soldiers are not virtuous simply by being 
     soldiers. At home in their ``civvies,'' they are as unangelic 
     as the rest of us. Yet when they voluntarily get into ``full 
     battle rattle'' (as they call their battle gear) in a hot and 
     hostile land, their job is both protective and sacrificial--
     as angelic a purpose as humans can take on. People like this 
     woman, having suffered years of oppression and fear, have 
     eyes and a heart to see this, and to desire to ``touch the 
     Face of Grace.'' Do we have the ability to see our soldiers 
     in the same way?
       And not merely our soldiers: Can we see the ``Face of 
     Grace'' in the police who protect us in every town, day and 
     night? Or in the fire and rescue teams who are soldiers in 
     their own right?
       My wife and I obviously pray that our son and his ``Band of 
     Brothers'' will come safely home to their personal ``Band of 
     Others.'' After listening to our son's experience, though, we 
     have added the prayer that Americans in every community will 
     be given the eyes and heart to see the ``Face of Grace'' in 
     all who protect our lives and freedoms--especially in 
     soldiers like our son.

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