Message from Kim regarding her husband

The following was posted by my friend Kim: and she asked her friends to pass it on.

Ladies and Gentlemen,I am providing a link to a video, so that you may see and "hear" my very "unconventional", but special message.BEFORE YOU WATCH THE VIDEO........PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING:

Please disregard my tired appearance in the introduction. Since they took my husband John to Mannheim Prison on the evening of 16 April 2009, I have been dilegently working on my computer and networking over the phone, in regards to getting the word out for the plea of Clemency for all 3 soldiers; MSG John E. Hatley, SFC Joseph P. Mayo and SGT Michael Leahy Jr.

I am working at this from morning to 03:00 a.m., every night. The reason I am so tired, is not because of what some may think. I am tired from the sheer excitement of hope and of all the miracles that keep showering down, despite the outcome of these trials. That is why I look a bit tired!

There is just too much to be happy about in life and I am so thankful for the phenomenal show of support for "all three" of our heroes.The "singing" portion is loud enough so that you will NOT hear my voice, since I cannot carry a tune. I chose this particular song by Celine Dion at the time my husband's company, Alpha Company 1_18 IN ............(now called 1-2 IN, 172 BCT), were fighting in Baghdad, Iraq for OIF-06-08.

In that particular deployment to Baghdad, our BCT had 109 fallen soldiers, whereas in OIF-02 Tikrit, our BCT had 43 fallen soldiers. In addition, there were an incredible number of injured soldiers as you can imagine, with this level of casualties.

Recently, April 5th, 2009 we lost another soldier. SPC Israel Candelaria Mejias, a beloved soldier. I have since spoken to his widow and she is doing very well, the best she can, as you could imagine.I know first hand, that families and especially the soldiers are still trying to process this loss, in their hearts...............................to include many, many others.

So, now is the time to sing again. For the first time, it is now on video. Please listen to the lyrics carefully. When the verse says, "Don't surrender in this thing called love", please subsititute that word with "DEPLOYMENT". I will "mouth" that word, as you will see. In the lyrics, there are elements of "hope" and "belief in a higher power".My important message is for all the wives from Alpha Company 1_18 IN, who's husbands are back in Iraq again and of course, for all the other military wives out there: Continue leaning on your higher power (your faith), to stick together, support one another, love one another, be quick to forgive, to be patient and mindful, to not give up, when you are lonely or scared - to do what you can to lift yourself up and most importantly, to lift up others!!!

The best thing of all, is that this song and it's lyrics and meaning, apply to all challenges in one's life, not just deployments.The video is not perfectly done and that's ok. I think you will agree.:-)Thank you for your time in viewing this unusual video and please, feel free to pass this link and or email...............................to everyone!!!!

A very special thank you to Mrs.Tanja Almario for providing the video camera, her personal time and enthusiasm in the making of this video. Tanja is the proud wife of 1SG Jerry Almario, HHC 1-2 IN, 172 BCT.[I tried my best not to wiggle around so much, but I just get so excited!!! Ladies from Alpha Company, don't laugh too hard now and be nice!!!!! oOOoaahhahaa!!!!]Keep those chins up and continue making every day, the best day of your life!!!!!



Only one more week for submitting clemancy letters on behalf of SFC Joseph Mayo (On April 22, there were two weeks, as this was six days ago I think the end of this week is the deadline)

Please send to: Peter Kageleiry peter.kageleiry@eur.army.mil
RE: SFC Joseph P. Mayo (Received a sentence of 35 years)

P.S. Mrs. Mayo is a great friend of mine (Kim's) and one of the greatest human beings you would ever hope to know in your life. They have a beautiful little boy, a lovely girl who is getting taller every day and a new baby girl. She is the consumate, military wife. In addition to what I just wrote about her, I realized that the networking (to get the word out for her husband's Clemency) is smaller, in comparison to the phenomenal show of support for my own husband. I just found this all out today and it is my mission and hopefully yours, to do what we can to help honor her.............................and her husband, who is a hero to so many. He saved lives and is an honorable man, husband, father and soldier. Thank you for your time.

Petitions of clemancy for MSG John Hatley may be sent to :
david.court@t-online.de Mr. David Court , John's civilian attorney allison.mcfeatters@us.army.mil Above, is Captain Allison Mc Featters, John's Military attorney

And by the way, I wouldn't post this if I were not writing a letter myself.