Soldier Surprises Daughters

• Isperion
  December 27th, 2007 at 12:33 pm

  I think it would be lovely to also produce a video where some families in Iraq could show how many deaths and suffering some americans sargents - just like Mr. Matthew - inflicted there for christmas.
  I really see no sense in some small family drama just because, you know, they are americans. Because of stuff like this we tend to forget the things we are doing - by the hand of people like Sgt. Matthew - in Iraq, Afghanistan and who knows where else…

• Jacques
  December 27th, 2007 at 12:45 pm

  Is there an acronym similar to NSFW that warns that the video may make you teary eyed in front of your collegues?

  I submit, MMYC (may make you cry).

• XuYu
  December 27th, 2007 at 1:30 pm

  How long did that guy have to sit in that box?

• jodie
  December 27th, 2007 at 1:37 pm

  i would find this clip just as joyful if it were an iraqi father and his children. our soldiers didn’t just up and go to a foreign country for their own purposes. war sucks. this is beautiful.

• The Mrs.
  December 27th, 2007 at 1:56 pm

  Isperion - My husband just came back from Iraq, again, and is an infantryman - the guy who is supposed to shoot and kill people. But he didn’t. He made friends with the Iraqis and genuinely misses being around them. Americans aren’t going to Iraq to just shoot and kill all of these people. They’re there to help the Iraqi police give their families a safe place to live. And where my husband was deployed to, they did. The Iraqi police make sure there are no terrorists or people to harm them in their city, kids play in the courtyards and American-built soccer fields. We’ve made a difference. I think we ARE forgetting what we’re doing by the hands of our troops, we’re making their lives LIVEABLE, and Americans like yourself don’t appreciate that. Iraqis can now go to the street vendors and buy vegetables. A year ago, they wouldn’t dare. Your ignorance is even better viewed by the way you say we’re inflicting suffering for their Christmas. They don’t celebrate Christmas. They celebrate other holy months. And this is the first year in a long time that they’ve been able to hold parades for these celebrations. Not because of American troops, but because of their help and support. The Iraqis have done this themselves, but they wouldn’t have had the means had people like Seargent Matthew never been there.

• jodie
  December 27th, 2007 at 2:13 pm

  well said ‘Mrs’, well said…and thank you to your husband - and all the other men and women - for doing what they do. there is a price for everything. i know that the vast majority of iraqi’s are good people. just as we are. who in their right mind doesn’t wish for no war? but don’t condemn our soldiers for it. a father returning to his children is beautiful in any culture or country.

• James
  December 27th, 2007 at 2:32 pm

  Well said, Mrs.! I hope you and your husband had a wonderful Christmas together.

• Nemo
  December 27th, 2007 at 2:37 pm

  If the fact that this man is coming home from war spoils the moment for some people, then just focus on the bottom line. This video is about a man who is returning home to see his daughters after a long absence. Personally, I’ve seen several videos just like this one…and they never get old. Such precious moments and I cry every time.

• M.Sphinx
  December 27th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

  Now the girls are thinking they can simply wish him back home when they want. What if Sgt.Wilder gets killed in Iraq? No amount of wishing will bring back everyone who couldn’t go home this or any other Christmas.

• Gen
  December 27th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

  He’s actually called “Sgt. Wilder”. It’s the holidays. Least lighten up on political commentary for just a moment. They’re a family. Family reunions of all races and creeds are beautiful.

  Karma comes back for such hate and anger with people who comment so disrespectfully against other people they don’t even know.

  On another note, the spouse was a Marine reservist in Iraq during 2003. Am-trac driver. I doubt he’d ever go into enclosed quarters like that box if he could avoid it.

  Happy Holidays. Even to the cynics.

• yogurt nose
  December 27th, 2007 at 4:56 pm

  isperion, get your head out of your ass!

• Chris W
  December 27th, 2007 at 6:55 pm

  awww that’s so sweet! was definitely a MMYC moment! and Isperion the video is about a daughter getting reunited with his daughters for Christmas, keep you political views on war to yourself. the tears in the little girls eyes says it all, so happy to have her dad home! God Bless Our Troops - American, British and Canadian, who are serving overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan this Christmas time.

• ted
  December 27th, 2007 at 8:03 pm

  Cute. Maybe making an entire school assembly for this is a little over-the-top, but it beats sitting in math class.

• Frank
  December 28th, 2007 at 4:46 am

  This is indeed a neat video. The father should be happy to have two daughters and he should have stayed in the U.S. instead of risking his life in a more than questionable war.

  I understand that some american soldiers are there to really help the people in iraq. But do the iraqis have a better live than before the invasion? Was it really worth it for the people in iraq and the americans?

  Every innocent person that is killed is one big shame for all the soldiers that go to war. If you become a soldier you accept that you can be part of a mission in which innocent people are killed, in which other families get destroyed.
  You are are part of this. Does the end result really justify all means? How many people does it take to make a right wrong? Violence and Murder must never be an option. Never.

• ElDan
  December 28th, 2007 at 10:32 am

  Isperion, pull your head out of your ass. Nobody wants to hear your self-righteous crap.

  And, clearly, whoever this Sgt. Matthew is you keep talking about single-handedly started the war in the Middle East, right? He’s not a soldier doing the job the government pays and trained him to do, he’s obviously a cold-blooded killer.

  Find a new cause, Isperion, your shit was old three years ago.

• NiteWhite
  December 28th, 2007 at 12:20 pm

  Too bad all those dead Iraqis can’t experience this MMYC moment. Forget about the really tragic things, like hundreds of thousands of dead Innocent Iraqi civilians at the hands of Americans; Americans who unilaterally decided to create civil war in a country that neither attacked us or warranted a pre-emptive strike.

  All those innocent women, babies, children, men, grandparents… dead.

• the lord
  December 28th, 2007 at 12:46 pm

  well at least he didn’t come home on a wodden box….this time. :/
  I dont know I only have 3 friends in iraq and they all signed up for different reasons. One likes to shoot things, the other he wanted to get away from home, and the last one for some reason thought it would be a good idea. For me personaly I dont like to be a Pawn in other peoples games, so no army for me.

• Max
  December 28th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

  Bread and Circuses for the little people! Love the idea that our brave soldiers are re-building Iraq and getting it back on its feet. Now if you can tell me who caused all the damage in the first place I might actually not gag at your self justifications.
  All these pro-war people will be signing another tune once the pres is a Dem. Then it will all be- well, reality will come calling, lets leave it at that.

• jodie
  December 29th, 2007 at 2:10 pm

  i’m not pro-war at all. i am pro-soldier and even more importantly, i am pro-family. there is joy in seeing two little girls reuniting with their daddy. would you like to step in between them and explain all the harsh realities of life right now, until there is no happiness left anywhere, for anyone. arguements can be made against almost any piece of joy we find. ***oh, what have we here, why it’s a wonderful reconciliation between two long-lost lovers - but wait, is one of them wearing a leather jacket?? and the a pair of shoes made in a sweatshop via child slavery?!?!*** jeez, just let a cigar be a cigar. it doesn’t have to become a big old political debate.

• MoniA
  December 30th, 2007 at 4:40 pm

  I don’t cry easily and this made me shed a few tears when I saw how much that little girl missed her daddy. So sad that soliders have to be away from their families. I know so many personally that have sad lives/marriages over so much time spent in Iraq. My bros. best friend contracted TB over there and his marriage is pretty much destoyed by him being gone so much. They’re doing what they can to survive. Anyone know when the war will be over

• MRawn
  December 31st, 2007 at 11:31 am

  I have very opinionated views on war and violence but this isn’t the time to express that. The video should be enjoyed for its simplicity and humanity. Sometimes you should just take things at face value or you’ll give yourself an ulcer.

• DonM
  January 4th, 2008 at 10:51 pm

  I can’t see the video

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