Troop rally set Sunday at the mall
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The importance of troop support will be part of the World War II veteran and former POW’s message Sunday. Biddle is the keynote speaker for Three Star Mall’s rally, “Support the Troops – Support America,” which is co-sponsored by the Southern Standard.
Even though today’s military personnel know the potential to be deployed can come at any time, most will say it’s a different thing altogether when it happens. And words, thoughts and prayers can all mean a lot when the prospect of going to and fighting a war become reality.
Biddle said he plans to speak some about the feeling of being liberated, empathizing with the recently freed American POWs who have returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
It’s something he can identify with easily due to his own experiences as a POW in 1944. He spent 11 months and 14 days in captivity under grueling conditions at the hands of German prison guards.
During that time in captivity, morale, which means everything to military units, was heightened when in-coming captured soldiers told those who had been held there for long periods of time that there was a massive war effort being made in the United States backing the men, he said.
Today, morale is still that imperative and Biddle again wants to do his part to support service men and women serving overseas. He firmly believes in the reasoning behind the war, although admitting some do not agree.
“Everything is going to be positive as to what they’ve done and I guess I want to touch on that it was a necessary thing. I know there are a lot of people who disagree with that, but I think it was necessary,” he said.
“I think, if we hadn’t done what we did, that 10 years from now, we’d really have something to deal with. But I’m not going to get a lot into that. I think it’s just support for what they did.”
Patriotic songs, visits from state and local dignitaries, and a candle-lighting ceremony are all planned for the event, which is expected to last around one hour.