This One Is For You, Buck

Here is a picture of Captain Jeff Donnithorne on the far left taken in Kuwait several years ago. The Donnithornes have been friends of ours for a long time. We got to know Jeff when he came to see his uncle in New Mexico. He went to Duke University and joined the USAF. Later when Jeff was stationed in Kuwait flying the No Fly Zone in Iraq, he and Jesse began emailing occasionally. Mostly we got his mass emails to family and friends. Those emails were awesome. Jeff came home and did some time in Idaho before being sent back to the Middle East. He was one of the USAF planes dropping bombs on Baghdad at the beginning of the war. Once again his emails were awesome describing his feelings as he flew his missions and the importance of what he was doing. When Jeff returned to the USA, he was sent to DC and the Pentagon while he completed a leadership program and his Masters at George Washington U. We visited Jeff in DC in Nov. of his first year there. He escorted us around the Capitol and acted as tour guide. We took Jeff to the Ia Drang Vietnam Veteran’s reunion banquet. Jeff had read the book, "We Were Soldiers" and was excited to attend – he said it was a life changing experience. While at the banquet wearing his dress blues and medals, he was impressive. Actually, Jeff is just pretty impressive anytime. My Uncle Bob, whom I have blogged about many times, took Jeff around to meet his friends. You should have seen the Vets swarming Jeff asking about the war and his service. My uncle introduced Jeff to General Peterson who was so impressed that he told Jeff that he wanted Jeff working for him. And so it was. Jeff went to work with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The next year, Jeff sent us word that he would be on CSPAN sitting behind General Myers during the 911 Hearings because he was on the team that did the research. We also have a picture of Jeff sitting next to the Cheneys at a Washington function. Jeff is now stationed in Alaska and will be getting married in December. Enjoy the picture. If you want, I will post a picture of Jeff in his dress blues, but I may have done that before - can't remember.