Special Forces Warrant Officer Shawn Thomas’ funeral was at Fort Bragg.

Like most Americans, I never knew Shawn and first learned of his tragic death from TV news reports.  He was recently killed in Africa, serving our country in the War on Terror.

This video was taped and posted on FACEBOOK by Lisa West Williams, a passenger on a plane halted on the tarmac by its pilot in an unrehearsed tribute to the grief of the widow unfolding just outside.  Perhaps the most moving part of it is the sound of the passengers sobbing quietly at the sight of this dignified young widow’s grief.

The video of his widow Tara and their youngest daughter meeting his flag-draped coffin on the airport tarmac has been viewed by over 9 million patriots in just a matter of days.

I hope you will be one of us.

Click here to see this heart-wrenching video.

More importantly, I hope you’ll dig deep today and make an immediate generous, tax deductible donation to help this hero’s family cope with the financial casualties of his loss.

This family’s sacrifice is truly heroic – and heartbreaking.

Another Special Forces hero who gave his all in the never-ending War on Terror.  Another grieving Army widow, 4 children left fatherless, another hole in another stricken mother and father’s lives and in their hearts.  A loss that can never be filled.

But you and I can make sure that his death and his family’s grief is not in vain.

Help me show them that the American people will not stand idly by and watch their lives and futures be imperiled…  We will stand by them not just today but for the rest of their lives.

In less than 20 days, Shawn Thomas’ wife must make her next mortgage payment on their home in Fayetteville, North Carolina just outside Shawn’s posting at Fort Bragg.

With your help, I hope that she will be able to write a check and pay off Shawn Thomas’s $137,560 mortgage in full.

With your help, she and Warrant Officer Shawn Thomas’ four children should never have to worry whether they will have a roof over their heads.

Award-winning actor Gary Sinise (Lt. Dan in the movie “Forrest Gump”) once said, “The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes is one of America’s best-kept secrets.”

The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes has provided tens of millions of dollars in emergency financial aid and services to combat wounded veterans and their kin over the last decade.

This family has a special place in my heart.  I served in the Army from 1943 to 1977, commanded U.S. Forces in Korea and have been honored with the Silver Star and the Bronze Star.   But I am most proud of my service as one of the first Army parachutists during WWII, what later became the Green Berets.   If you want to check out my credentials, feel free to click here.

The only reason I bring this up is so you’ll know, I say what I mean and I mean what I say.

I have served on the Board of the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes for almost its entire existence.  I just got off the phone with their President David Walker.

I promise you this – every net penny you give to this emergency project will go to help the Thomas family pay off their mortgage and rebuild their lives.  Every penny.  You have the word of a proud U.S. veteran.

Please click here to watch this solemn but inspiring video right now.

But don’t just sit there and watch, take action right away.  Click here to make a fully tax-deductible emergency gift today to help this Green Beret’s family.  If you are able to contribute $100 to this special project, I’ll send you an autographed copy of my autobiography entitled “Hazardous Duty.”

Our military servicemen and women are there for us every day.  Every single day.

When they fall in harm’s way, we must be there for them.  Always and forever.  But especially TODAY.

Please act now.