Soldiers going to war - Remembering 9/11

I recieved the following story as an email forward. I have no idea if it is true. But if it is not, it certainly illustrates the American Spirit:

Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in
the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to
clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the
greatest act's of patriotism I have ever seen.

Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.

Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our
service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran
up to one of the male soldiers He kneeled down and said "hi," the little
girl then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.

The young soldier, he didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said
he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the
little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she
could muster and then kissed him on the cheek. The mother of the little
girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney, told the young soldier
that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now.

As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her
father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single
mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled
together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a
military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and
talking back and forth on it.

After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over
to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he
told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had
just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your
daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is
coming home very soon." The mom at this point was crying almost
uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted
Courtney and her mom.

I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event
unfolded. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate,
people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked
around, their were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier
in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney
with a tear rolling down his cheek.