[Rhodes22-list] My Favorite Christmas Story

Lou Rosenberg steadilsr at verizon.net
Mon Jan 7 13:19:45 EST 2008


Hank
that was grand!
thank you for sharing that!
Lou

On Jan 7, 2008, at 9:35 AM, Tootle wrote:

>
> Hank,
>
> Thank you,
>
> Ed K
> Greenville, SC, USA
>
>
>
> Brad Haslett-2 wrote:
>>
>> Hank,
>>
>> Wonderful story! Thanks for sharing.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On Jan 6, 2008 10:21 PM, Hank <hnw555 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello Rhodies,
>>>
>>> My uncle just sent this to me and I think you guys will enjoy it.
>>>
>>> Hank
>>>
>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>> From: Neil
>>> Date: Jan 6, 2008 11:14 PM
>>> Subject: My Favorite Christmas Story
>>> To: ". Friends"
>>>
>>>
>>> My favorite Christmas story
>>>
>>> THIS IS A GOOD ONE THAT I JUST RECEIVED. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AS MUCH.
>>>
>>> Here's a 'today' Yule story that occurred 3 weeks ago ~ AND NOW,  
>>> in time
>>> for
>>> the holidays, I bring you the best Christmas story you never heard.
>>>
>>> It started last Christmas, when Bennett and Vivian Levin were  
>>> overwhelmed
>>> by
>>> sadness while listening to radio reports of injured American  
>>> troops. "We
>>> have to let them know we care," Vivian told Bennett. So they  
>>> organized a
>>> trip to bring soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and  
>>> Bethesda
>>> Naval Hospital to the annual Army-Navy football game in Philly,  
>>> on Dec.
>>> 3.
>>>
>>> The cool part is, they created their own train line to do it.  
>>> Yes, there
>>> are
>>> people in this country who actually own real trains. Bennett Levin -
>>> native
>>> Philly guy, self-made millionaire and irascible former L&I  
>>> commish - is
>>> one
>>> of them.
>>>
>>> He has three luxury rail cars. Think mahogany paneling, plush  
>>> seating and
>>> white-linen dining areas. He also has two locomotives, which he  
>>> stores at
>>> his Juniata Park train yard. One car, the elegant Pennsylvania,  
>>> carried
>>> John
>>> F. Kennedy to the Army-Navy game in 1961 and '62. Later, it  
>>> carried his
>>> brother Bobby's body to D. C. for burial. "That's a lot of  
>>> history for
>>> one
>>> car," says Bennett.
>>>
>>> He and Vivian wanted to revive a tradition that endured from 1936 to
>>> 1975,
>>> during which trains carried Army-Navy spectators from around the  
>>> country
>>> directly to the stadium where the annual game is played. The  
>>> Levins could
>>> think of no better passengers to reinstate the ceremonial ride  
>>> than the
>>> wounded men and women recovering at Walter Reed in D. C. and  
>>> Bethesda, in
>>> Maryland. "We wanted to give them a first-class experience," says
>>> Bennett.
>>> "Gourmet meals on board, private transportation from the train to  
>>> the
>>> stadium, perfect seats - real hero treatment."
>>>
>>> Through the Army War College Foundation, of which he is a trustee,
>>> Bennett
>>> met with Walter Reed's commanding general, who loved the idea. But
>>> Bennett
>>> had some ground rules first, all designed to keep the focus on  
>>> the troops
>>> alone:
>>>
>>> No press on the trip, lest the soldiers' day of pampering devolve  
>>> into a
>>> media circus.
>>>
>>> No politicians either, because, says Bennett, "I didn't want some  
>>> idiot
>>> making this trip into a campaign photo op."
>>>
>>> And no Pentagon suits on board, otherwise the soldiers would be  
>>> too busy
>>> saluting superiors to relax.
>>>
>>> The general agreed to the conditions, and Bennett realized he had a
>>> problem
>>> on his hands. "I had to actually make this thing happen," he laughs.
>>>
>>> Over the next months, he recruited owners of 15 other sumptuous  
>>> rail cars
>>> from around the country - these people tend to know each other -  
>>> into
>>> lending their vehicles for the day. The name of their temporary  
>>> train?
>>> The
>>> Liberty Limited.
>>>
>>> Amtrak volunteered to transport the cars to D. C. - where they'd be
>>> coupled
>>> together for the round-trip ride to Philly - then back to their  
>>> owners
>>> later.
>>>
>>> Conrail offered to service the Liberty while it was in Philly.  
>>> And SEPTA
>>> drivers would bus the disabled soldiers 200 yards from the train to
>>> Lincoln
>>> Financial Field, for the game.
>>>
>>> A benefactor from the War College ponied up 100 seats to the game  
>>> - on
>>> the
>>> 50-yard line - and lunch in a hospitality suite.
>>>
>>> And corporate donors filled, for free and without asking for  
>>> publicity,
>>> goodie bags for attendees:
>>>
>>>> From Woolrich, stadium blankets. From Wal-Mart, digital cameras.  
>>>> From
>>> Nikon,
>>> field glasses, from GEAR, down jackets.
>>>
>>> There was booty not just for the soldiers, but for their guests,  
>>> too,
>>> since
>>> each was allowed to bring a friend or family member.
>>>
>>> The Marines, though, declined the offer. "They voted not to take  
>>> guests
>>> with
>>> them, so they could take more Marines," says Levin, choking up at  
>>> the
>>> memory.
>>>
>>> Bennett's an emotional guy, so he was worried about how he'd  
>>> react to
>>> meeting the 88 troops and guests at D. C.'s Union Station, where  
>>> the trip
>>> originated. Some GIs were missing limbs. Others were wheelchair- 
>>> bound or
>>> accompanied by medical personnel for the day. "They made it easy  
>>> to be
>>> with
>>> them," he says. "They were all smiles on the ride to Philly. Not  
>>> an ounce
>>> of
>>> self-pity from any of them. They're so full of life and  
>>> determination."
>>>
>>> At the stadium, the troops reveled in the game, recalls Bennett.  
>>> Not even
>>> Army's lopsided loss to Navy could deflate the group's rollicking  
>>> mood.
>>>
>>> Afterward, it was back to the train and yet another gourmet meal  
>>> - heroes
>>> get hungry, says Levin - before returning to Walter Reed and  
>>> Bethesda.
>>> "The
>>> day was spectacular," says Levin. "It was all about these kids.  
>>> It was
>>> awesome to be part of it."
>>>
>>> The most poignant moment for the Levins was when 11 Marines  
>>> hugged them
>>> goodbye, then sang them the Marine Hymn on the platform at Union  
>>> Station.
>>>
>>> "One of the guys was blind, but he said, 'I can't see you, but  
>>> man, you
>>> must
>>> be f---ing beautiful!'" says Bennett. "I got a lump so big in my  
>>> throat,
>>> I
>>> couldn't even answer him."
>>>
>>> It's been three weeks, but the Levins and their guests are still  
>>> feeling
>>> the
>>> day's love. "My Christmas came early," says Levin, who is Jewish  
>>> and who
>>> loves the Christmas season. "I can't describe the feeling in the  
>>> air."
>>> Maybe
>>> it was hope.
>>>
>>> As one guest wrote in a thank-you note to Bennett and Vivian,  
>>> "The fond
>>> memories generated last Saturday will sustain us all - whatever the
>>> future
>>> may bring."
>>>
>>> God bless the Levins.
>>>
>>> And bless the troops, every one.
>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>
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>
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