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| Wed, 10-07-2009 - 1:51pm |
Little Soldier Girl "Didn't Want to Let Go"
Four-year old Paige didn't want to say goodbye to her daddy before he was shipped off to Iraq
By VINCE LATTANZIO
Updated 12:34 PM EDT, Wed, Oct 7, 2009
A family photo that shows a little girl beside her father and his fellow soldiers in uniform as they prepare to go to war has resonated well beyond the tight knit Bennethum clan.
Four-year-old Paige Bennethum really, really didn't want her daddy to go to Iraq.
So much so, that when Army Reservist Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum lined up in formation at his deployment this July, she couldn't let go.
No one had the heart to pull her away.
Little Soldier Girl Talks About Dad's Deployment
Paige's mom Abby captured the moment with her camera and her aunt passed the image along to a Berks County, Pa. newspaper.
"I’ve had strangers looking me up online, sending me messages that they are touched by it ... offering a lot of support," Abby Bennethum told NBCPhiladelphia.
The picture took on a life of its own online this week. Abby says that suddenly, people were knocking on her door. "Literally overnight, there's all these people that just want to do anything they can," she says. Though she says her husband hasn't seen any stories about his family yet, he expects to.
For her part, Paige still remembers how she felt that day in July. Looking at the picture of herself – her dad now overseas – Paige remembers, "I didn't want to let go of him."


She calls the work he does transporting supplies across the Iraqi border, "just nice."
But that doesn't change her feelings.
"I just miss my dad right now," she says.
Sgt. Bennethum, 30, is expected home next July. Until then, Paige plans to help her mom take care of her little sister and a new baby that's on the way.
First Published: Oct 6, 2009 4:30 PM EDT



ITA!
About 3 weeks ago we spent the night at my son & daughter in law's house and stopped for breakfast at a restaurant with them and my grand daughter before we headed back for home. Seated a couple of booths away were 2 Army soldiers in full uniform eating their breakfast. My son, who was also in the Navy, got up and went to the front of the eatery and I watched him talking to the manager who was running the register.....then I watched him pull out some money and gave it to him......knowing my son like I do, I knew what he was doing.....I never said anything to him, and as we were eating, the soldiers got up and went to pay for their meals.....I saw the manager talking to them, and it was evident those 2 young men were asking him who the kind soul was who paid for their meal. The manager never told them, and as
You must be truly proud of your son. Your tender story made me tear-up.