By reading this, you agree not to tell anybody you know in Providence, R.I., until after this weekend.
Jeffrey O'Brien, a young soldier stationed at Fort Polk, is home in New England to propose to his girlfriend. She has no idea. Her parents have given the green light. He and his girlfriend have known each other for nine years, so there's a great foundation.
Jeff was in the next seat on the Delta flight Thursday evening from Alexandria to Atlanta, as I was with the Demon basketball team flying to Nashville on the way to Saturday night's game at Tennessee Tech.
Jeff graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2002. He's a little nervous about the proposal. He bought the ring on his own. That takes courage. He has that in spades.
Jeff is back home in the USA after a tour in Afghanistan. In June, he's heading to Iraq -- based on our conversation, without reservations and with a lot of pride.
He is a big URI Rams fan and is hoping they can make the NCAA Tournament. He was disappointed he missed last year's March Madness because he was stationed in an isolated region of Afghanistan, literally sleeping on the ground, without any telephone or internet connection for many weeks at a time. He said he was surprised to be involved in so many firefights. He said the diversion of resources to Iraq has allowed the Taliban to provide some significant resistance in Afghanistan.
He got a kick out of talking college hoops and being on the plane with the Demons. I can guarantee you, I got a thrill out of sitting next to him and I told him that we all appreciated him and his brothers in arms.
And I wished him good luck this weekend. That, he appreciated, too!
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