January 28, 2004
Thomasville - Every morning when Linda Griggs gets to work, she gets online and looks at the latest fatalities in Iraq. Then she prays for all of the soldiers still serving there, including her son, Specialist Alvin Smith.
She says, "I'm a strong believer in prayer, and we must pray. We must pray for each other. It's not just my son, it's not my daughter-in-law's husband and it's not my grandchildren's father, but it's all of our children and we cannot just concentrate on my son. We must concentrate on all of them."
Smith is a fuel specialist with Outlaw troop 35 in Baghdad. He's been there since March. Griggs has been supporting her daughter-in-law and grandchildren while he's been away.
"I just felt like it was my duty to be of some service, of comfort to them," says Griggs. "They were upset, they were crying."
But no one has been crying this week. Alvin is home for a two week R&R visit. Griggs says, "When I saw him I knew that every prayer I prayed had been answered. He looked so good, he looked real good."
And she believes he will continue to be taken care of. She says, "My thing is I have a strong faith base. And I knew that he had a job to do, he still has a job to do, because he has to go back, and when that job is done, he will come back." Back to Thomasville where he belongs.
Specialist Smith is expected to return to Fort Polk, Louisiana, where he is stationed, in April.
posted at 4:51 PM by karen.collier@walb.com
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