Please allow me a few moments of personal indulgence as I ramble a bit about my personal Hero. His name is Pastor Dan Gates and he is the Pastor at East Highland United Methodist Church. He was born in 1948 in West Virginia and later moved to Georgia where he has spent most of his adult life. He was married at 19 years old and at the age of 21, he found himself fighting for his country in Vietnam where he earned a Purple Heart. He served his country for 12 years in the Army and during that service entered another challenging field of service as a Father of twin boys. (That was probably the toughest challenge of his life!) At 37 years old, his Lord called him into full time service as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For over two decades, he has served wherever the Lord has led and proudly proclaimed the name of Jesus and the salvation of His name. He has been instrumental in hundreds of salvations and professions of faith in Jesus. And frankly, I've lost track of how many young men have entered the ministry through his guidance.

He loves his family, his nation, and most of all his God. And if there is anyone who stands behind "One Nation Under God", it would be this Patriot!

So why am I telling you all of this??? Well, recently this American Hero and Veteran was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer which has spread to several other places in his body. Now he is facing a struggle unlike any he has ever seen before in his many years of service to his country and to his God.

He also happens to be my daddy and although I've probably never told him directly, he is a major inspiration for the idea behind ThankYouSoldier.com. You see, my dad always raised me to not only be thankful for our military, but to appreciate the commitment and sacrifices made by our service men and women. My brother and I were always raised to say "thank you for your service" and for us, it was never just words, it was a deep sense of love for the fact that at a moments notice they would stand between our families and the evil in the world who would seek to harm our nation.

Pray for this Hero ... to this day, he continues to support our military and their families.

And dad ... you are my Hero!

May God bless you and may God bless America!