Tribute to a Family's Valor
"Like good Nehemiah, having made our prayer with God, and set the people with their Swords, their Spears, and their bows, we will say unto them, Be not afraid of them."
In a commentary published last week in the Wall Street Journal, former White House senior advisor Karl Rove, shared a story of Dr. Bill Krissoff and his wife Christine; a "remarkable family" he met while accompanying President George W. Bush to Reno, Nevada, in 2007. The Krissoff's, he says, exemplify "the best in the American spirit of courage and sacrifice."
One of the Krissoff's sons, Marine First Lt. Nathan Krissoff, was killed in Al Anbar Province in December 2006. It was in Reno, that when asked by the president if there was anything he could do for him, Dr. Krissoff responded: "Yes. I'm a pretty good orthopedic surgeon. When my younger son is deployed to Iraq next March, I would like to be working as a Navy medical officer, but they won't let me because I am 61 years old. Will you give me an age waiver, Mr. President?" (Photo: Navy.mil)
As Rove tells it, the president assigned him (Rove) the task of seeing what could be done about it. Several months later, Dr. Krissoff's request was granted.
Rove, noting that Dr. Krissoff had his wife's full support, writes that their story reminds him of a chapter out of American history: "Watching the smoke rise from the Battle of Bunker Hill, Abigail Adams wrote her husband John, who was away at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. While she and others lived 'in continual Expectation of Hostility,' Abigail wrote, 'like good Nehemiah, having made our prayer with God, and set the people with their Swords, their Spears, and their bows, we will say unto them, Be not afraid of them.'"
"I was reminded," also, added Rove, "of the debt we owe to those who have, for 233 years, sustained our freedom and independence...Christine Krissoff"' [and her] husband and sons, "wrapped in prayers and armed with swords and scalpels, have served our nation with valor."
To find out more about the Krissoff family and to read this report in its entirety, follow the link provided.
