Terrible Towel of War

SteelerGuy15 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 26, 2012 7:35 pm

My brother in law (and best friend) is a proud member of the United States Air Force. He was recently stationed in Bagram, Afghanistan. Durring his deployment I sent him a Camo Terrible Towel to fly with pride. Little did I know just how proudly it was flown. He told me he had a surprise for me when he returned home, said the Towel was flown as a flag of war and that I would get a certificate for the Towel.

This past Tuesday he came home. My wife, two daughters, sister in law, niece and I all drove to the base (in Peoria, IL) to watch his plane land and welcome home. After he got settled in he invited my family over to his house to have dinner with his family, and that's when he presented me the most bad XXXXX gift I ever received.

I not only got the Camo Terrible Towel back, but he gave me four patches. One patch has a Bald Eagle flying over the country of Afghanistan and reads: "9-11-01 Operation Enduring Freedom". Another is a patch that represents his specific troop. The other two are Steelers patches. One is a Steelers logo that says "Operation Enduring Freedom" across the top and the other is a Steelers logo that is red white and blue. But the biggest surprise was the 8 X 10 certificate I was given. It reads: "This Terrible Towel was flown aboard a United States Air Force C-130H Aircraft on a combat mission over Afghanistan in support of the U.S. led war against terrorism. OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM This certificate is presented by SSgt Casey Marlow to: Lewie Sloan Schall III. Thank you for your support." The certificate is signed by both pilot and co-pilot, the Aircraft Commander, the Navigator, Flight Engineer and both Loadmasters. The date of the mission was 12-24-11, and the Call Sign, Tail Number, mission logos ect. are all on there. My brother in law told me that the mission that the Towel was aboard for actually dropped off soldiers in a hot zone to, as he said, take care of business. Needless to say, I will be having the Towel, patches and certificate all framed!

supersteeler1 · **Joined:** Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:18 pm **Posts:** 2163

Nice story, and tell your brother in law we all are proud of him for his service to our Country.
A nice gift indeed that you received!

SteelerGuy15 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:51 pm

Thanks Supe! Will do!

dbsfgyd1 · **Joined:** Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:59 pm **Posts:** 3032

What an outstanding story. Any chance of you posting pictures of them? BTW, please thank your brother in law for his service, from us.

pastrami · **Posted:** Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:38 pm

Excellent! Thanks for sharing that story! And ditto what ss1 and db said.

SteelerGuy15 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 26, 2012 10:47 pm

I'll try to scan the certificate tomorrow, and maybe take a picture of the patches and post it.

SteelersFan · **Posted:** Tue Mar 27, 2012 12:23 am

Mainly, I'm glad your brother in law made it home safe. "Godspeed" to him and his/your family in their continued military journey.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures also !

And kudos to you for thinking enough of him, while he was deployed, to send him something that let him know he was being thought about. Words/actions can't describe how little things like that, make a person far from home, feel.

And if he's a Steeler fan, get him on here when he settles back in !!!

Monkey MoJo · **Posted:** Tue Mar 27, 2012 6:35 am

Please post pictures if you get the chance!!

Triangle Steel · **Posted:** Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:48 pm

awesome stuff man!!!!!! i sent my cousin steelers gear while he was in iraq, and thankfully he was able to bring them home as well. but the patches and certificate is just freaking awesome!

special thanks to your brother in law and all our armed service members!!!!!

can't wait to see the pics!

SteelerGuy15 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:50 pm

Ok guys, as I promised here are some pics!!

This is the certificate:

SteelerGuy15 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 27, 2012 7:53 pm

Here are the patches:

Bricklyer · **Posted:** Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:22 pm

Excellent! Many thanks to your brother-in-law and his whole outfit for making the sacrifice for us.

Vitriol · **Joined:** Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:12 pm **Posts:** 391

OUTSTANDING!!!

Thanks to your brother for his service, and thanks to you for posting.

Triangle Steel · **Posted:** Wed Mar 28, 2012 5:31 am

VERY COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monkey MoJo · **Posted:** Wed Mar 28, 2012 6:08 am

Thanks for posting the pictures.. sent chills up my spine reading the certificate..love the two patches with the Steelers emblem...

Bill From Hanover · **Posted:** Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:01 pm

Yes, thank you for sharing this story ..... It is GREAT !

Please THANK your Brother-In-Law for his service ......

Very proud to be an AMERICAN !

Bill From Hanover · **Posted:** Wed Mar 28, 2012 1:03 pm

I love the patch on the lower right side !!

McSteelerfan · **Joined:** Thu Mar 15, 2012 5:41 pm **Posts:** 450

These people blow me away... Thank you for sharing and thank him....for sharing.

SteelerGuy15 · **Posted:** Wed Mar 28, 2012 7:16 pm

To me, the coolest part was that the certificate is one of a kind. I figured I was going to get something along the lines of a certificate of authenticity, but the fact it says "This Terrible Towel was flown......." is beyond cool! My brother in law told me his superiors have never flown anything (or even heard of anyrhing being flown) aboard a C-130 during an active mission other than a United States flag. When he told me the mission my Towel was on was a SNAKE mission (which he described as dropping off some tough S.O.B.'s to "take care of business") my jaw hit the floor!

Monkey MoJo · **Posted:** Thu Mar 29, 2012 6:09 am

SteelerGuy15 wrote:

When he told me the mission my Towel was on was a SNAKE mission (which he described as dropping off some tough S.O.B.'s to "take care of business") my jaw hit the floor!

Our starting defense was on the "SNAKE" mission?

Seriously, great story and thank your brother in law.

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Terrible Towel of War

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