Prayers Go Out to Marcus Luttrell

As many of you know, Governor Rick Perry addressed the 2009 Young Conservatives of Texas Convention this past weekend in Austin, TX.  Governor Perry also brought along a very special guest to our convention, former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.

Luttrell is the only survivor from a battle that took place in Afghanistan in 2005 as he fought for our freedom.

He also presented the Young Conservatives of Texas with a signed copy of his book, The Lone Survivor, which details his experience in Afghanistan.

So you can only imagine how much it broke my heart to read this story:

All it took was the gunshot fired outside his Walker County home to trigger training ingrained in former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, the lone survivor of a dramatic battle in Afghanistan in 2005.

He did a sweep through the house. Checked on his mother. And bolted out the door, where he found dead his beloved Labrador retriever, Dasy, a dog given to him to help him recover from his own wounds and the loss of his fellow Navy comrades.

“I could tell she tried to get away because there was a blood trail,” Luttrell recalled in a phone interview Wednesday. “When I saw she was dead, the only thing that popped into my head was, ‘I’ve got to take these guys out.’ ”

Shrouded in darkness, Luttrell, who’d just been released from the hospital after another round of surgery, crawled under a fence, skirted a ditch and sneaked up on four strangers in a sedan who apparently killed the dog on a whim. Luttrell said they were oblivious as he raised a 9 mm pistol from about 25 yards away and had one of them dead to rights.

But as the car pulled away, he didn’t fire.

It is an outrage to read about this, especially considering everything Luttrell has done for our country.

The nighttime killing of a such a special dog played right into Luttrell’s deep wounds.

The 4-year-old yellow Lab was given to him upon his return from the war to help him heal. He named it Dasy as an acronym for his SEAL team members lost in a mighty fight in which they were isolated and far outnumbered by Taliban fighters.

He wrote a book, The Lone Survivor, about the experience.

Luttrell said he still wrestles with what he went through. He doesn’t sleep at night, usually keeping his guard up until sunrise, just in case.

“I don’t talk about it much. I just don’t sleep at night,” he said. “I am in and out of the house all night, going, moving around.”

Those of you reading this, please send your well wishes to Marcus Luttrell and his family and please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

The men and women who fight for our freedom are dear to our country and dear to me and horrible stories like this are just heartbreaking.

On behalf of all of the Young Conservatives of Texas, Marcus, if you’re reading this, we stand behind you and we hope you know that we’re thinking of you and supporting you.