January 02, 2008

Your Feel-Good Story Of The Week

Election craziness aside, we're in a particularly grim news cycle. Between Pakistan, various hot spots in Africa, ongoing violence in Iraq and the troubled U.S. economy, it's difficult to feel optimistic, and just two days in to 2008 no less.

Meet Majs. Laura Geldhof and Eric Olson. Olson was serving in Tallil, Iraq, last year, more than 200 miles from Balad, where Geldhof was sent, according to this AP report. So imagine Geldhof's surprise when she walked into a mess hall and found Olson standing under a banner that read, "Laura, will you marry me?"

"He was wearing his rifle and everything. How many people propose armed?" Geldhof recounted to AP. (Ignore the attribution -- the story is from AP, not the Flint Journal.)

The wedding was scheduled for October but had to be postponed after the Pentagon extended troops tours to 15 months as part of its new counterinsurgency strategy. Instead of a fall-themed ceremony, the couple settled for a winter wedding. But they didn't appear to have any complaints. Well, maybe a few.

"I think being in a combat zone can be easier than planning a wedding," joked Geldhof, an intelligence officer.

Posted at 3:55 PM
Posted to: Iraq, Middle East, Military
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