Cale Leather

1 one-hole plastic flag button "bead"
2 PERSONALIZED one-hole fabric-covered brass skyblue button "beads"
1 one-hole gold military uniform button "bead"
1 leather string

Approx. 1 hour
Approx. 6 inches

It's hard to put a price on something so deep and with so much meaning and sentiment behind it. This bracelet is for my brother, who is serving tirelessly in the United States Army. He's a "Green Beret." He has been gone away from home since July. He is nineteen years old and has fought overseas in Afghanistan for a handful of months. 

I did a lot of brainstorming and hunting for the perfect gift for his Christmas-Away-From-Home this year...This is it. The leather is fairly old, guesstimating to date back to the 1960s - 1970s. I used a gel fabric pen to script the word "free" and his name on the two fabric-covered beads. The colors really compliment the tiny jar they're wrapped around which is covered in red and white tissue paper. The gold button, I found after much digging in my many containers of timeless buttons and it has the World War II United States Army Officer emblem on it. I have absolutely no idea where the button came from for sure, but my guess is that it is off of a uniform. After further research, I was fairly pleased with this find as it has likely seen the likes of war in its time. The flag button was practical.

Inside the jar, there are three pieces of rolled-up paper. In black print, are the Warrior's Ethos and Soldier's Creed as well as a beautiful poem I found online by Heather Sandvoss entitled "My Young Soldier." These things are bound to hit home with him. I just really hope he likes it.

My Young Soldier;

My young soldier,
Brave as can be.

My young soldier,
Don't stop fighting.

My young soldier,
You have so much strength.

My young soldier,
Please don't die on me.

My young soldier,
I love you so very much.

My young soldier,
I miss you so dearly.

My young soldier,
Come home to me.

-- Heather Sandvoss

Soldier's Creed

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Warrior Ethos

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

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