Marine 2nd Lt. Therrel Shane Childers, 3/21/03

Well, today I did my first random act. The holidays were busy and I found a million really lame excuses not to get started, but today I quit putting it off.

The first Mississippi soldier to die in the war on terror was Marine 2nd Lt. Therrel Childers. According to www.fallenheroesmemorial.com, Childers, 30, of Harrison County, Mississippi, was killed in action in southern Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Died on March 21, 2003.

He fell in love with the Marines at the age of 5, when his father, a Navy Seabee, took him on a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran.

"He saw those Marines in their dress blues guarding the embassy, and he wanted to be one himself," Joseph Childers recalls.

He was one of the first ground casualties of the war, killed on March 21, 2003, while leading his platoon toward an oil-pumping station in southern Iraq.

Here's another picture of Childers when he was a little older. The one in the photo on the Military Times site is obviously his high school senior portrait.

Today as I sat to eat breakfast, I thought about the fact I hadn't even started my project, and here we are, three weeks after I came up with the idea, and four days into the new year. My first five cards with the guys' information on them are all Christmas cards.

"No time like the present," I thought. I looked around the Heart & Soul diner where I was eating in Brandon, Mississippi. There was a guy happily reading a newspaper next to me, and a large group of folks enjoying each other's company on the far wall. At the bar, though (or whatever you call the bar at a place that's only a restaurant, and not a bar) was a lady who was eating by herself.

Seeing her there, I thought about the fact that I always eat by myself, and for a lot of different reasons. There are many people who eat alone, and I understand most of the reasons they do.

But something told me, "That's your first one."

So, seeing a sign on the table advertising $25 gift cards, I bought one, and stuck it in the envelope with the card about 2nd Lt. Childers. I gave it to the waitress and told her in short what I was doing.

"Take this to that lady over there, and don't tell her where it came from," I said.

I didn't watch the exchange as the lady used it to pay her tab, but the waitress was smiling, and I saw her carry the card out with her. I hope it made her day like it did mine.

I just thought about the fact that if I'd started this three weeks ago, the big tears of joy in doing something to make someone's life better might have subsided by now. But I sort of hope they never do.

Thank you, 2nd Lt. Childers. Rest in peace, and may God bless those who love you. Keep watch up there until we see you again.