Full Transcript is Below:
– Happy New Year everyone. Hope you had a great end to 2022, and welcome into 2023. I’m NFM TV’s, Greg Sher. We are continuing our series now, going on our eighth year of NFM Salutes. And our Salute for you this January, 2023, it tells a love story between daughter and father and love of country. Meg Christ joins us right now. Meg, how are you?
– Fine. Thank you for having me.
– We’re here to salute your father, George Foster, Jr. He was a veteran of two tours in the Korean War, a very, very established man in military circles, diplomatic circles. Tell us about your dad, the military man.
– He was very proud of being the bodyguard for the King of Saudi Arabia and bringing him back to Eisenhower’s inauguration. He was very proud to be a National Honor Guard walking in the presidential parade. And he had a lot of great buddies from Korea, a lot that he lost.
– Your father served two tours in Korea. The first one he had to go, the second one was voluntary. You just mentioned he lost a lot of good friends. What role did that play in him wanting to go back and why?
– He, like you said, lost a lot of his close buddies and he volunteered to go back to fight for their honor.
– And when your father passed away, you had the tough assignment of going through his things and that is where this ground swell of material we have, that’s where you discovered them. Tell us about that moment.
– My father did not speak much of his time in Korea when I was a child, but as he laid in his bed and in his office to the side of his bed was a closet that I started to poke through and found his Marine locker. And when I opened it, I was shocked by things that I found.
– Let’s go through some of these documents. This document is from the Secretary of Defense during the Nixon administration. And as it states here, “Because of your personal endeavors in behalf of our national security, I’m able to depart confident that the defense posture of our nation is not wanting. I will be forever grateful for your support in helping make this possible.” Your dad meant a lot to this country. Let’s look at, you mentioned that he was a bodyguard for a Saudi prince.
– Yes.
– Well, that Saudi prince gave your father a gold watch.
– He, in his later years, had mentioned the watch. I had never seen it till after his passing. But my father and another Marine both received gold watches from the king.
– He would later, after he served, be assigned to the American Embassy in Russia, correct?
– Correct.
– And so he needed clothing for that, military clothing. So this is the clothing requisition and issue slip. This is from December 7th, 1954. He kept almost a dossier of his life. The fact that he was born in 1929, the start of the Depression. And as you go through this document, he graduated in 1960 and he went to great lengths to mention that he attended all Los Angeles football games and saw the first Super Bowl in Los Angeles.
– He loved football and was also a huge Red Sox fan.
– He was from the Massachusetts area?
– Yes, that’s correct. And when he was a little boy, he would skip school and take the subway into Boston and sneak into Fenway Park to watch the games.
– You had a very special relationship with your father, George. You were adopted at three months old. Tell us about your relationship with your father.
– I did everything with him. He always said he carried me along in his pocket. I went to every Orioles game with him, every Capitals game. We were very close.
– In getting to know you, you’ve shared many stories and memories of your father. One in particular embodies what kind of man and what kind of American he was. Share that with us.
– When we were little, we had a childhood friend who was in a wheelchair. He had spina bifida. His name was Gary. And he would wanna come over and play with all of us. And he couldn’t get upstairs, obviously, in a wheelchair. And my dad always made it clear that he would never be left behind and he would carry Gary in his wheelchair upstairs so he could play with us. And it was just shows, you know, a Marine at heart never leaves anyone behind.
– You are a cancer survivor yourself. So what was that experience like and what did he do for your soul to help heal you?
– I had thyroid cancer last year. We were all pretty shocked. And he told me I was a fighter and he always taught me when I was a little girl, when you fall down, you get back up.
– How are you doing now?
– I’m great. I’m good, thank you.
– In his final days, you had a chance to pay that back and to be there for him in a way you’ll never forget. What were those last couple of days and moments like?
– They were very special. Where he was telling me always to be a fighter, I had to tell him it was okay not to fight anymore.
– And he passed not too long after you gave him that okay, didn’t he?
– He did.
– What else do you want us to know about George Foster Jr.?
– He was just a kind soul, was very humble. So after he passed, finding all these amazing things that he had done, I wish he was here to ask more questions. There’s so many questions. He was amazing.
– Clearly. He was an incredible American, father and friend, I’m sure, to so many.
– Yes.
– Meg Christ, thank you for sharing this story about your father, George Foster, Jr. Staff Sergeant George Foster Jr., and an incredible family man. He will never be forgotten. We appreciate you sharing his story with us and yours as well. Continued great health to you and your family. We wish you all the best.
– Thank you so much.
– That’s our NFM Salute for the month of January, 2023. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. Many more ahead. I’m NFM TV’s Greg Sher. We’ll see you next time.