Gold Dome Live is moving!
Our new spot will allow us to get the news to you even faster and make commenting easier. Please bookmark the new site and sign up for our rss feed:
http://blogs.ajc.com/gold-dome-live/
AJC.com > Legislature > Blog > Archives > 2009 > January > 16 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USCollins, back from Iraq, returns to House
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville) made an emotional return to the Georgia House on Friday, his first day back after serving four months in Iraq.
Collins is a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves and served a tour on active duty in the war zone. Upon his return to the Capitol, Collins said he felt his colleague’s support while he was overseas.
“Less than five days ago, I was sitting in the middle of a combat zone,” Collins said from the well of the House. “And after watching a lot of good and a lot of bad, it’s hard to believe you can go from seeing nothing but concrete barriers to being here.”
Collins, beginning his second term in the Legislature, said he would eagerly check his e-mail every night while he was away from home. The technology allowed him to feel connected to home, where his wife and four children could keep him involved in the family’s daily life.
But, he said, there were people in the House chamber who made him feel missed and cared for as well.
“It was always a pretty good day when I saw some e-mails,” Collins said.
Besides his wife, Lisa, he said three House members e-mailed him almost daily. Reps. Kevin Levitas (D-Atlanta), Mark Hamilton (R-Cumming) and Carl Rogers (R-Gainesville) reached out to him nearly without fail.
“I’ll never forget you,” Collins said, a hitch in his voice, to a silent chamber. “No matter if it was not even here. And to the rest of you, believe me, there’s something to be said about an e-mail.”
Collins encouraged his colleagues to “find somebody you haven’t talked to in a while and send them an e-mail. When you’re that far from home, just a ‘Hi, how ya doing’ meant a lot.”
— Aaron Gould Sheinin
Photo credit: Georgia House of Representatives
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Legislature
Comments