Hello, Wooters.

On February 13 of this year, the Woot was the America Stories of War DVD collection. I bought one for my father's birthday (March 2), and in the community comments (http://www.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?postid=4846330) I posted this:

> In for one. My dad's birthday is coming up. He'll be 92, was
> in the Marines in WWII, and was probably in some of the battles
> in those documentaries. Everyone say Happy Birthday to him, and
> I'll pass it along.

An amazing number of Wooters responded with heartfelt birthday wishes for my dad, thanking him for his service and sharing some of their stories. A few weeks later, he received his present: not only the DVDs, but a printout of all the birthday wishes from Wooters. He liked the DVDs okay, but he was touched and overjoyed - almost beyond his ability to express - by the birthday messages, amazed that strangers around the world could hear about his birthday through the internet and send him well-wishes and thanks for his service. He cherished those pages, and every time I visited him I saw they were more dog-eared than the last time.

As it turned out, that was his final birthday present. My father died last week at the age of 92, quietly and in the company of friends.

All of you who sent those messages should hear how much your good wishes meant to an old Marine in the twilight of his life. So, to the people who posted the birthday messages in the comments thread, my deepest thanks for making him so happy.

I hope everyone who posted those messages gets a chance to see this. The usernames in the thread were:

wisenekt
ThunderThighs
ccmacy
therealjrn
vince808
ericleer
lilgreenfish
mnshopper
ivanivanovich
mjc613
amemait
McFortner
cop704
Swater49
jackrn1
jani5
ontheborder
halnwheels
susijane
rocque
momtr
iwantamonkey
radi0j0hn
msalzer
barbie2216

Again, thank you all.

Jon "dwasifar"

It's stories like these that make Woot special.

My condolences. Thank you for sharing this story.

As we say in the Army -- Hooah! That'd be Oorah for the Marines.

My condolences for your father.
It seems that he really cherished those well wishes from fellow wooters. I am sorry that I missed the story the first time around.

May you find a calming peace in this time.

What a touching and heart-warming story. Thank you for sharing, especially during what must be a most difficult time. My thoughts are with you and your family.

dwasifar, I shared this today with my husband, who is also a 30 year service member. This put a lump in our throats. We've sung "Eternal Father" too many times while saying "good bye" to The Greatest Generation and their sons & daughters.

It is wonderful to know the woot community and the company itself is so amazing to help give your Dad heartfelt birthday greetings. I regret not being able to pass along my own wishes for a happy day and to thank him for ensuring that the rest of us have our own happy days due to his unselfish service.

To your father's memory my husband & I say Semper Fi, Marine. Rest easy with your Brothers in Arms. You stand relieved. We have the Watch. And thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
La V.

My sincere condolences and prayers to your father and family. I've also lost my Grandmother earlier this year..

Thank you for sharing this very heart-warming story, I'm tearing up right now. I don't know what else to say, I'm just in shock and awe.

Great job everyone from Woot!!

I'm sure he's watching upon us right now in delight as we are reading this thread.

yes thank you for sharing. It puts in perspective how important it is to celebrate life, friends, and especially family.

Our condolences to you and your family. I thank God for true heroes like your father.