Last night was a special night on the Doctor Anonymous Show on BlogTalkRadio. His guest was ER doc and law school graduate Symtym.

Fun show, some tech talk, lots of laughs.

And then a surprise caller. With a story.

A story that you need to hear.

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Robert Toland is a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. He’s fought for our country and defended our freedom for eight years.

Robert is in the middle of the photo, with his wife Melanie and their three daughters. Lilia is 5, Skyler is 2 and Morgan is 1 1/2.

On November 1st, this family will be taking a vacation to Disney World.

It will likely be their last vacation.

Robert Toland has colon cancer. He’s been told he has just a few months to live.

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Back on October 25th, Kevin Haynes, Service Officer in the American Legion, Post #1460, Machias, York emailed Grunt Doc.

It seems that the Christian Youth Corps, a group of young people working in western New York, had earned enough money to send the family to Orlando. But the one thing they could not arrange was a “Princess Dinner” with Cinderella. Money was not the problem. Trying to get a reservation quickly was.

Did Grunt Doc have any connections?

Well he found out that he did, as an anonymous reader came through !

The Toland girls will have a (complimentary!) special dinner with their Daddy (and Cinderella).

But it doesn’t end there.

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You see, Kevin was the caller to Dr. Anonymous last night.

And I’m not being facetious when I say there was not a dry eye in the chat room.

The Toland family heads off tomorrow for Orlando.

But their house will not be empty.

I’m not sure how much of this I’m supposed to say, but let’s say there will be some, uh, extreme makeovering going on at the Toland house while they are gone. Changes that will help make Robert’s life a little easier as he faces the end of his life’s journey.

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Would you like to help?

There is no way I can’t, having heard this story.

The way I see it, Robert has given eight years of his life in the service of my country.

Surely there is something that I can do for this “Army of One”.

If you would like to join me in supporting the Toland Project, send your contributions to:

ATTN: Kevin Haynes, Service Officer
American Legion Post 1460
9688 Main Street
Machias, NY 14101

(Note: Put “Toland Family Fund” in the comment section of the check.)

My check is “in the mail” today.

*****

The story of the Toland family will be shown on the Fox network (Not sure if it will be “Hannity and Colmes” or “Sean Hannity’s America”). I’ll post the dates and times when I learn them.

I’m thankful for men and women like Robert Toland and I will keep Robert and his family in my prayers as they face a difficult time. It’s the blogosphere that allows us to hear stories and help people that we never would have known otherwise.

The blogosphere is an amazing place.

I’m happy to be a part of it.

Army of One Needs Support of Many from Emergiblog