When a politician’s remarks made an eight-year-old girl cry, American service members let her know they have her back.
Melissa Chance Yassini came home from work earlier this month to find her daughter, Sofia crying. The little girl had heard that a presidential candidate wanted to ban Muslims like her family from entering the U.S.
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She was so afraid her family would be deported, she had packed a bag.
Melissa spent a long night comforting her daughter and voiced her frustrations in a Facebook post.
The whole ordeal was enough to break a mother’s heart. Turns out, it was enough to break a few veterans’ hearts, too.
When Army vet Kerri Peek first read about it, she said the story “stuck in my craw.”
Peek launched a campaign — #IWillProtectYou — urging fellow veterans and service members to stand up for the little girl.
Pretty soon, troops came rallying to the cause with personal messages for little Sofia, including a soldier on December 21 who tweeted as @That_Bama_Guy11 saying, “Any race, religion, or ethnicity if you are an American, I will protect you till my dying breath.” #iwillprotectyou
Airmen…
…and Marines…
Are you A Muslim in America and afraid because of your religion? Do not be afraid. #iwillprotectyou #promise pic.twitter.com/AWxHFkjSEX
— Tom Flowers (@TomFlowers) December 21, 2015…Even a father and son who served together…
#iwillprotectyou ... My son and I both. pic.twitter.com/tkawPrtU2z
— Bajun Mavalwalla (@BajunMavalwalla) December 23, 2015Many more answered the call
Hundreds of messages have poured in from veterans and active duty military —and Melissa has read each one of them to her daughter. Sofia now knows she has a literal army of fellow Americans protecting her.
Share This With Your Army Of Friends… (Photo: Melissa Chance Yassini)