Veteran's Day

markb5900

markb5900

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Mark B
I won't be on till late tomorrow so going to post it tonight.

Go seek out a veteran tomorrow and thank them for their service to our country for making what you are reading now possible.

We all forget to soon the sacrifice that our veteran's have made for us. Whether they were in combat or not, they all signed up to be if necessary for us.

If you have just a few extra minutes, stop by a VA hospital and just walk around to thank some of the people there.

Thank at least one vet today please.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXP0Mh44ycQ&feature=user

Mark B.
 
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Good idea! Especially for the WWII Veterans.

markb5900 said:
I won't be on till late tomorrow so going to post it tonight.

Go seek out a veteran tomorrow and thank them for their service to our country for making what you are reading now possible.

We all forget to soon the sacrifice that our veteran's have made for us. Whether they were in combat or not, they all signed up to be if necessary for us.

If you have just a few extra minutes, stop by a VA hospital and just walk around to thank some of the people there.

Thank at least one vet today please.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXP0Mh44ycQ&feature=user

Mark B.
Click to expand...
 
We often think of our fathers or grandfathers and their service in WW2, some of the younger people here may have had parents who served in Vietnam. Or perhaps there are Cold War vets like me who served either in perpetual readiness or got shipped to some of the wonderful 'weekend war' locations like Lebanon, Grenada, or the Panama Canal.

Since October I have been thinking a lot of some of my friends. See I served in both Lebanon and Grenada, I left the ME just a couple of weeks before the barracks was blown up, I was being sent to Grenada at the time. I lost friends in both places. This past October marked the 25th Anniversary of both of those events.

But on this veteran's day I also want to make a special request that we remember a group of vets that is all but gone. The WW1 vets. There is but one living WW1 vet in the US who served with US forces. A second who served in the Canadian forces and a handful of others outside of the US. These men truly saw the most horrific of wars.

I am attaching a picture of me from 1994. This was when I was serving as the 4th District Commander of the VFW, take a close look at the man to my left. Cletus was his name and he is wearing a WW1 Victory medal. That man served in the Great War, aka The War to End All Wars. He is long gone, but at the time of that picture he was the last WW1 veteran in Illinois, he was an active man until his death and he was a hoot to be around. That picture was a special one not only for me but for the VFW. At the time it was taken it was of the oldest and youngest VFW members, I was the youngest BTW.

To all my vet friends, living and dead, I remember you on this day. Even though hardly anyone celebrates this holiday any longer and just looks at it as a day of government workers getting paid to do nothing, I remember. I will not forgot nor will I be ungrateful for your service on this day.
 

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To the veterans of all branches of service...

Thank you.

90 years ago today the armistice marking the cessation of hostilities in World War I took effect. Please take a moment to remember those who, in the pursuit of freedom and justice for all, made the ultimate sacrifice. And if possible, thank a veteran today. Without them, we wouldn't be here.
 
Thanks for that post, Scott - very well said.

To my brother and sister veterans, thank you for your service and sacrifice.
 
Re: To the veterans of all branches of service...

Whoops. Didn't notice the other thread. Merge please :mad2:
 
Re: To the veterans of all branches of service...

I don't know what you do when you are at a place and they play the star spangled Banner. But, here is what I do each time. I have four WWII friends that I video taped for a class on LIVING HISTORY OF WWII. So as I am standing there with my hand over my heart looking aloft at OLD GLORY. I go through a little something about these four Heroes of mine.

PAT PAGE- He spent 37 days and nights on Iwo Jima. He reminded me it was nights too. He shot a japanese soldier that got into their fox hole one night. He told me he watched 4 marines from E company and a navy medic raise the flag on Mt. Suribachi.

RAY CAREY-- Was a tail gunner in a B-17. His plane was shot down over Germany, He bailed out and was knocked unconscious going out the door as the old plane was starting to spin. He came to and heard a flapping noise, it was his pant legs. He was captured an spent 8 months in a POW camp and lost about 35-40 lbs.

Glenn Hysell-- Was in the same outfit as Audie Murphy. Glenn was wounded twice, once he had a BAR and all of his amo and started to make a run for a small grove of trees. Unbeknownst to him there was already a german machine gun in those trees. He got hit in his right chest. Right where he had a small Bible in his shirt pocket. He still has the book with the pages all wadded up to the last page.

Bob Marquiz--- A captain with Gen. Patton. He went from Italy to the battle of the bulge, to the end of the war with him. He told me some of the hardest memories to forget was the railroad box cars full of people that were locked on the outside and nobody was around.

-----Over the land of the free.---- and the home of the brave.


Bob
 
Re: To the veterans of all branches of service...

wbarnhill said:
And if possible, thank a veteran today.
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That was easy for me! I woke up this morning at 5:00 EST and a veteran was sleeping next to me! :hairraise::

My wife Sue is a veteran of the first Iraq war. :yes: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :cheerswine:
 
Thanks to all the vets! We owe you a debt of gratitude that can not be repaid.


:cheerswine:
 
Anthony said:
Thanks to all the vets! We owe you a debt of gratitude that can not be repaid.


:cheerswine:
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Have you ever had an opportunity to go to a game and sit in someones box and they furnish you everything all during the game and someone picks up the tab.

Well that is how I feel about the VETERANS on veterans day. What I mean is some folks didn't have to serve,yet they get to enjoy all of the freedoms that the Vets do. The Veterans picked up the tab. So, How much does a THANK YOU cost you. I shook three hands this morning allready. I hope you do as well.

Bo
 
My grandfathers served in WW I.

My father, two uncles, father-in-law and mother-in-law served in WW II. My MIL landed on Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944 (Army nurse). Dad was a corpsman in the Navy (spent his time in California). Dad's brother was a naval officer on destroyers. Mom's brother-in-law flew right seat in B-17s out of England at the end of the war.

One of my cousins (currently flying for US Air) is a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. Last active duty billet was as a squadron commander (C-17). Spent time in England with C-141s, flying to the sand box.

A good friend from my days working for the Navy served on a destroyer off Vietnam.

I tried, but a car/motorcycle accident in college cost me my commissioning physical. Otherwise, Army Signal Corps would be in my past.

To all you veterans, THANK YOU. Freedom isn't free, and you (not the politicians) are the reason we have it.
 
markb5900 said:
Go seek out a veteran tomorrow and thank them for their service to our country for making what you are reading now possible.

Mark B.
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I did. I also encouraged everyone to remember their sacrifices at last night's City Council meeting.
:blueplane:
ApacheBob
 
My thanks to any veterans who read this. It is through your courage that I enjoy my freedom, and I hope to never forget it for even a moment.
 
From an old Navy chief and simple airman YAVW every one
 
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