Thank You Vets
 

I just wanted to put this in as a thank you to all of the veterans that have served our country. This includes the old and new both. We have our problems, but this is still the greatest country in the world and all of you who served in the armed forces to keep it that way deserve more than just thanks.

Ron :)

BIG DITTO.....what Ron said!!!!!!!:)

Yes indeed!

Three cheers;
:) Hip, hip, hoorah!
:) Hip, hip, hoorah!
:) Hip, hip, hoorah!

Thanks to You guys and girls for your service to our great country. I appreciate how great you are especially as I get older and continue to enjoy the benefits of all the fine effort made to keep us safe.

Gods Speed, Bill

We had several Marines on our flight yesterday. The captain made a special announcement thanking them and the whole plane stood up and applauded them. One of the young guys (looked like he just graduated boot camp) was overwhelmed by the whole thing. He looked like a deer in the headlights not knowing what to do, and when a guy told him he has already done it, he had a tear in his eye. He said that never in his life had he expected complete strangers to look at him that way. When he stepped off the plane, he had his head held a lot higher than before.

Yea, a little late but thank you to all the Vets.

My father in law is a vet and so was my father.

Freedom is not free.

I received this from one of my American friends. It says it all.

Wayne


"The Things They Carried"
by Tim O’Brien...

In honor of Veteran’s Day...an excerpt from book of the same title:
By Tim O'Brien

They carried P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches and dog tags, insect repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt tablets, compress bandages, ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three canteens of water, iodine tablets, sterno, LRRP- rations, and C-rations stuffed in socks.

They carried standard fatigues, jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets and steel pots.

They carried the M-16 assault rifle.

They carried trip flares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine-guns, the M-70 grenade launcher, M-14's, CAR-15's, Stoners, Swedish K's, 66mmLaws, shotguns, .45 caliber pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets, rockets, and choppers, and sometimes the sound of silence.

They carried C-4plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades, PRC-25 radios, knives and machetes. Some carried napalm, CBU's and large bombs; some risked their lives to rescue others. Some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death and damage. Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive.

They carried malaria, dysentery, ringworm's and leaches.

They carried the land itself as it hardened on their boots. They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of their loved ones - real and imagined.

They carried love for people in the real world and love for one another. And sometimes they disguised that love:"Don't mean nothin'!" They carried memories for the most part, they carried themselves with poise and a kind of dignity.

Now and then, there were times when panic set in, and people squealed or wanted to, but couldn't; when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said "Dear God" and hugged the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God and their parents, hoping not to die.

They carried the traditions of the United States military, and memories and images of those who served before them.

They carried grief, terror, longing and their reputations. They carried the soldier's greatest fear: the embarrassment of dishonor. They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment. They were afraid of dying, but too afraid to show it.

They carried the emotional baggage of men and women who might die at any moment. They carried the weight of the world.

THEY CARRIED EACH OTHER


Remember and honor those who served our country by both defending it and defending our way of life.