Godspeed, Sarge!

Joined
Aug 18, 2000
Messages
312
We'll all look forward to your safe return. These words are as true today as they were two centuries ago:

"If we wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained -- we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the G-d of hosts, is all that is left us."

--Patrick Henry

Godspeed.

Stephen
 
Thanks Stephen,
I can't promise y'all anything more than that I'll do my best. As the deploying First Sgt., my number one priority is looking after my guys, and that goes for officer or enlisted. Some might think me a knucklehead for withdrawing my retirement and volunteering to go on this mission, but I can tell you it would have torn my heart out if I hadn't.
Keep up the prayers, but don't lose any sleep worrying over us. We're the best in the world at what we do, and that's no brag, it's a fact. It's an all volunteer force, and if these young kids didn't fully realize what they signed up for, they're learning pretty fast. And, making me proud as hell in the process.
Here's a poem of sorts (have mercy, I'm no poet) that sums up my feelings right now, it's called "I am going"

The time has come and before the dawn, I am going,

To keep true to an oath and to help right a wrong, I am going,

With friends at my side, into the unknown, I am going,

My retired days draw near, but I'll not dwell on that now,

Instead I give thanks that my country has called, my bags are all packed, and once again, I am going

Keep Faith, Stay Strong,
Sarge
 
Sarge--Here's hoping for a safe and speedy return for one and all. Thanks for the effort on our behalf.
 
Comes to mind. Fare well, where ever you fare.





"Ulysses"
by Alfred Lord Tennyson


It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
Life to the lees. All times I have enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea. I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known,-- cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honor'd of them all,--
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains; but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
to whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,--
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfill
This labor, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail;
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me,--
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads,-- you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honor and his toil.
Death closes all; but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends.
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.


Kismet
:rolleyes:

We're all in this together, somehow.
 
Thank you for what you do and remember you are in our prayers and thoughts everyday! See you soon!
 
Thank you, Sarge! I am very thankful for the job that you and your fellow soldiers do. People like yourself have insured the freedom of our great country for the last 226+ years. God bless you and keep you while you're in harm's way.

-Craig
 
Blessings and prayers to you and all your crew.
An old proverb says:"Trust in God but tether your camel."
Take care and good luck!
 
There's a line from "The Bridges at Toko Ri" I like to quote. After Brubaker has been shot down and the chopper crew who went in for him has also been shot down and all men killed upon learning this bad news the Captain of the carrier asks, "Where do we find such men?"

Blessings to each and every one of you fine, brave and noble men. Come back alive and in one piece, all!
 
Powerful stuff, Sarge! Yanks the old heart strings.

Keep you and yours wel, and return home safely when the job is done.

Some more quotes from the Havamal for you, ancient wisdom for new journeys:

1.
The man who stands at a strange threshold,
Should be cautious before he cross it,
Glance this way and that:
Who knows beforehand what foes may sit
Awaiting him in the hall?

38.
A wayfarer should not walk unarmed,
But have his weapons to hand:
He knows not when he may need a spear,
Or what menace meet on the road.

10.
Better gear than good sense
A traveller cannot carry,
Better than riches for a wretched man,
Far from his own home.

18.
He who has seen and suffered much,
And knows the ways of the world,
Who has travelled', can tell what spirit
Governs the men he meets.

28.
To ask well, to answer rightly,
Are the marks of a wise man:
Men must speak of men's deeds,
What happens may not be hidden.

Take care, sarge!

Keith
En Ferro Veritas
 
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