Happy Veterans' Day

Big Bob

Big Bob

Joined
Oct 13, 1999
Messages
1,731
I probably won't be back here until Friday, so I figured that I would go ahead and wish everyone here a happy Veterans' Day. I remember, as well as many others.
 
TEARS.....
of joy
of gratitude
of loss
of saddness
of grief
and of comtempt for the current.....
USAF 1963-1967
Jim
 
I've got a buddy in the 10th mtn div, which just got a VERY unfavorable preparedness rating. Apparently no consideration was given to the fact that 1/2 of them are in Bosnia right now.



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Namaste,
Jeff Paulsen

"Oh, a magic khukuri. Why didn't you say so?"
 
I would like to add my voice to that of other forumites in wishing everyone a happy Veteran's Day. I truly do appreciate the contributions that all veteran's have made toward making the United States the best country, by far, in which to live.

It's kinda ironic though, that, in my family, my son (ex-Marine) and myself (ex-Air Force, if that counts) are the only veterans but are also the only two people who have to work on Veteran's Day. The other family members work at jobs where they have the day off. But on the bright side, tomorrow I have the pleasure of speaking to an auditorium full of junior-high school kids about Veteran's Day and what it really means. I'll post a report about my experience tomorrow night.

Again, my heartfelt thanks to all you fellow veterans who helped make this the greatest country on earth! May Old Glory wave forever!
 
I would like to chime in too.

I am young and inexperienced and can't honestly say I "remember" much of anything, but I was raised to respect and to honor those who have made great sacrifices to protect our people.

I suppose you all know who you are better than I ever will, so even if words can't say it well enough, I thank you.
 
I guess I am one of the very few forumites who remembers WWII. If you lived through that one and did not learn to respect veterans then there is something seriously wrong with your very essence.

That respect, consideration, courtesy, admiration and gratitude stayed with me and will go to the grave with me.

Happy Veterans Day, Vets! God bless all of you -- including me who can use it about as much as anybody.

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
This seems like the appropriate time and place to mention my two favorite vets.

Sargeant Major Fred Landon, US Army..
ETO, WWII, Combat Infantry Badge, Purple Heart ,Bronze Star
Republic of VietNam, Purple Heart
A good soldier and a good father. R.I.P.

Yeoman First Class Edith W. Stoessel (Landon)
USN. WWII
A good Army wife and a good mother. Now deep in the grip of Alzheimer's disease.

I honor their memory and their service.

--Mike L.

 
Chet Sandlin WWI Doughboy, gassed and wounded
sent me "South" with tears and counsel to always carry two bayonets, opted for one and a Sykes-Fairbairn.

"By brooks too broad for leaping
The lightfoot boys are laid;
The rose-lipt girls are sleeping
In fields where roses fade."

God bless those who didn't return and peace to those who did but can't.


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Greg


 
Bill:

As a mere youth, two years younger than yourself, I make bold also to remember those who fought and those who did not in '...the Great War" 1939-1945. "Now are they fallen, as leaves to a common Autumn, now come to a common dust."

It was a time when ordinary men and women did extraordinary things for love of home, and family, and a view of life that the mills of time have worn away. We won't see their like again.

I llike others remember the frozen hell of Korea, the tragedy of Vietnam, the frustration of 'peacekeeping' on a hundred disputed ramparts. Some of us served well there, some died, but we all had the great example of the American GI of WWII to look to, as our example and inspiration. Today in my heart I honor Him.
 
Thank you Greg: while I was trying to decide what to say you did it perfectly.

God bless those who didn't return, and peace to those who did but can't.

And two who lived though their wars:
Donald Lewis Slate, Sgt. U.S.A. WWII
Wade Slate, Cpl. 2nd Tenn Cav. C.S.A., CW

[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 11 November 1999).]
 
Well and nobly said, all!

I am pleased to see another who remembers WWII. That was what we might call the worst of times and the best of times. I have never seen Americans so dedicated. It brought out the best in us -- both young and old.

Additionally, I am deeply gratified to see the posts made here. There are some of us who do not forget. I only wish everyone remembered.

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
:
I remember being just a very little boy,livin in a tar paper shack back when the road was a hiway and wavin at the soldiers as they went byin trucks.Of bein downtown and hearin a voice over a loud speaker as an army truck drove around callin out names,The hurried passionate kiss of love ones prting and still although young,knowing the might not come back.The gawd dayum-ed biker dude who was courtin my aunt while one of my favorite uncles was fighten some dirty war in the mud,and his dad with a chrome plated 32 was gonna shoot the bastard and my mom stoppin it.My uncle comin back and pickin things up like they had never been apart and lived until my aunt died sometime back.
I remember another uncle runnin out of the room cryin and no one goinafter him and I wastold No and I slipped out anyway and went and held my uncles hand while he cried.

I see it in my brothers and friends eyes who were in Nam and I can only say Thank You all for my freedom and life.
Aho.

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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

If you mix milk of magnesia with vodka and orange juice do you get a phillips screwdriver?

Khukuri FAQ


 
It was in Italy at the Piazza di Spagna in Rome that I met him. A cool evening in October, many locals and more than a few tourists gathered on the steps with bottles of wine. He plodded up the steps, occasionally lookin at someone and making stacatto noises at them, He'd had a few. A kid offered him some change and said something I couldnt hear, his response "yea, easy for you to say". I asked him "you speak
English?" he nodded. "English is good to know" I replied. He then walked up to me and shook my hand. We talked, he'd been an officer in charge and made a decision he was sorry for, never returned to the states. I think he said Cambodia. I told him it would be an honor if he would accept a few dollars,
he nodded and graciously accepted. We shook hands again and he ambled away. I think about
him occasionally and am reminded to think well of those who fight, train, and sometimes
pay dearly for it. Thanks guys.

[This message has been edited by Zensho (edited 11 November 1999).]
 
Folks, I want to assure you that there is hope for this great country. Today, myself and a few other vets spoke to an auditorium full of junior high school kids. The Veteran's Day program the youngsters put on was very moving. And at its conclusion, they presented each vet with a copy of a poem that they had collectively written. Here are just a few excerpts:

"I am the flame that represents one:
Your grandpaw, my dad, or someone's son.
They are the ones who fought for our rights,
Do not forget them in your prayers at night."

"Freedom is like a candle. We, the people, are the wick that sacrifices itself so that the burning Flame of Freedom shall live. We must not let the flame die, for if it does . . . only darkness."

"When I fall asleep at night, peaceful and secure, I thank God I live in America. So always remember our veterans and what they did for us, and let the flame of freedom burn forever."


 
One more poem for remembrance:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae (Canadian Army Doctor)


Harry
 
This is a thread I would like to see go on forever.

We had a couple of railroads running through Cherokee, Kansas and during the war troop trains would pass though. I'd always run down to the tracks and give comic books and whatever sort of goodies my grandmother could bag up to the soldiers. They always seemed so happy and as a kid I wondered how they could be happy when they were going off to get killed. I still wonder about that almost 60 years later.

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Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html


[This message has been edited by Bill Martino (edited 12 November 1999).]
 
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