God bless all our vets, especially my dad and brother.

What makes this an especially joyous veterans day is the knowledge taht Jean Francois Kerry will not be the Commander in Chief.

Amen

Thank you! The bravest and most noble in the world.

Thank you! I look at my babies everday, and know how precious you are.

Thank you!

We stand in awe of your courage. Thank you for everything you have sacrificed, may the Lord's hand be over you.

Yes, thank you to all of our veterans.

On a side note, would the local VFW be okay with me bringing by a card or some cookies or something today, do you think?

Thank you to all who have served and are serving now. We appreciate your service.

Ain't this Country great, that Veterans can pass the baton of freedom and experience to the next generation of Veterans, I love them all!!! God Bless America.

I don't have anyone in my family who served, but my family prays for those families who do have loved ones in harm's way, all the time. We pray for them because they put it all on the line for us.

I went to Hugh Hewitt's blog this morning and read the letter Josh's fiance wrote, and it brought me to tears. While I did not know this man, I was humbled by his service.

I joined soldiersangels.com because Frankie DeMayo is one of the many people who can help me people like me, help those in service.

I urge you to pray today for all vets, for Josh's family and to sign up at Frankie's website.

GOD BLESS THOSE WHO READ THIS WITH A HUMBLE HEART AND MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!

To all, its our equivalent (Remembrance Day) in Britain when we honour our fallen. To you your Veterans, many Thanks.

Never forget.

On THIS Veterans day I shall remember that "W," a prez that sets a military vision then gets the holy fuck out of their way so that they can win, was re-elected.

That's one helluva gift to our guys in the trenches, and to our vet-victims of LBJ *vomit*, the ex-Texan.

Thank you, Veterans! I have always been, and will always be proud of you all!

Pray that our freedoms will always be protected by men and women with the courage and honor of those we have had serve us in the past and present.

Our military veterans have done more for this world than was ever asked of them. Thank you.

Matt and Jerry

Dittos Charles!

I will forever be indebted to my PawPaw (WW2), my Uncle Mike (Vietnam), my Uncle Jim (Vietnam), my cousin Eddie (GW1) and my boyfriend, the Marine Lt.Col (ret) GW1

and to all of the men and women who sacrificed so much for the freedom that we enjoy today.

God Bless our Veterans and God Bless America!!

thanx Charles

And Happy Vets Day to all of my fellow brothers in arms out there..

I hate that sKerry ruined the term "band of brothers"
(what an *sshole!)

Here are some people who don't support the troops. People in Vermont insisted a memorial on a bridge dedicated to a falled hometown soldier did not mention the phrases "Iraqi Freedom" and "Freedom isn't free". It's disgusting.

Thank you for putting up this message and thank you veterans for your service to this country. God bless...

To all veterans (including both of my parents) across the nation, this grateful American thanks you for your sacrifices and hopes that one day, I will be able to join your ranks (looking to join the USAF after college).

And, I can't think of a more fitting way to show my appreciation on this day than to say that I voted for a Commander-in-Chief that respects our troops and would never abuse their trust in him to be on good terms with the UN.

I posted a picture on my website in honor of Veteran's Day... The picture is of my children at the "Moving Wall" display... a smaller scale travelling version of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. My father is a Vet of both Korea and Vietnam and I honor him today as well as all who have served.

[Link: mysite.verizon.net...]

As an Active Duty REMF, I would like to thank those who are actually over there in Fallujah and elsewhere.

Even us desk jockeys back home wish we could pick up a gun and lay some smackdown on those barbarians.

I'd like to thank my dad, who volunteered for two tours in Vietnam and saw things no one should ever see.

And I'd like to thank my wife's dad, who lied about his age to enter the Navy, flew F-4s over Vietnam, and lost his best friend when they were shot down.

These are the people who have made our lives possible. And all they ever asked was to not be spit upon.

Laura Ingraham is playing taps on her radio show right now. How fitting.

Thank you to all our brave veterans.

And a big salute to my grandfathers, my father and my brother,
all who served and have since passed on. You are all my heros.

Finally, we have some respectable people to pay homage to.

I won't wait for Jimmy Carter and Jacques Ch-Iraq
to offer any tributes. They're too busy groveling before
terrorists.

Thank you to all our veterans (and especially LGF vets). We enjoy the freedom we have because of you and those like you.

I'd also like to thank Dear Abby for pairing with the DOD. Please visit operationdearabby.net to send the troops a message!

Charles, thank you. My father and I would probably be two of the least-stereotypically-military people you could imagine, but both of us served in wartime combat. Dad was in the Pacific in WWII, as a fire controller for artillery. (I've recently posted an excerpt from his memoirs.) I saw action with the Marines in Desert Storm.

My deepest gratitude and respect go out to fellow veterans everywhere, and also to the brave men and women who have supported us as family members, friends, and citizens. Thank you.

Just remember, if you have today off, that day was given to you by those who would die for your way of life.

Uncle Jack

Thank you veterans.

Land of the free because of the brave.

#17 Zell got it right (as usual)

I am so greatful to live in the United States. I thank God for the men and women who have served and sacrificed for freedom.

Our future veterans are destroying things and killing people:

Large U.S. Force Storms Southern Fallujah

The military estimated 600 insurgents have been killed in the offensive

Thanks people!
Responding to #6 above: Most communities have organizations that are putting together CARE packages for the men and women overseas. Almost anything is welcome. Imagine what you might most enjoy if you were in the middle of a desert. Call around and find out where you can drop something off. The neighborhood fire house would be a good start.

I went around last week and dropped off a dozen frisbees.

~Orinoco
193rd Inf Bde (1972-1975)

God bless our veterans past and present especially my DH (dear husband) USAF (Ret).

Our local radio host read Flanders Field this morning -- very moving. Here is a link to the poem and its history at the Arlington Cemetery site.

[Link: www.arlingtoncemetery.net...]

33/Infidel,

That one's always good for another posting. Thanks.

I want to add my thanks today too. I saw the Spirit of America show in Albany NY Sept this year. Very inspiring. I will carry it with me always and offer my gratitude to all who serve and who have served.

Thank you.

If you watch any of the clips of our Brave Men in Iraq you will see Brave Men firing their weapons at the enemy, but look how close they are to each other, in any clip. That says it all, the bond that Vets have for each other in combat. It lasts forever.

#24 Occasional Reader:

Couldn't have said it any better than that.

Godspeed to those soldiers fighting around the world for our protection and spreading the light of freedom on the oppressed.

America’s veterans, thank you for my freedom!

To paraphrase a brilliant man:

"How retched is the man who has nothing in his life worth fighting for..."

Thanks to all our Vets!

Thanks to all veterans for our freedoms. My grandfather (WWII) my dad (vietnam) my other half (vietnam) and even my ex (grenada)

Thanks to all the vets out there. Thank you for the freedoms. Thanks and my God Bless.

OT
Meanwhile, a thread at Kos discusses inventive ways to do away with Karen Hughes (who could wipe the mat with them). They are so bitter. Get over it!

I am not a religious man, but this one day of the year I am always inspired to utter a heartfelt "God Bless you."

Thank you to all of the men and women who have fought and are still fighting for freedom.

I am not a religious man, but this one day of the year I am always inspired to utter a heartfelt "God Bless you."

Thank you to all of the men and women who have fought and are still fighting for freedom.

I am not a religious man, but this one day of the year I am always inspired to utter a heartfelt "God Bless you."

Thank you to all of the men and women who have fought and are still fighting for freedom.

Words can't begin to express the gratitude I have for all the Veterans and their families. A special thanks to the Vets who have personally touched my life.

You may have passed from this life but you are not forgotten. Duty. Honor. Country.

Any and all uniformed services, today is your day, to reflect on the many times that Freedom was fought for, and for our quality of Life today.

Bless them all.

Geepers

Our future veterans are destroying things and killing people

Shouldn't that say:
Our future veterans are destroying terrorists strongholds and killing filthy terrorist thugs?

Hmmmm?

Charles - here's some words from James Bradley whose father is memorialized on the Iwo Jima statue and who wrote the best seller "Flags of Our Fathers"

I always find his words moving and today particularly poingaint.

Words from James Bradley to contemplate on Veteran's Day

37/S&DMan,

wow ...

First, perfect example of liberal self-victimization: Let's write ("but not send" - how coy!) threats against the President of the United States ... then, let's "experience the wave of fear and paranoia" when this idiotic stunt actually gets us the attention we are secretly craving.

Now, let's assume this guy is a suicide. (I know it hasn't been established yet, but let's consider it a reasonable speculation at this point.) What are the rest of us supposed to do? Feel guilty that we voted for Bush? Feel sorry that this moron's life was so empty and meaningless that he had to end it all because his man didn't win the presidential election?

This is the essence of leftist self-destructiveness.

Thank you vets! The world is a much better place because of your service and sacrifice.

Where do we get such men and women? Thank you to all the good men and women who have stood night and day defending our country when it needed them and thank you to all the good men and women who continue to do so.

I am watching the CSPAN stuff and I am hearing some subtle digs at Kerry heh heh "men and women who wore and HONORED the uniform"

50/chris,

thanks for a very sobering post

OT: Protest the Assualt (sic) on Fallujah TODAY, in Pittsburgh, 530PM at Forbes & Murray (Squirrel Hill).
I saw the fliers today, and don't know who to tell. It's sponsored by CodePink4peace.org & organizepittsburgh.org

Hope you're all well. My computer may die again any second (oh- I think they can't spell "assault")....

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded sense of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice; a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice, --is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares about more than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other."
--John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), "The Contest In America," Fraser's Magazine, February 1862 [reprinted in Mill's Dissertations and Discussions, vol.1 p.26 (1868)]

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS OUR ARMED FORCES.

THANK YOU ALL!!!

#58 Dar ul Harb

Excellent. I love that quote

#50 Chris

Awesome read.
I knew some of that but not all.
What a great day to read that!

Cheers and Godspeed.

Thank you all that have served, are serving, and especially those that sacrificed all for us. Thanks.

And here is one of my favorite pics - just shows the pride of these individuals - here.

Our veterans deserve all the gratitude, respect, and love we can give them! They endured and sacrificed so much for all of us, and our troops in Iraq and Afganistan are now doing the same. God bless them and keep them!

Kinda OT

Here is someone who isn't a defender of the liberty and security our soldiers fight for:

Lawyer for a Muslim Cleric Helps Him Relay Terrorist Messages

I just wanted to send my warmest regards and best wished to all my fellow vets out there - I'll raise one to you all tonight!

Darren
US Army '86-'94

Thank a Vet

Thanks to all who have served

You are greatness

You are those who sacrifice so that others can live

You risk your life for those you do not know

That is the greatest honor

You have my greatest admiration and respect

You are morality

You are America

Thank you

everyone go to your local VA and simply thank a vet

Saying thank you means something

God Bless Our Troops.

My Dad was in the army, and my step Dad was a MARINE! :)

I have the greatest respect for those that serve us all, so that we can be free.

America is the land of the free, BECAUSE of the brave.

President Bush is speaking now at Arlington Cemetery.

I completely agree, Charles. Thank you.

#33 American Infidel
We saved a copy of that front page. It was also linked from Rush Limbaugh's site. The photo was fitting for the Marine Corps tribute and still is for Veterans' Day.

#17 American Infidel

So true.

#62 right wing....

Regarding the pic....

Wow! Just wow. That brought tears to my eyes!

Hear hear.

I express the same gratitude to all British Veterans on our Remembrance Day.

THANKS VETS

Because of you we can sit here at our jobs and make our witty comments on LGF on our employer's dime without having to worry about getting our heads chopped off, waiting 10 hours in line for bread, or being thrown in prisoncamps for speaking our minds.

WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT YOU. YOU ARE HEROES, AND WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN

God Bless all veterans and those currently serving.

Thank you for serving our country.

On this Veterans' Day - read about Josh at hughhewitt's site. It was inspiring and these eyes are still tearing up. God Bless the Joshes of this world. May their legacy live on in all of us.

I just got back from a Veteran's Day celebration at the university where I work. It was a moving ceremony and I couldn't help but think of my father. He's 83 a veteran of World War II where he served in the Navy in the South Pacific island hopping campaign. The speaker at the event mentioned that he had heard about a college student who threated to move to Canada if the draft was reinstated since military service was "not in his plans" The speaker - a retired Colonel and Vietnam veteran mentioned that the people who died in the World Trade Center have no more plans.
I know that serving in a war was not my father's plan but he enlisted and did his duty. And I salute him and all other men and women who did and are doing theirs.

Am I the only Naturalized Citizen who wishes we HAD a Selective Service still?

My dad was ready to go back in at 35! and later!

To make something out of lazy n'er do wells?
To give this country the help in some services that it needs?
Give some much needed pride in our Country and all the help we give?

Oh, sorry that would cut into every failed Democratic Assistance Plan ever conjured up by irresponsible Lefties, another words, a waste.

#16 paxnhymn

No worries, Kerry will be long forgotten while they are still reciting this:

"This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

Henry V (Act 4, Scene III)

God Bless Our Vets!

To all veterans: Thank you for the gift that keeps on giving: FREEDOM!. God bless you all!

Indeed. I have nothing but humble respect for those who defend freedom. God Bless all veterans.

To one of my two most beloved veterans this Veteran's Day....

K.G. Lindell, Col. USAF Retired.
USMA Class of Jan. 43.
C.O. 32nd F.S., 3rd F.G., 14th AAF
6/10/1919 -- 1/1/1981

Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, Air Medal (Bronze Oak Leaf cluster), Air Force Commendation Medal, Distinguished Unit Badge (Presidential Unit Citation), American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3 bronze campaign stars), WW2 Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal (with bronze star), Air Force Longevity Service Award (Silver Oak Leaf cluster), Breast Order of Yun Hui (Resplendent Banner among Clouds) with Rosette (Republic of China, Taiwan), Special Breast Order of Yun Hui (Resplendent Banner among Clouds) with Rosette (Republic of China, Taiwan). 4 Overseas service bars. Senior Command Pilot (USAF). Pilot: Nationalist Chinese Air Force. Expert rifleman. Honors graduate USMA.

Rest in Peace, Daddy. Someday, we'll raise a glass together.

Thank you to every single vet for keeping my freedom safe! I want to especially thank the vets who watched my Marines back when he was in Iraq. Love you guys :)

To all the heroes here at LGF who have served:

Please accept my gratitude to you for defending this country.

From me, who was so blind to your sacrifice for so many years.

From my wife who found a haven here from a corrupt and violent place.

From my daughter, who has a country she can be proud of because you served.

Thank you and God bless you!

#81 FlyingTigress.....

Wow.

#6 Vancomycin (I haven't read the entire thread.)
Bless your heart!
Is there a VA hospital in your area.
Lotta lonely guys in those buildings.

20 years of sailing the world's oceans...thanks to you, the American tax payers.

I put my thank you letter to all of you (08/1972 to now) up on my blog...

You guys let me not quite grow up in some ways, but matured well beyond my peers in so many others.

Without your support to keep a paycheck going into my account, I wouldn't have come to know all the things I learned in the course of my duties, that has continued to enhance my life.

You guys ROCK! Thanks for your support (and, if I may, a shameless plug for my humble beginnings as a LGF inspired blogger can be seen

#58

WOW! That is one POWERFUL quote!

On a side note, it is my mom's birthday today; She has always been proud that she was born on Veteran's Day. In fact, my mom was given her name, Pamela, by her grandfather. My mom's mom gave him that honor because he was a veteran of WWI.

Charles,
Your Welcome.

Thank you, to all the brave men and women who have served to preserve our freedom.

#57 Baldy

OT: Protest the Assualt (sic) on Fallujah TODAY, in Pittsburgh, 530PM at Forbes & Murray (Squirrel Hill).

Say it aint so!! I have to drive up that way to get home from work. Damn them moonbats, traffic will be so packed....if anyone shows up for it that is.

Maybe the college republicans will plan a counter demonstration. I saw quite a few of them out in Oakland, and CMU during the days before the election.

#85

My mom and dad always take cookies and other goodies to the VA Hospital my dad goes to here in West Virginia

I don't have the words to express my gratitude and feelings of appreciation. Thank you for your bravery, your dedication and your love for the United States.

Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to thank my Dad for his service in the Army during the Vietnam War. I sure am proud of him.

Happy Veterans Day.

FIGHTING is BETTER THAN DYING

WE FIGHT SO WE AT LEAST CAN DIE TRYING RATHER THAN BEING HAPLESS VICTIMS

TO THOSE WHO FIGHT (FOR US ALL) WE SALUTE YOU!

Victoria, he knows, you just said it.

;)

...sounds like a great man........

:)

you're welcome. and I'd like to give a hearty THANKS to all vets as well, especially my Dad and 2 older brothers...AIRBORNE!!!

I'll be leaving for Qatar in 30 days - GUN FOR HIRE!!

I need the money!

Thank you vets everywhere for putting your lives on the line for our great nation. You're the best among us.

Thank you John O'Neill & Swiftees & POWs for sacrificing over there & then battling the MSM to remind us freedom isn't free & you all paid a heavy price for us to know the truth.

The truth shall set you free, and proclaimed it.

God Bless all who serve and those who have served. We will never forget your sacrifices.

I always have a little more of a spring in my step, and chest puffed out on this day each year, although I'm proud the other 364 days to have served my Country in an "Honorable" way. Special love to the fellow Vets on LGF, that have become friends, and a special admiration to my Dad (35 year Vet), that instilled the love of my Country in me, that motivated me to volunteer to serve and fight for my Country.

Thanks to all veterans, serving then and now...I appreciate all you've done!

[Link: boortz.com...]

My mother was made a widow on November 3rd 1950 when elements of the 7th ID reached P'ungsan.

She was pregnant with her first child.

In addition to thanking our veterans today, I'd like to thank the families of those who serve and who make such sacrifices on our behalf.

#83 papijoe: I'm sure you've mentioned this before, but I've forgotten; where is your wife from?

# 58 Dar ul Harb

Excellent! Thanks for the full quote. I heard it a long time ago from a veteran speaking on Fox. It does more to explain the war in Iraq than anything else I have read.

Americans have the greatest FREEDOM and LIBERTY on earth, EVER.

Thanks to our military, who bought and preserve our freedom with their service, their blood, their lives.

We can NEVER repay them or thank them enough.

Thank you, all honorable veterans of ALL our wars, from the Revolution to the present. We owe you everything.

It is an honor to support you however we can.

According to the Beeb, we are in big trouble in Falluja now, though.

Seems the entire US Army and Marine Corps are surrounded by 4 or 5 snipers and are being driven back, according to "their correspondents".

I love the discussion about whether using mini-guns on buildings is "appropriate", btw. This reminds me of our former Surgeon-Generalette's quest for "safer guns, and safer bullets". You just can't get more caring than that.

Thanks to all the "real" vets out there.

My service was a friggin' party compared to getting shot at. My C-in-C was dating Arafat and micro-managing rescue ops, instead of sending perfectly good armored divisions into Tehran when we had the chance. Thank god we have a prez with some balls now.

US Army (3AD) '77-'80

As an 11 year US Navy vet that participated in GW1, I thank the people like all of you that have shown us Vets support in so many ways over the years. It's knowing that there were people like you at home that made it a little bit easier to be away from my home for months at a time, doing my duty to protect this great nation.

To all of the current and former members of our armed forces, wherever you are, God Bless you for standing up for us.

Thank You Veterans

Veterans for [ap]Peace[ment] and their new recruits Iraq Veterans Against the War-- offered comfort to our enemies from UMd's Ivory Tower before rallying to denigrate the sacrifice of our honored wounded at Walter Reed Medical Center this morning (as they did last year), presumably because they still believe "our" wounded are being held captive at Walter Reed.

To all who have proudly worn the uniform of the United States, my deepest respect and thanks. Bless you all.

There are not words enough to express my thanks to all the US veterans who have secured and maintained our freedom and the freedom of many around the world (whether they recognize it or are grateful for it) through their blood, sweat, tears and very lives. The sacrifices our military and their families make on a daily basis is nothing short of amazing.

An American Soldier

Marine Sniper T Shirt

Perhaps a present for that LLL friend? :)

As the great granddaughter, granddaughter, daughter, niece, cousin and mother-in-law of veterans who have served in every war and conflict since the civil war (my family was not here before that) I consider it a day of rememberance to those who did, who are and who will.

#6 --there is no reason why you can't drop something off at the local VFW. In fact, many of the VFW and American Legion posts will often have a memorial service at 11 AM.

Besides, many of them have bars open to the public! There's a suggestion, anyone who wants to celebrate Arafat's death tonight, do so at your local VFW -American Legion bar!

Thank a soldier that little Iraqi children said "I love you America" and one said he wanted to be an American in the movie "Voices of Iraq."

See this--our troops are fighting the good fight and we will change the world with their sacrifice.

#99 'Nam Grunt

Hope you have the:

Best. Veteran's Day. Evah!

#101 Peter Gunn

I was doing a good job keeping the waterworks under control on a very emotional day. Until I read your post.

I'm sure that soldier standing guard in Heaven is mighty proud.

#102 Occasional Reader

She's from Colombia. Compared to her, I'm a liberal.

I give my thanks and rememberances here. No words can every express my gratitude to the men and women of yesterday, today and tomorrow who serve.

My great uncle, Ray, served with the Marines
My dad, Dave, served with the Army 11th Airborne
My uncle, Dallas, served in the Airforce
My uncle, Bob, served in the Navy

Thank you.

Here's a couple of incredibly clear thinking articles by Joe Fulwiler.

10. Repeat after me, "I will never again nominate a Massachusetts liberal."

You better learn this lesson because you just got spanked by the Republicans' B-team. If you think Bush laid the hurt on you, just wait until Giuliani gets through with you. Unlike Bush, he can speak English. And he'll carry New York. You do the math.

It’s Not About Jesus It’s Explaining America to confused Europeans

So, now, European friends, does it make sense? If not, we really are sorry. We want to be on the same page with you. Honestly. But we aren't going to sit here and wait for the next attack. That attack could take out the financial center of the world and thrust us all into prolonged and severe hardship and degrade our ability to finance our military and fight. We must fight now. We are going to go take out our enemies in order to protect ourselves. In the process, we'll be affording you some protection also because you are on their target list too. You could at least thank us. Or get out of the way.

To all vets, past, present, and future: thank you for freedom, thank you for your sacrifice, thank you for your valor, bravery, and utmost courage. Thank you for the shining light that you represent so that Americans like me can be free!

To our current service personnel, and those who've worn the uniform honorably...

"Well Done" and God bless.

You "make us proud" each and every day.

Kris L.

Thank you all, past and present - and may God bless you, watch over you and keep you.

Charles and fellow LGFers.
I'm going to presume to speak on behalf of my fellow vets.

We accept with humility your words of gratitude.
But we also thank all of you for having made our service worthwhile.
The endless war between good & evil occasionally requires that some of us pick up arms for a time.
But those who remain behind also have a duty.
That duty was shirked during the Viet Nam era.
It hurt.
That all of you have re-discovered the long abandoned values that once graced this country more than makes up for the angry years.
I thank you. I salute you.
May God continue to bless you and this wonderful nation.

Here's a group hug for my band of brothers.
I love you all.

81/tigress,

Beautiful. Got tears in my eyes reading that. Thanks to you and your father.

Of all the labels assigned to me...the one that trumps them
all: Veteran

(Although 'Grandpa' comes close.)

May God hold all our veterans, living and dead, in his loving arms.

And may God bless all our men and women serving the United States of America around the globe.

They truly are the best of the best.

Al di Grandpa

God Bless Every One Of You.

#144 papijoe:

She's from Colombia. Compared to her, I'm a liberal.

I just got back from her beautiful (if troubled) country last night! Indeed, I've noticed Colombians to be notably more anti-idiotarian than most other Latin Americans. They have a pretty clear idea what terrorism really means. When some Colombians do start sniping at Bush, I can usually get them to at least stop and think by saying, "look, Bush is our Uribe. Get it?".

{{{{{{{{{Zaideh}}}}}}}}}

#120 Zaideh

Right back 'atcha, Zaideh.

A Marine Doc. A future Vet.
Brouse his blogroll.
[Link: docinthebox.blogspot.com...]

#124 Occasional Reader

&iexclNo hoda! &iquestVerdad?

Bogota?

(((((((((((((Zaideh))))))))))

Thanks Zaideh, love ya' Brother.

God bless all our troops in the field and those who went before them. God bless the families of the fallen.

Thank you Vets for your sacrifice and willingness to do your duty and more. There is no way we can repay you.

Originally posted on the thread for wacko carter, but here it is for anyone who should want to read my essay from the proper thread.

To my:
Uncle Joe-WW II medic in the Navy, was a medic on Tarawa, etc.
Uncle Arnold-WWII-Navy Pacific Theater
Uncle LaVere-WWII- Navy Pacific Theater
Uncle Alf- Merchant Marines WWII Pacific
Brother Barry- 20 year Navy veteran-Chief Warrant Officer-served in the Pacific
Husband Hank- served in Army 6 years- guided missiles and Viet Nam
Uncle LaMar-WWII Air Force
And many others who served in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War from my husband's family

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR SACRIFICES.

A real hero, and my friend.

A couple of months before I went to Great Lakes, I spent about a week visiting John at his parents vacation home in West Palm Beach.

I found out he was dead by seeing his picture in 'Newsweek'.

{{{{{{{{{Zaideh, and vets}}}}}}}}}

I love you dad and thanks for serving in Vietnam. I never understood, but I do now.

John Kerrys defeat was your homecoming.

Aimee

These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when Earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling
And took their wages and are dead.

Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,
And saved the sum of things for pay.

To my fellow vets: Thank you.

To my fellow Marines: Thank you & Happy Birthday

And, although this is Veteran's Day, I 'd also like to thank those who didn't serve but supported those who did. There are many times when we would not have survived without your support and prayers.

Semper Fi.

#128 papijoe:

Bogota?

Yep. I was supposed to go to Cali, too, but didn't have time. All work, no play, unfortunately.

And speaking of veterans, there were several fit, grim-looking American dudes with Southern accents and short haircuts on my flight home. Gee, I wonder what they were doing there... Green Beanies plus lots of Galil rifles, helping to squelch terrorism in Colombia.

Browsing Yahoo's images, I see that today is also Poland's Independence Day holiday.

Happy Birthday Poland!

#50 Thank you so much for that link. That's such a tender story. I'm choked up.

#120 Zaideh

Thank you! *sniff* You guys deserve all the support we can give you.

#120 Zaideh

Moving words, much appreciated.

To our vets and serving military: you are my heroes. I don't idealize athletes or actors (especially actors). But I know from my father and grandfather what you go through. I don't know what to say but heartfelt thanks. And that you are the most effective military, both in destruction and avoiding unnecessary destruction, that has ever existed.

All our freedoms exist because of those who faught and died for them.

#134 Ed Moran: Are you still in touch with his folks? Please thank them for us.

I live every day with the realization that I likely owe my own life to someone in uniform who has taken a bullet to protect me, and that I shall not know in this life who that person is. I hope that in the next life, I will meet that person and be able to repay the favor somehow.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to all veterans who have sacrificed so much to help keep this nation safe and strong. Most especially to those who have given their lives in service to this country both in war and in peace.

No words suffice, but we all owe you. Without you, none of this would exist. The Shining City on the Hill would have been pulled down long ago.

Our vets and our soldiers now fighting understood one thing and it was well said in 'Braveheart':
"When you get to the end of your life, would you exchange one moment from this day to that for one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that you may take our lives but you can never take our freedom."

I thankyou you all for your service, your love of country, and being the men and women you are.

Well done.
You humble all of us.

#132 Roark

Just to add on to your post - it is great to see honor, duty, and commitment is still alive -

During Hurricane Isabel, sentries guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns remained at their posts.

The Regimental Commander of the U.S. Third Infantry sent word to the nighttime Sentry Detail to secure the post and seek shelter from the high winds, to ensure their personal safety. THEY DISOBEYED THE ORDER. During winds that turned over vehicles and turned debris into projectiles . . . the measured step continued. One fellow said "I've got buddies getting shot at in Iraq who would kick my butt if word got to them that we let them down . . . I'm sure as hell have no intention of spending my Army career being known as the idiot who couldn't stand a little light breeze and shirked his duty

What a day of contrasts:

In Europe they are honoring the passing of the human obscenity, Yasser Arafat.

In America we are honoring the lives and memory of the most noble human beings ever to walk the earth.

Was the depravity of the "world community" ever more evident than today?

#111 cattt

Nice link!
Just went and got that t-shirt and a bunch of other items too, gifts for friends who served, and myself!

I like the Iwo Jima pins I bought the best!

Semper Fi!

Thank you to my Grandfather - Robert Sidney Pipkin, that servied during WWII as a Navy Seabee in the Pacific.

Thank you to my uncles Art Pipkin (USN), Gary Pipkin (USAF). My counsins Dennis Newman Pipkin (US Army) and Frank Newman Pipkin (US Army), that served in Vietnam and that I never had a chance to meet.

Thank you to my cousins Earl Pipkin and Art Pipkin Jr, who both served in the USN.

- SN Maldonado- (USN) 94-96

#147

THAT is what Honor and Duty are all about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sniff...........

snap salute

Al Di Grandpa
"(Although 'Grandpa' comes close.)"

LOL...ain't that the truth!
Mine call us "Puppah" And "Meema".
Hence my nic.
Puppah + a Yiddishe nephesh = Zaideh

#105 Mark IV:

US Army (3AD) '77-'80

Ouch. The Carter years. I feel for you. I'm sometimes asked by liberal chickenhawks why I didn't serve. There's the answer: class of '78. If I had enlisted, my body could be very well a pile of dust at Desert One by now. Glad you survived it.

God Bless our troups! May they always be strong.

#120 Zaideh: A beautiful response!

That all of you have re-discovered the long abandoned values that once graced this country more than makes up for the angry years.

I'm probably somewhat typical here: I was raised in the post-Vietnam years, and subjected to relentless media indoctrination that the war had been completely unjust, the use of US power was unfair, US servicemen were often psychotic killers, etc. At the same time, this all just seemed wrong to me, based on what I learned of history and also the values imparted to me by my parents (including my US Army veteran dad). So, for instance, during the Reagan years, I was pulled between the standard "look what the crazy cowboy is doing now" zeitgeist, and a gut feeling that our guys were probably doing the right thing.

That ambivalence is long gone. I regard our armed forces today with untarnished pride, and, yes, a little bit of envy.

The Flags of every branch of service, including Seabees, Seals, the 101, the 82nd, the Coast Guard etc. all hang in my warehouse and have been for a while.

POW's and MIA flags, of course, too.
Never forget.

I celebrate our Veterans and my Freedom every day I walk in to warehouse and offices.

I love the sight.

Also Historical flags, like the one that flew over Fort Sumpter, and of course..............'Don't Tread On Me".

:)

I wish I could thank them now for their service and the example they set:

My dad... antiaircraft gunner, Normandy D+3 to the 'skirts of the Bulge and Eschwegge with the 1st Army.

Uncle Bill... infantry platoon leader, Korea.

Uncle Dave... 3 tours Nam, 2 as fighter pilot and last as forward air control in a Cessna.

They would all have enjoyed Nov. 2. Bottoms up, wherever you are. Dave, you'd best step outside to light that cigar.

Thanks to all Veterans - and a special hoorah to Alpha & Bravo companies, 1/509th Airborne, serving in Iraq attached to the 10th Mountain Div. Geronimo!!

A big thank you to all our veterans. I get very proud and choked up just thinking about what you have done for us.

147 -

awesome addition, and just like them to think and act in that manner!

In South Africa, as with Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, it is known as Remembrance Day, and it's important to us too (we invented the two-minute silence), though it's more similar to Memorial Day.

So, let me take the opportunity to salute all those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of a free and just world. They fought, and died, for a people who all too often forget the sacrifice they made.
What makes this day so special is that it's a day for us to say thank you. It is a day for us to tell those who fell that we shall never forget them, nor shall we forget their actions.

Today is also a day in which we are given the opportunity to thank those veterans who lived through the horror of war, and returned to their countries expecting neither gratitude nor praise, but merely a solemn respect and understanding. Respect for those who saw what none of us would ever wish to see, yet pushed on because they believed in things more powerful than fear, such as love and freedom; and understanding of the horrors they faced, the risks they took, and the decisions they made. In short, it's a desire to not be stabbed in the back by the society they risked it all to save.

What we owe to these men and women, both alive and dead, is so great that we shall never be able to repay them. Yet, the least we can do, as individuals and as a society, is treat them with the respect and understanding they deserve, regardless of our personal feelings on the war in which they fought.

Most of all, we must promise to never forget.

Please take a visit through the Arlington sight) to reflect. Thanks to everyone who served, especially my father-in law (air traffic control, Korea), my two uncles (infantry, WWII Germany), and my brother, Colonel P.J.R. (USAF= F-4, Vietman, and C-130, Gulf War).

'Nam Vets were vindicated when "hanoi john" was defeated, (there is a God), to the 2.5 million 'nam Vets I salute you my brothers, we carried a heavy burden for years, now it has been lifted. Thank you America for backing us, you don't even know how much we love you! To the Brave Men fighting in Iraq we are behind you 110%, give 'em hell. To the 18 Brave men that have given the ultimate sacrifice for their Country in Fallujah, to date, I love you with all my heart and soul!

THANK YOU

Thank you Vets! You are the finest of the finest, the best of the best. Thank you from a very grateful nation.
God Bless.

#105

Thanks, but the only thing I really "survived" was the extreme liver damage that only a peacetime cold warrior stationed in Germany can know. That, and driving the autobahn in winter in an open topped M151A2. Hint: stay well to the right.

The Carter years were the low point of the military and it showed. I actually went to see him address the Germans in downtown Frankfurt... can't say the experience left me very fired up.

God bless Ronald Reagan. If my service had been up a year later, I woulda probably re-upped.

Salute to all fellow Vets, past, present and future!

#155 Occasional Reader

You and I are probably about the same age. I know where you are coming from. When I used to think the next war would be a massive nuclear exchange I didn't consider a career in the military. Boy, was I stooopid!

I especially agree with this,

I regard our armed forces today with untarnished pride, and, yes, a little bit of envy.

If anyone is familiar with the Royal C. Johnson (congressman, Attorney General of South Dakota, DSC winner, four battlefield promotions in WWI) Veterans Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls South Dakota, that's my grandfather. He was one of the leaders in organizing military pensions and benefits into what we now call the Veterans Administrations.

Thanks Uncle Fred US Army WWII

You may be a cranky old bastard - but you are an admired cranky old bastard!

Mackubin Thomas Owen has a fine tribute to our veterans at NRO: "Where Do We Find Such Men?"

So pray for our servicemen in Fallujah today and for the souls of those who have given the last full measure. May they rest in peace. Happy birthday, Marines. Semper fi. And to all veterans, God bless you and thank you for your service. And may you live long, sweet lives.

[Link: www.nationalreview.com...]

Some things in the military change, like technology. One of my great-great-great grandfathers on my mother's side of the family served in the Union Army at Gettysburg-- as a blacksmith in a cavalry unit. I can't imagine what he would think of the equipment that our soldiers are using in Fallujah. Even my dad (82nd Airborne, WWII) would not recognize some of the latest weaponry. But one thing will never change, God willing-- the fighting spirit of the men and women in the American military.

To all the veterans on this thread-- God bless you all, and God bless America.

#162
Nice post and link!
Thanks!

Wow--

I just went to Hugh Hewitt's site and read about an incredible hero named Josh Palmer. It was mentioned in two prior posts, but his story is so inspiring that I thought I'd "bump" his mentioning so others can read, weep, and be inspired.

He was a truly great man. May he inspire the creation of other great men.

God blessed him. And us through him.

^dy/_dx

Nice Zaideh, thank you for putting it into words much better than I think I could.

To all Veterans past, present and future.

Thank you.

Thank you to my buddies still in the fight, and those who gave all...

I'll never forget.

Happy Vets day to all our vets but also to their families who also serve (waves at militarybrat!)

And especially to Dad, B26 pilot, awarded DFC in 1944.
Rest in Peace, Daddy, you are sorely missed.

#62 Right Wing Conspirator - perfect photo for today.
120 Zaideh great post - I'm going to lunch with what's left of my particular band of brothers and - shocking, I know - but we're not waiting for the sun to sink over the yardarm - our drinking will start shortly
To all others, a small refrain from a Crosby Stills & Nash Song titled "Daylight Again" (written by Stills in 1968, the bones in blue are from the "Civil War") but they still ring with truth:

" I think I see a valley.......
covered with bones in blue...
All the brave soldiers who cannot grow older
they been....asking after you.

Do we find the cost of Freedom, buried in the ground?
Mother Earth will swallow you, lay your body down."

To all who wrote such wonderful tributes, thank you.

And to Charles, especially, thank you.

I want to thank all of the brave military men throughout the history of the USA, but in particular, my father - US Navy, Korean War, 1951-1953. He was rarely in harm's way, yet provided the necessary behind the scenes support that often goes unrecognized.

I also want to give a shout-out to my cousin Dave, Navy Seal, GW1 and Bosnia (Navy in Bosnia - who knew?). Often in harm's way, rarely speaks of it.

Last, a salute to my cousin Ted, USAF pilot, GW1 and post GW1 no-fly zone enforcement. Often shot at, never hit.

OT -- Did Arafat die of the Bush re-election?

Threats of mass suicides. Actors collapsing on the set. Suicide at the WTC.

Was it the Bush re-election that stripped Arafat of the will to go on? Was it the re-election that killed him?

I don't remember if he was hopitalized before Election Day. Anyone remember?

Thank you Charles for remembering today is more than the day to buy furniture, and Thanks to all my brothers and sisters who served and are serving!

God bless those who have served. We're free because of them.

Looks like some Americans have forgotten this though:

Westwood Anti-Occupation Demonstration Pictures

Despite the one-day notice, about 400-500 people turned out to protest the day after the start of the second U.S. attack on the people of Fallujah. Mysteriously, two tanks arrived and were immediately surrounded by chanting demonstrators.

Mysterious my ass. They were protesting at a VA center and a parade was planned the next day for the Marine Corps Birthday and Veteran's Day. LLL would rather think its a conspiracy though.

My deepest, heartfelt thanks to all veterans.

For all the freedoms and opportunities my family and I enjoy, thank you, veterans.

My small town here in Western PA is a university town, and we have an annual Veterans' Day parade. A cannon fires at 11 AM, "Taps" is played, and the univesirty's and local school districts' bands play. Scout troops march carrying flags, and veterans and Gold Star mothers pass in cars. This years there was a special helicoptor fly over by the Army Reserve.

The stillness of the crowd--even the yooung children--in honor of those who served is so moving. My heart is filled with gratitude and humility.

Here's a real conundrum for you:

My father not only served 4 years in WWII, in combat most of the time, he also served 2 years in the Korean War. And yet, after all that, he is now a full-fledged Moonbat Extreme. So on one hand I've got to honor him, and on the other he drives me insane with his anti-Bush ranting. It's a terrible dilemma, let me tell you.

Though by his own admission, he was one of those scoundrels in WWII always up to no good. When he wasn't dodging bullets or storming Italian strongholds, he was commandeering empty troop transports to bring in truckloads of prostitutes, or setting up illicit casinos in the back of the barracks.

The reality of veterans is sometimes a bit more complicated than the history books would have us believe.

God bless and keep our troops the world over, and thank you to all LGFers who have served or are serving in the Armed Forces!

Completely OT - Check out the Online Etymological Dictionary! A person could just sit for hours and look up the history of words!

Here is a soldier!
[Link: community.webshots.com...]
[Link: community.webshots.com...]

69 decorations, WW1 and II.
My best friend's Grandfather, the most decorated Army serviceman, a shaprshooter, in 'Ripley's' as well........

Eddie, my mate, served in Vietnam, upholding his family tradition, as Eddie's dad was Lifetime Serviceman too, a Sarge.

The hardest kill he told us was...........
when a soldier went berserk in a tower at a POW camp, was shooting everyone, they called him in because the soldier was protected up high, he had to take out an American soldier, that, albeit, went crazy from too many battles and saw too much.
He never got over that 'kill' he said.

Good man, buried in San Antonio, a man who served well in many wars!

# Thanks to all our vets, to me especially 2 that are gone, father 8th Air Force, WW2, brother Co. `A`4th Battalion 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division VN 68-69.Also a grateful remembrance to our comrades-in-arms through many wars from the UK, Ausralia and Canada.

#163

A-men, 'Grunt.

I'd have loved to have been able to see the look on my face when one of my moonbat-ish co-workers asked if the display (of my father's decorations -- NOT including either the salvaged D-ring from his 'chute pack on 18 Apr 45, but including the F.S. patch from the unit who 'flew' Daddy's 'Flying Tiger' patch and c. 1960 flight suit name patch on a Noble Eagle mission over Crawford, TX) in my cubicle was John sKerry's.

I felt like responding "No. That's from someone from the heart of red-state America (Opal, WY) who displayed REAL heroism, and took a chest full and leg full of AAA and aircraft parts shrapnel one morning -- and kept on fighting."

'Grunt....VN vets....70s vets...I was too young back then to thank you, and tell you that some of us knew then that you served with honor.

Thank you and God bless all of our vets and that includes those of our allies in the UK and Australia! Job well done!

Boortz has a nice little collection of places to contribute to our troops if you are so inclinded. Go here.

God bless and rest you, dad, B. A. Shipley USAF Lt. Col. 1919-1993. It has been over 10 years since you went to the "Big Airbase In The Sky" and I still miss you. He shares the same section in Arlington as those killed in the Pentagon attack.

Reading my salvaged, WWII-era copy of Ernie Pyle's "Brave Men"; his account of the invasion of Italy. Found it in a box of old books that were water-damaged in a flood. Very appropriate today and is well worth the read. (Try Amazon for copies since even the reprint is long out of print).

I re-found a link I discovered yesterday. Here is a better image of that wonderful photo of a Marine in article from the Portsmouth Herald [NH] 11-10-04
[Link: www.seacoastonline.com...]

Hugs to Zaideh and all the others who have served our country so well.

DO NOT miss Blackfive's Multi-part Veteran's Day Series

Particularly his Repost of Mike Royko's 1997 Chicago Trib. Column

Part 5 Those Left Behind - link to military wife Venemous Kate's farewell to a freind

Part 11 - I'm Just doing my Job here - e-mail Nov. 9 from Iraq

To the Vets of all the noble countries with the courage to face the evil scourge of our time with steadfastness and resolve

"He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother"

[Link: www.rare-lyrics.com...]

America
Britain
Australia
Russia
Poland
Israel
...

God bless all of America's veterans and the veterans to be.

We owe no apologies to Europe. Ever.

Each cross represents an American who died for them and never returned to American soil.

Never Forget.

[Link: cobalt.junct.com...]

Thanks to all who served and are still serving.

We owe you everything

#105 Mark IV

Was a great day when Reagan took office, I think most of my unit hated Carter beyond belief at that time, I still do.

A co. 1/509th Airborne Jan. 1979 - Nov. 80
Recon plt. 1/509th Airborne Nov. 80 - Aug. 82

DID ANYONE JUST SEE FOX?!

R. Lee Ermey was on in his dress uniform, addressing the troops worldwide...and then he says something like...

"Let me tell you something about Arafat's death: it's the first thing the French have done RIGHT!"

Almost fell outta my chair laughing in agreement.

Hats off to you fellow vets out there from an old Desert Storm flyboy.

# 187 The Keeper

Good God! Even if Kevlar vests had been around, he wouldn't have needed it. Now that is what should be called a full metal jacket! Just incredible.

You're welcome. ;)

Vets,
Thank you for the freedoms I use everyday.

Here is a link to the President's official proclamation of Veterans Day 2004: [Link: www.whitehouse.gov...]

Across America, there are more than 25 million veterans. Their ranks include generations of citizens who have risked their lives while serving in military conflicts, including World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and the war on terror. They have fought for the security of our country and the peace of the world. They have defended our founding ideals, protected the innocent, and liberated the oppressed from tyranny and terror. They have known the hardships and the fears and the tragic losses of war. Our veterans know that in the harshest hours of conflict they serve just and honorable purposes.

Through the years, our veterans have returned home from their duties to become active and responsible citizens in their communities, further contributing to the growth and development of our Nation. Their commitment to service inspires all Americans.

Thank God that W will be the CiC for another four years.

# 198

I was racing in here to my computer to come here and ask about that.... I was in another room and heard that same quote on FOX.... LOL

Once again... it is Veterans like that who keep us free :)

'Nam Vet, and others from that war, no words can ever describe the deep debt of gratitude which we owe you. Yours was a major battle in the war to defeat communism and God knows you did not get the support you needed. I had a 1SG in Germany who was a Nam vet and many of the younger guys in the unit really had no idea what that war was like, having heard the liberal version of it during their "education." He took the time to explain it as best he could, and opened a lot of eyes.

You have been partly vindicated by the defeat of the traitor, and the legacy of you and your fellow 'Nam vets if being rewritten by those who have refuted their parents '60's views on the war - and it's about time. To you, my uncle (door-gunner) and my step-dad (13B), may your history be written correctly this time.

Darren

I would like to remember and give thanks to my grandmothers father who died from mustard gas poisoning during WW1 and her husband my grandfather who served five years and survived WW2.
I would also like to give thanks to my father who is a Veteran of the Korean War and a survivor of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

God Bless and Thank you!

God bless all our brave veterans. We're nothing without you, and all good Americans know it. Bless you boys!

Thanks #199 VoBan

His Grandson did well in 'nam, as a medic on a chopper.

ALL he did was fly in to save wounded soldiers, in full fire, firing himself, drag his buddies aboard, and get the heck out!!!!

He has some of the best stories........saving his brothers.
Sitting on your helmet, and watching the new grunts ask why, until a bullet hits them in the arse!
Wish I could have helped, but I just missed it............

Thanks Charles, and all LGF posters.

I was only a draftee REMF clerk in Korea 1970-71, but I can say that the Army I was in was nowhere near as capable as the one we have today.

My thanks also to all who wear the uniform, or who ever wore it in the past (even my fellow REMFs.)

My sincere thanks and reverence for those who have served before me...special recognition to my grandfather (WWI) and father (WWII).
A personal moment of reflection, and profound continued sadness at the loss of my college 'roomie', and all too short-lived husband and father to grown children who never knew him:
William Penn Wall, III (Known to us as 'Bink')
2LT - O1 - Army - Reserve
101st Airborne Division
24 year old Married, Caucasian, Male
Born on Jan 02, 1946
From TEKOA, WASHINGTON
His tour of duty began on Jan 24, 1970
Casualty was on Apr 01, 1970
in THUA THIEN, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
ARTILLERY, ROCKET, or MORTAR
Body was recovered

And my personal thanks to all of you for which I spent nearly 30 years serving with great pride...you are the ones that make it truly worthwhile.

Veteran's

My deepest and heartfelt respect for your honor and courage.....past, present and those of the future.

May the families of those serving and those of the lost, gain in strength from your lead.

You have shown the way and for that, all of us, even those that can NOT see and understand you, gain from your service and sacrifice.

Thank you and may God Bless you, now and always.

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.

Lt. Col John McCrea, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

#156 The Keeper

Thank you for that post. I remember wearing my POW and MIA bracelets up to my elbows.

Not so far OT: Captain's Quarters has a link to a news item about canisters of Sarin nerve gas (which is very nasty stuff) being found in Fallujah:

According to NPR's Anne Garrels, a reporter embedded with a Marine unit in Fallujah, the Marines found a suitcase filled with cannisters labeled "sarin nerve gas." You can listen to her report here. [link] No word yet on how many cannisters were found or the origin of said weapons. Looks like some of Saddam's "nonexistent" WMDs didn't make it to Syria after all. (Hmm . . perhaps they did leave the country but have been imported back.)

I'm not surprised the terrorists had a nerve agent. I'm only confounded by the fact they didn't either use the weapons against the Marines or take them with while fleeing the city. Must have been in a real rush to get out of there. Or they have more stashed away somewhere.

Prayers for the safety of our troops.

[Link: www.captainsquartersblog.com...]

I live in the greatest country in the world, made that way by all of you. Thank you all who have served, are serving and will serve.

Linda

#212
aw shucks and tanx!

....I always considered those bracelets more than a 'fashion statement'.

;)

check out my buddy's granddad at #187!

#208 Fast Eddie
What do you mean, only? It may not seem glamorous or romantic in retrospect, but all jobs need to be done to keep the machine alive. Thank you!

Thanks to all vets. I just wish I could write something as inspiring as I have seen here.

My family's vets:
Grandfather William A. Hatch (Navy, WWII)
Uncle William A. Hatch Jr. (Navy Seal, later Navy Chaplain, now Army Chaplain: Cold War, GW1)
Cousin Douglas Hatch (Army)
Uncle Charlie (USMC - Korea)
Dad (National Guard - Watts riots)
Brother James (Air Force)
Brother Mike (Army)
Sister Beth (Air Force)

Note: I take it as a compliment that I keep getting mistaken for a military person because I love the people / history / mission of our military so much.

My girls and I just got back from a Rememberance Day ceremony at a Korean War memorial. I was surprised at what made me cry - it was hearing children sing the Korean National Anthem. Because my next thought was that maybe, years from now, I'll be able to be at a ceremony where I'll hear the National Anthems of Iraq and Afghanistan, the veterans of our nations standing side-by-side.

The freedom South Korea enjoys derives from the same source as that of Afghanistan and Iraq - the blood of those who were willing to give themselves for the freedom of others.

With each picture I see of our troops, I wish there were some way that person could know how grateful I am for them and their sacrifice. That I see the determination in their eyes and know that my daughters will be safe. That I will always wonder if they will come home or were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.

We will never forget - we owe everything we enjoy to our veterans. Thank you.

AMEN!

From Bunker Hill to Baghdad.....I thank you for your service.

G-d Bless our Vets & G-d Bless America.

Wretchard at The Belmont Club outlines the Sunni "Ho-Chi-Min Trail"

and pursuit and blocking actions suggesting Ramadi is next.

In other news do you think they could spare an HC-130 Spectre to use on Mosul ?

I must say that to all of you Vets that were cooks, supply, clerks, and all of the other support Soldiers, combat Vets could not have done our job without you, you were the guys we loved so much, with the clean uniforms and fresh socks, etc, not to mention the wonderful supply of ammo and once in awhile hot meals you sent us, God Bless you guys.

First, a salute to my late uncles, Joseph Kenna and John Goulding who served in the ETO during WWII. They both came home, married, raised families, worked and lived to ripe old ages.

Second, a salute to my high school classmates, Wes McLean, Thomas Jackson and Pickett King who didn't come back from Vietnam.

Third, a salute to all my fellow Vietnam veterns, especially you 'Nam Grunt.

I called my father (Army, Corporal, Korea) and thanked him, as I usually do on Veteran's Day. If there's a vet you know personally, call and say thanks.

Slightly OT from Fox News:

In one of the most dramatic clashes Wednesday, snipers fired on U.S. and Iraqi troops from the minarets of the Khulafah al-Rashid mosque, the military said. U.S. Marines called in an airstrike, and an F-18 dropped a 500-pound bomb on the mosque, destroying both minarets.

Carry on, gentlemen...

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home.

For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

-Senator Zell Miller

Do not forget to email those you know who have served their country or lost a family member in that service, and tell them that you personnally want to thank them for what they have done.

I love that speech and those words, ohdude.
Required reading for every lefty.

"The Soldier"

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the Eternal mind, no less
Gives somehwere back the thoughts by England given,
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Rupert Brooke 1915

Somebody posted this the other day (here, I think):

We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those that would do us harm.

-- Author: George Orwell

Thanks to all who have served. Your sacrafice has not gone unnoticed.

God bless my father' father for storming Omaha Beach and winding up MIA in the process, my father for cruising around the western Pacific in a 'tin can' for 3 years untill he jumped the corral's fence, my brother for doing only what remains known to only him and his superiors (all I know is he is fluent in Russian), and finally, all of the other service men and women who make it possible for me to live and thrive in a country that gives me the freedom to be independent enough that I can come home from my responsibilities miday and post at LGF.

Aside from thanking all the former and current members of the armed forces, I extend my congratulations to my parents (Dad's a former marine...wait, no, he's a marine. You're never out) on their 43rd anniversary.

Mom was a teacher, and had Veteran's Day off.

Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
"Online Etymological Dictionary!"

I put the meat world version of it on my wish list to Santa 4 years ago.
I keep it on my bedside table for those rare occasions when I run out of reading.
Fascinating.

Check out The Word by Isaac Mozeson.

In my earlier statement, I didn't single out the vets in my family.

My great-grandfather Lt. Col. Walter Garner, Chief Medical Officer at a base in the Phillipines in WWII

My grandfather, Corporal in the US Army, Italian Occupation Army 1945-1948.

My uncle, Carl, Lt. in the Marines 1975-1979.

and going waaay back.

Capt. Reuben Hood of the South Carolina Millita during the War for Independence.

Thank you Dad. You are the bravest man I know.

From the Halls of Montazuma to the shores of Tripoli...

his picture:

[Link: tinypic.com...]

"FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FOUGHT FOR IT, LIFE HAS A FLAVOR THE PROTECTED WILL NEVER KNOW".

In memory of my great uncle, who won the MC driving the Nazis out of Sicily, another great uncle buried in france liberating the country in the Great War, and my father, who served RCN in Korea, and to the countless others have sacrificed for Canada.

Thank you.

Lest We Forget.

The pleasure was all mine and I still miss it from time to time. To those men and women still serving, ya done good and this old fart is proud of you. And really, really impressed. Carry on.

#187 With absolutely NO DISRESPECT INTENDED, your
best friend"s grandfather was not the most decorated soldier in the Army; in World War II Audie Murphy won every medal that the Army (and allied nations) could give, culminating with the Congressional Medal of Honor. Your best friend's grandfather was also -very obviously - a man of great mettle and courage - I suspect he and Audie would have gotten along just fine.

To all that served - thank you from the bottom of my heart.
To those that served and didn't come home - your sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Thank you.

Charles, you're welcome, and I say that on behalf of myself, my wife, my brother, my father, my father-in-law, and numerous cousins who are all either in the military or were. Just remember that you are as important as we are to making sure that America stays free. Keep up the great work.

[Link: www.militarycity.com...]

I just want to share with everyone today, the man from our 'family', my American Granparents' son in law...........

Who gave the ultimate gift.............

Bless You.

NO ONE IS UNTOUCHED.

And for my second post:

Thank you to My Dad (USN, dec.) and all his fellow Squids.
Thank you to my brother (USMC, ret.) and all his fellow Jarheads.
Thank you to My Father-in-Law (MoANG, ret.) and all his fellow Guardsmen.
Thank you to my buddy's Dad (USAF, ret.) and all his fellow Flyboys.
Thank you to my ex-bro-in-law and all his fellow Coasties.
And last but not least, Thank you to all my fellow US Army Dogfaces who were and still are fighting the good fight.

Thank you all for standing on that wall and keeping all of us here at home safe and free, esp. the ones who deserve it the least and deride you at every opportunity.

I wish I could be there to help, but two blown out knees ended my MP career.

Good Luck, Stay Safe, Come Home Soon, (but not before the job is done) And always remember there are people back home who love you and back you 1,000,000%

The American Legion has a Veterans Day online "e-card" thank you for serving

Go TO:

[Link: www.e-cards.com...]

#191 Azure
Re: your link
The look in his eyes is what came to be known in Nam as "the thousand yard stare". If you see a vet wearing that expression, leave him alone. You do not want to know what he's thinking of.

[Link: www.militarycity.com...]

EVERBODY should spend the time and scroll thru the names, familiarize yourself with those who are the most recent men and women, who allow us to sleep peacefully at night in this country.

.........you cannot stop reading............

221 Nam

where R u man? Call to arms time! As lawhawk stated on another thread ABC changes mind on airing of "Saving Private Ryan". This is such BS! ABC execs state that they are worried about the violence!! YOu believe that crap???!! Like they've NEVER shown gratuitous violence before!! What we need to do is have a showing of it and Hamburger Hill back to back at the Congressional theatre. Make it mandatory on Veterans day. Have an enlisted man from all branches sit every other seat between lawmakers...I want those faces seared...seared I tell you in the minds of lawmakers...they need to be made to remember the sacrifice!! Everyone above 12 should see SPR...lest we forget....

Thanks Vets for your bravery
Thanks to my father and older brother, both US Marines...then and always

SEMPER FI...for you are braver than I...now I'm crying

My Grandfather fought tyranny under Patton. He died on the fields of Europe.

Thanks grandpa.

G-d bless all active and former military personnel including the builders and designers of military muscle.

thank you all women and men!!!!!!!!!

starting today
OPERATION GRATITUDE
has started their christmas drive
all you have to do is donate
and they do the rest for ya

Thanks to all who served and who continue to serve. I honor the sacrifice and service of my own family members:

My father, John, USAF veteran of the Korean era.

My uncle Bill (RIP), who served in the Merchant Marine in the Pacific in WWII.

My uncle Felix, who was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge.

My uncle Dick (RIP), who served in the Army.

My brother-in-law Joel (RIP), who had a distinguished career as a USCG officer.

My grandfather (RIP), who served in the Army in WWI, who saw action in France and was wounded there.

(listening to "Fanfare for the Common Man" while reading these posts is doing funny things to my eyes... keep getting things in 'em...)

Those that gave all.
Thank you.

*just go through the links on the right hand side - I should not be at work right now feeling like this.

Pax, Happy Veterans day brother!, I'm in Orange, Texas, and it just goes to show how disreputable our media is. *spit*

I didn't serve in the U.S., but I want to honor my family who did.

Paternal Grandfather: Air Force
Maternal Grandfather: Army
Maternal Grandmother: Marines
Paternal Great-Uncle: CIA

All departed of natural causes, thank G-d.

And to my compatriots in the צהל (IDF):

97th Infantry Battalion "Netzach Yehuda" 8th Division (With no mortal casualties to date, thank G-d)

Thanks, #253- you're not helping any!

My favorite vet, "Red"...

The brother...

KGL (USAAF) and his brother Mac (USMC)

...the warrior and his self-deprecating humor ...

March 1945... Taken shortly before his being shot down in Occupied China

...and the scientist

K.G.L. c. 1962 Head -- Astronaut and Training Program

I'm thinking about my cousin, Lt. Charles Frank Wilder. He received one decoration, a Purple Heart, at Omaha Beach.

He's still there.

252 Voban

FYI Frederick Fennel & Cleveland Symphony Winds does Copeland the most justice..

Gotta love it...

:-D

U.S. Forces Move Through Fallujah, NPR, November 10
…
[Transcribed from audio]

“And this evening one Marine unit believes it may have found a store of Sarin nerve gas, though explosives experts, I have to say, have yet to arrive to inspect them.”

To my fellow Vets, past, present and future, you are the TRUE Band of Brothers, my sincere thanks for all your sacrifices. To our fighting men and women, God Bless each and every one of you, and may He watch over you.

Our debt to our veterans is immeasurable, with great humbleness, I render to you the hand salute.

God Bless Our Great Country

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
--George Orwell--

#120/Zaideh -- well and truely said.

Thanks to those who came before, those I was with, and those who follow on. Semper Fi!

And to Charles, who has used those freedoms well to creat LGF for us to share.

I would like to thank my friends and cousins who fought in the Gulf War, Vietnam and Korea, my father and uncles for their service in WWII, my grandfathers and great-uncles for their service in WWI, my ancestors who fought in every war this country ever fought, including the American War for Liberation (some call it the Revolution), and my friends and children of friends who are presently fighting to preserve our way of life and spread freedom throughout the world.

You are my heroes. Thank you for your valor and sacrifice to keep us free.

#228 The Keeper

Thanx, but I just cut and pasted. I agree however, they are very powerful words.

I'm not very relgious but I do remember writing to my good friend the night before he was deployed from Camp Pendelton in the first Gulf War...

No eveil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent.

For to his Angels, God has given command about you. That they guard you in all your ways.

Upon their hands they will bear your up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

-Psalm 91: 10-12

I am happy to say that although he had seen some heavy combat, he returned home safe and sound.

To my Father, Grandfather, Uncle, and Cousins who seved so valiantly to protect our country,

THANK YOU!

And to all the soldiers across the world giving us the chance to live freely,

THANK YOU!

I am forever in debt to all of those BRAVE Men and Women who have sacarificed for me!

You are all in my thoughts and prayers, may you come home safely and soon.

Godspeed!

Both my grandfathers are dead now, but my Grandpa Clifford hit the beaches on D-day and my Grandpa Stolle had just finished his second navy tour when his ship was sunk at Pearl Harbor. He immediately reenlisted for a third term. I miss you both, and thank you.

Thanks also to my Grandma Stolle, who worked in the factories while grandpa served.
Her brothers George and Hank, who also served in Europe during WWII

and

Uncle Joe-Vietnam
My father-in-Law Earl-Navy U-boat, 20 years
My nephew Ray, currently serving in England, USAF

Peter_London, my family served alongside many brave Britains in their service, and were proud to have done so. If there is anyone braver or more self-sacrificing than the fighting men and women of our two countries, they have yet to appear.

To all, of every nationality, who fought against oppression, fought for freedom or the freedom of others, Thank you. We owe you a debt that will never be repaid. But you knew that when you served, which makes you all the more special.

Our love and thanks!

Chris, Trish and Jordan Clifford

Here's how the French military spent their day:

[Link: www.lemonde.fr...]

Some day we will buld a monument to those who fought and died during the War on Terror - And Won!

The ongoing freedom of this great nation has always depended on those that fought and often died to preserve it.

A wonderful tribute and little know place. Worth a visit.

America's Battle Monuments

Note how many are in Europe.

254 Nam

I knew it was Texas, but I didn't know it was my back yard!!! I was born & raised in L.C., LA!! I used to sneak into the Texas Pelican when I was underage!!! Saw the Winter Brothers play there.

was it in Port Arthur that they had that damn narrow ass rickety bridge..felt like it went almost straight up!!

I remember watchin Cowboy John do the afternoon cartoons outa Beaumont....LOL

small world...

:-D

To those who were before me (1951-1954) and
those who came after me, my undying gratitude.

My heartfelt thanks to those who "pay the price, bear the burden, meet the hardships, support our friends, oppose our foes, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty" Thanks also to the families who sacrifice and support them.

I would like to honor my Dad,who served in WWll, 503rd PRCT, in the Pacific.
And my Mom, who also served in the 106th WAC Hospital Company.
And my Cousin, and friends who served in Vietnam, and the Swift Vets who have vindicated them.
And although not directly in the service, my Aunt, a "Grey Lady" who supported our service people through three wars, in the American Red Cross.

America is truly blessed by people such as these.

Thank you, and God bless you, veterans, patriots.

Here are the verses of the Star Spangled Banner you NEVER hear.

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

#247 paxnhymn

fyi, here's a link to the Saving Private Ryan censure story:
[Link: www.usatoday.com...]

#249 Gruen
"My Grandfather fought tyranny under Patton."

My mom's 2nd husband was there, too.
Battlefield promotion in North Africa, on to Sicily, then to France & on to Germany.
He never would speak to anyone about it except for the night he & I got drunk together & everybody else was in bed.
He was in the COin the lead tank as they entered a French town from which the Germans had fled.
Quiet everywhere.
Then a bullet hit his driver in the face. All hell broke loose. The buildings were rotten with snipers. He jumped out of his tank & ran to the one just behind his. Took a slug in the calf in the process. He ordered his gunners to return fire at will. They practically leveled the town.
Afterwards they discovered to their horror that the snipers were ALL FRENCH!
He hated the French til the day he died.
So do I.

RWC - I spent some time last spring visiting a umber of those shrines. Very humbling for this vet.

A toast to our fallen comrades...

Mcgyver, out