FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Christmas Truce ~ December 30, 2013

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | StarCMC

[ConorMacNessa]

REST IN PEACE FALLEN BROTHER!



Capt. David I. Lyon, USAF
21st Logistics Readiness Squadron
KIA Afghanistan
27 December 2013

I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV)

"Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour,
and be in readiness for the conflict;
For it is better for us to perish in battle
than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar.
As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be."
(1 Maccabees 3:58–60)

God Of Our Fathers
(Click)



Rest in Peace, fallen brother, rest in peace!
We who remain hold you in high honor.
Rest, fallen brother, in this sacred precinct;
We who remain keep this place sacred.
Rest, fallen brother, among these, your comrades;
We who remain keep the watch.
Rest, fallen brother, among these who heeded the Nation’s call;
We who remain press the fight forward in your name.
Rest, fallen brother, lay down thy burden;
We who remain have taken up the torch.
Rest in Peace, fallen brother, rest in eternal peace!



Taps
(Click)

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[ConorMacNessa]

Welcome To All Who Enter This Canteen, To Our Serving Military, To Our Veterans, To All Military Families, To Our FRiends and To Our Allies!



Missing Man Setting

"The Empty Chair"

By Captain Carroll "Lex" Lefon, USN (RET), on December 21st, 2004

"In the wardroom onboard the aircraft carrier from which I recently debarked was a small, round table, with single chair. No one ever sat there, and the reasons, both for the table being there, and for the fact that the chair was always empty, will tell the reader a little bit about who we are as a culture. The wardroom, of course, is where the officers will dine; morning, noon and evening. It is not only a place to eat – it is also a kind of oasis from the sometimes dreary, often difficult exigencies of the service. A place of social discourse, of momentary relief from the burdens of the day. The only things explicitly forbidden by inviolable tradition in the wardroom are the wearing of a cover or sword by an officer not actually on watch, or conversation which touches upon politics or religion. But aboard ships which observe the custom, another implicit taboo concerns the empty chair: No matter how crowded the room, no matter who is waiting to be seated, that chair is never moved, never taken.

The table is by the main entrance to the wardroom. You will see it when you enter, and you will see it when you leave. It draws your eyes because it is meant to. And because it draws your eyes it draws your thoughts. And though it will be there every day for as long as you are at sea, you will look at it every time and your eyes will momentarily grow distant as you think for a moment. As you quietly give thanks.

AS YOU REMEMBER.

The small, round table is covered with a gold linen tablecloth. A single place setting rests there, of fine bone china. A wineglass stands upon the table, inverted, empty. On the dinner plate is a pinch of salt. On the bread plate is a slice of lemon. Besides the plate lies a bible. There is a small vase with a single red rose upon the table. Around the vase is wound a yellow ribbon. There is the empty chair.

We will remember because over the course of our careers, we will have had the opportunity to enjoy many a formal evening of dinner and dancing in the fine company of those with whom we have the honor to serve, and their lovely ladies. And as the night wears on, our faces will in time become flushed with pleasure of each other’s company, with the exertions on the dance floor, with the effects of our libations. But while the feast is still at its best, order will be called to the room – we will be asked to raise our glasses to the empty table, and we will be asked to remember:

The table is round to show our everlasting concern for those who are missing. The single setting reminds us that every one of them went to their fates alone, that every life was unique.

The tablecloth is gold symbolizing the purity of their motives when they answered the call to duty.

The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones who kept the faith.

The yellow ribbon around the vase symbolizes our continued determination to remember them.

The slice of lemon reminds us of the bitterness of their fate.
The salt symbolizes the tears shed by those who loved them.
The bible represents the faith that sustained them.
The glass is inverted — they cannot share in the toast.
The chair is empty — they are not here. They are missing.

And we will remember, and we will raise our glasses to those who went before us, and who gave all that they had for us. And a part of the flush in our faces will pale as we remember that nothing worth having ever came without a cost. We will remember that many of our brothers and sisters have paid that cost in blood. We will remember that the reckoning is not over.

We many of us will settle with our families into our holiday season, our Christmas season for those who celebrate it, content in our fortune and prosperity. We will meet old friends with smiles and laughter. We will meet our members of our family with hugs. We will eat well, and exchange gifts and raise our glasses to the year passed in gratitude, and to the year to come with hope. We will sleep the sleep of the protected, secure in our homes, secure in our homeland.

But for many families, there will be an empty chair at the table this year. A place that is not filled.

WE SHOULD REMEMBER."

Many Thanks To Alfa6 For Finding Capt. Lefon's Chronicle Of "The Empty Chair."

"Träumerei"
Robert Schumann
(Click)

Never Forget The Brave Men And Women Who Gave Their Lives To Secure Our Freedom!!

"Riamh nár dhruid ó sbairn lann!"

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[SandRat]

Just a new Flannel Shirt and an MicroSoft I-Pad.

[Kozak]

There is a great movie about this event , Joyeux Noel.
Really touching story.

[Kathy in Alaska]

TAPS

RIP

Sgt Daniel M Vasselian, USMC
1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division

Eternal Father Strong To Save - click

[Kathy in Alaska]

Last Post

RIP

Capt. Richard Holloway
Royal Engineers

Flowers of the Forest – click

[Kathy in Alaska]

TAPS

RIP

Capt. David I. Lyon, USAF
21st Logistics Readiness Squadron

Air Force Song

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS AND OUR BELOVED NATION!


TATTOO
(Click)

Must retire for the evening -

For Every Morn' Brings Forth A Noble Chance,
And Every Chance Demands A Noble Knight!

The Bugler, his grim visage replete with an evil sneer,
already mounts the parapet.

Soldiers of the Greatest Generation
Stand The Watch Tonight!



Standing With Them:
My Uncle Jack!



Maj. John T. Dowd, USA
WWII, Korea, Vietnam

TAPS
U.S. Marine Band
(Click)

"Do poor Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes!"

(King Lear, Act III, Scene iv)



All Gave Some – Some Gave All!!!
(Click)

Good night, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America!

Godspeed our Troops around the Globe – especially those in harm’s way – by virtue of their service and sacrifice we continue to live in Freedom!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

"Riamh nár dhruid ó sbairn lann!"

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Lady Jag]

Go Navy!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Mac, for the Missing Man Setting as we remember those who have given their all that we may gather safe and secure.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Go Navy!! Good evening, Lady J. Did you have a nice Christmas?

Snow? Sunshine? We were below zero for Christmas, but it looks like a balmy mid 20s for New Years.

[BIGLOOK]

Honoring Our Fallen

[darkangel82]

As I posted on another thread a few days ago, once in college, during a discussion of the war and the history, I wondered how history could’ve changed had the truce been permanent.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Kozak....great movie.

On Christmas Eve during world War I, the Germans, French, and Scottish fraternize and get to know the men who live on the opposite side of a brutal war, in what became a true lesson of humanity.

[Kathy in Alaska]

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

God Bless you good, Mac. Good night and rest well.
Thanks for helping honor our troops, past and present.
Thank you for your service to our country.

[luvie]

Thanks, Galz, for a wonderful thread! Some truces are much easier to define than others, aren’t they!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Hawaii...((HUGS))...hope all is well with you and yours.

[huldah1776]

Thank you so much for this. I have heard many vets say that they have fought in vain, but if one thinks of how God views stemming the tide of evil over the timeline of the fall of man until the return of the Messiah, they truly are answering a higher call.

[luvie]

Good Sunday evening, Night Owls!
Whoooooo is ready for Monday!?
Not this one...but it's coming anyway!
Hope all of you have a Happy New Year!
...and that 2014 brings good news to America!
(((hugs)))