[ConorMacNessa]

Thanks Very Much, Connie!

***HUGS***



And thank you very much for opening the doors to
MUSIC MAYHEM!!!!
Rockin' Rebels – "Wild Weekend"
1963
(Click)

[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."

"Traumerei"
Robert Schumann
(Click)

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

[Publius]

ROCKUMENTARY: DECEMBER 12, 1968

Let me introduce you to Charlie. He and I graduated from a little engineering college in Philadelphia at the same time, and we've kept in touch over the past 44 years. He's still a Sixties radical.

In early 1968, Eugene McCarthy grabbed one third of the vote in the New Hampshire primary, prompting Lyndon Johnson to pull out of the race. Bobby Kennedy had not yet jumped in.

Charlie walked into our college radio station minus his field jacket, long hair and mustache. He was wearing a jacket and tie to go along with his short hair and clean shaven appearance. I was flabbergasted.

"What happened to you?!"

"I'm clean for Gene."

This statement was followed by a dissertation about how things were going to be different once McCarthy was elected president.

"McCarthy isn't even going to get the nomination," I said. "That's going to Hubert Humphrey."

I explained how the Democratic Party worked, the role of organized labor, how the unions had been in Humphrey's corner since 1948 when he first came on the scene as the mayor of Minneapolis, how the party establishment believed it was Hubert's turn, and how the unions and the establishment disliked McCarthy and weren't ready to bail on our Vietnam adventure just yet.

Charlie was somewhat mollified. "As long as Humphrey repudiates the war..."

"But the next president is going to be Richard Nixon."

Charlie looked as though I had slapped him. I explained how the Republican Party worked, how anybody who had repudiated the 1964 national ticket could not possibly gain the nomination (Rockefeller), how it was too soon for Reagan, how Nixon had worked tirelessly for the party in 1966 building up IOUs, how LBJ had foolishly criticized Nixon that year, how Nixon had used that to force the networks to give him free air time, how Nixon had given a brilliant speech that put him back in the game, and how Nixon had positioned himself perfectly in a country that was questioning the hard left turn it had taken four years earlier. I explained how the white backlash that didn't materialize in 1964 was now happening and how Nixon would win by a substantial margin in a two-way race. But I had to hedge my bet.

"If George Wallace goes for it, he'll steal Nixon's votes in the south and Humphrey's votes in the north and cloud the whole race. If he throws the election into the House, all bets are off."

The day after the election, when Illinois fell into Nixon's column, Charlie looked like hell. I suggested that he apply for ROTC. His response was unprintable. Fortunately, a year later, he got a good draft number.

Cue the Rockumentary theme on Turntable #1!
(This was a backup band at Motown that consisted of the Funk Brothers and pickup musicians from the Detroit Symphony.)

The San Remo Golden Strings: "Festival Time"

#10: Steppenwolf: "Magic Carpet Ride"

This Canadian band, named after Hermann Hesse's existentialist novel, was headed by John Kay. They had a few hits in the late Sixties.

Steppenwolf: "Magic Carpet Ride"