FReeper Canteen ~ Road Trip: Camp Shelby, Mississippi ~ 23 January 2017

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

[luvie]

Howdy, radu! Is it still really windy there? It sure was on all the eagles’ nests that are in the southeast. Ours finally went away and it was 73° today!

[radu]

I just saw your other post and it didn’t sound like a good day for getting out. You have the remnants of what came through here yesterday. It cooled us into the 40s today.

[radu]

Aaaaaaah, I didn't know her parka was purple. Good color choice! from someone whose fave color is purple. LOL

Still no fun for her having to potty in the wet and cold. Hope things change for the better soon.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, where's_the_Outrage? Thanks for sharing your experience.

We thank you for your service to our country.

[yarddog]

I used to work with a Federal LEO whose Father-in-Law used a large number of German POWs on his farm in South Alabama.

He would give them cigarettes. They received Red Cross packages from Germany and they contained ersatz cigarettes which they would immediately throw away.

He told me that the old guy exchanged Christmas Cards with a large number of them until he died.

[radu]

Sounds like a good enough day, especially the breakfast. Food from mom and pop places is some of the best.

Not much activity here today. Had to make a quick run into town and that was about it. Chilly and windy today but only a little more rain fell after midnight last night.

[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!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, radu....still raining? Soaking in?

I’m headed home. Gonna be a long trip.

[radu]

Howdy, LUV!

The wind was roaring when I went to bed this morning but had calmed down a bit by the time I woke up. I noticed the wind was stronger to the south when I checked the nest cams. Seems to have calmed down tonight, though, and all the birds are getting a good sleep.

Whew, we didn’t warm up here. It was in the upper 40s when I woke up. It’s supposed to warm back up a little tomorrow and Wed. and get cold after that. That stinks because I’ve noticed several trees have put out leaf buds!

[radu]

Stealth

[PROCON]

HEY, if you don’t advertise the #50, it’s like it never happened! :-)

[radu]

No advertisin’ necessary. It wouldn’t be stealth if I did. LOL

[chrisinoc]

The famous Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Battalion trained here in preparation for World War II.

My uncles got their training there. Since they hardly mentioned Camp Shelby the facility then must have been less than stellar.

[The Mayor]

Sorry to hear all that. I refreshed patiently, no problem as long as your safe.

Weather here has been mild with rain, all the snow is gone.
Supposed to get cold again with some wet snow but not much.

[P=IxR]

Ha, my two sons work there and are in the NG. I worked there as a contract worker when Iraq war was still going on. On the back side of the camp is a place where German soldiers were kept. We heard from other people of a site where the prisoners dug a symbol of the Swastika in the ground. They were going to fill it with diesel fuel when they heard German planes flying over, then light it. Those guys thought they were still around Germany. One son, myself and a few others scouted the area and found the symbol. It was partly caved in but still could make it out.

[PROCON]

No advertisin’ necessary. It wouldn’t be stealth if I did. LOL

I'll go with whatever LUV says....:-)

[luvie]

🇺🇸 Till they all come home......🇺🇸

[luvie]

Well, I say it’s pretty sneaky....and you and I would have done the same thing, given the chance. :)

Silly feed is so trunkated that I never have gotten to see what really happend at #50. LOL!

[HiJinx]

I hear ya’ re: rattlesnakes. Grampa only had to show us one...

[HiJinx]

Yep - Greene County outside of Leakesville. His Dad farmed a full section. Dad was the middle of seven kids. My Great Grandfather fought in the Civil War.