Posted on 07/29/2005 7:42:45 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Great letters.
I feel for the first guy, I hope when he gets back his life comes back together for him, and his promising future.
Of course, the first thing I wondered was if he was Catholic...
:-)
BTTT!
Doh! I'm slipping! Good question!
Bumping it up!
Damn I just love these guys. That first one, if anybody in the world has the right to b!tch... it's him... and yet he finds a way to say something positive.
He doesn't even have to really be Catholic already does he? Just ~willing~?
You're right. I felt for him... dang.
[slaps forehead] Ah! Now I get it!! :-)
We're trying to branch out.... we are distributing knives, and, while they last, our single hobbit wommin!
Act now! Supplies are running out!
[kersnort] :-)
My wife had a fit when she learned how much I had spent on those two knives, but such is life. We, as a family, are now helping some soldiers in Iraq!
Thought some of you might enjoy reading this.
The Military
The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired,
tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society
as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a
beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for
work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has
never collected unemployment either.
He's a recent High School graduate;
he was probably an average student,
pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy,
and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left,
or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.
He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm
howizzitor.
He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting
from before dawn to well after dusk.
He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him,
but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.
He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.
He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.
He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient.
He has two sets of fatigues:
he washes one and wears the other.
He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.
He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.
He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.
If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his
food.
He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.
He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands.
He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.
He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all.
He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime.
He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them.
He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat
and is unashamed.
He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to
'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking.
In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.
Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.
Beardless or not, he is not a boy.
He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.
He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.
Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.
And now we even have woman over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War
when our nation calls us to do so.
As you go to bed tonight, remember this shot..
A short lull, a little shade and a picture of loved ones in their helmets
Yes, very much, thanks! :~D
I'm not sure who all the Freeper Canteen folks are, but they might enjoy this as well.
The FReeper Foxhole Revisits The 1st and 2nd Guadalcanal Nov 13-15, 1942 - Aug. 19th, 2005
And thanks for bumping the thread... We haven't posted to it as much this week, but we are still getting requests. Fewer this week than last, which is a needed reprieve, so we can hope to catch up!
Just noting for the thread, that even if you don't see us active on the thread, there are 20 or more requests for knives in the hopper and we're still trying to answer them all :~D
Thread needs bumping.
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