Posted on 09/12/2004 10:48:23 PM PDT by JustAmy
An SFOR Blackhawk takes off in the morning fog
A Blackhawk sits on the helipad outside of my basecamp, 3rd ID and 48th Infantry patches visible on the FOB Connor sign
Another Blackhawk, with the mountain mist behind it
The 3rd Infantry Divison (Mech) Commander's personal Blackhawk... he really didn't even know it was gone :)
OESY.... I got a little misty reading this. The first time I stood at the edge of a mass grave, it took me days to stop smelling it. Even now sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with that smell hanging on me. It doesn't matter how much you wash, you can't ever really get rid of it.
A wise man, my father, told me once not to even try to get rid of the ghosts. The best you can do is to simply make peace with them. They'll never be your friends, but you can learn to accept them as your companions.
Great helicopters for Helicopter Day.
Thank you.
Wonderful pictures!!! Thank you, TS.
Anytime. I exist only to serve :)
((((( Hugs, TS )))))
Thank you for your service.
It isn't a competition, Al.
Everyone has talent. We celebrate it together. It is the binding that brings the strength.
Join in. Celebrate with us.
Try not to yawn when I start on one of my boring tributes to myself.
I didn't write this, but here it is.
What is a Veteran?
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.
Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.
Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.
You can't tell a vet just by looking.
What is a veteran?
He is the cop on the beat who spent a year in Iraq sweating two gallons a day making sure the Bradleys didn't run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.
She is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.
He is the drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into soldiers, and teaching them to watch each other's backs. He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.
Wonderful ..... thank you for posting that!!!
For so many years we have taken the veteran for granted; I am happy that they are finally being recognized for their service to this great country.
Love the pics, TS. How are ya? Long time no see.
Nice to see you Victoria!
Hahaha, same to you, Amy. I saw the picnic photos - you look great and Marissa is so adorable.
I bet she likes school.
Nice to see you too, Mayor. :-)
Thanks for the pictures, TS!
Hi Victoria! I had a good day. I hope you did too!
Hmmm, she reminds me of someone. :-)
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