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Armed Forces Careers


Army	Navy	Air Force	Marines	Coast Guard

The Fisher House program is a unique private-public partnership that supports America's military in their time of need by providing homes close to a loved one during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.

There are currently 31 houses located on the grounds of every major military medical center and several VA medical centers. These houses will play a critical role in caring for casualties from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Donations will be used to help meet the cost of lodging for a family whose loved one was injured in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. There is a limit to the number of families who can stay in a Fisher House and program is committed to help provide lodging for families who must find commercial lodging, because the Fisher House is full.

Send deployed troops message on SoldierRadio.com

Cick to listen!

SoldierRadio is again this year providing a way to let you tell Service members worldwide that you care and are thinking about them during the Holidays.

You can do an Audio Post Card simply by calling 1-800-330-5090. Your recorded personalized message will be played back on www.SoldiersRadio.com.

You can record a short message (30 seconds) to friends, family members or just a random message of good will. SoldiersRadio will then take your message and put it on the radio Web cast throughout the Holiday Season. Its very simple to do and works both ways ... from the field or to the Service member.

The cut-off date for the call in is Dec.15.

Access the Wounded Heroes Guestbook to write a message of encouragement for a hero wounded in the line of duty.

Messages in the Wounded Heroes Guestbook are viewed by wounded soldiers, their loved ones, and the general public.

Links to
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Associations

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Visit the Veterans of Foreign Wars Home Page

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be able to view them on this site, and perhaps respond themselves.

ADD A SERVICEPERSON: Please help make this tribute more
complete by creating a page for your own friends and family who
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Good morning y'all!!

Hello troops, veterans, and military family members!
THANK YOU for serving the USA!

Thank You for today's thread Brother!

It's the time of year for pumpkin pancakes and eggnog coffee!

SALUTE!

Good morning, MR. RADIX! Good morning, Canteen Crew! Good morning, EVERYBODY!

GOODMORNINGTROOPS!!

Today's FEEBLE attempt at humor:

Martha's Way: When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

The Real Women's Way: Go to the bakery. They'll even decorate it for you.

Chicagoland Weather

December 03, 2003
Chicago, IL
Sunrise	7:01 AM (CST)
Sunset	4:20 PM (CST)
Hrs. of Daylight	9 Hrs., 19 Mins

Currently
32°

Cloudy

Hi: 39

Lo: 29

5 Day Forecast

THU

FRI

SAT

SUN

MON

PM Wintry Mix

High:	39
Low:	31

Snow Showers/Wind

High:	38
Low:	26

Partly Cloudy

High:	38
Low:	20

Mostly Sunny

High:	37
Low:	23

Partly Cloudy

High:	36
Low:	29

For our Canteen WAFFLE Specialist, MR. RADIX,
Catch

~~Pancakes on Wednesdays~~

WAFFLES ON WEDNESDAY!

Members of the San Marcos, Texas, Army Reserve 13th Corps Support Command stand at ease during a send-off ceremony Monday. Nearly 100 men and women from the unit are being deployed to Iraq.

A pair of F-16 Fighting Falcons from the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Fighter Wing at Syracuse fly a patrol mission Saturday over Afghanistan while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Birthdates which occurred on December 03:
1368 Charles VI, [the Well-Beloved], king of France (1380-1422)
1483 Nicolaus von Amsdorf, German reformation theologist
1684 Ludvig, Baron Holberg, a founder of Danish & Norwegian literature
1729 Padre Antonio Soler, Olot Spain, composer (Fandango)
1755 Gilbert Stuart, US, portrait painter (painted Washington)
1795 Rowland Hill, introduced 1st adhesive postage stamp (1840)
1797 Francis P Kenrick, Irish/US archbishop of Baltimore
1806 Henry Alexander Wise, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1876
1809 Thomas Alfred Davies, Bvt Mjr General (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1822 Charles Adam Heckman, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1896
1826 George Brinton McClellan, Major General (Union Army), died in 1885
1829 Green Berry Raum, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1909
1838 Cleveland Abbe, US, meteorologist (Father of Weather Bureau)
1838 Octavia Hill, British reformer, leader of open-space movement
1842 Ellen Henrietta Richards, US, chemist (Amer Home Eco Assn-1st Pres)
1857 Joseph Conrad, Poland, novelist (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness)
1862 Jules Renkin, Belgian jurist/minister/premier (1931-32)
1864 Herman He˜ermans Jr, writer (Kamertjeszonde, Diamond City)
1875 Bernhard Lichtenberg, German clergyman/antifascist
1883 Anton (Friedrich Wilhelm) von Webern, Vienna Aust, 12-tone composer
1886 Karl MG Siegbahn, Swedish physicist (r”ntgen spectroscope, Nobel 1924)
1895 Anna Freud, Austrian/English psychoanalytist/daughter of Sigmund F
1897 Kate O'Brien, Irish writer (Without My Cloak)
19-- Brian Lando, actor (Benjamin Carroll-Guns of Paradise)
19-- Mary Alice, actress (Lettie-Different World)
19-- Mickey Thomas, vocalist (Jefferson Airplane, Starship)
19-- Moe Keale, Honolulu Hawaii, actor (Truck-Hawaii 5-0)
1900 Lester Matthews, Nottingham England, (Sir Dennis-Adv of Fu Manchu)
1900 Richard Kuhn, Austria, biochemist, worked with vitamins (Nobel 1938)
1904 Juan E Yrausquin, founder (Party of Patriot Arubans)/minister
1907 Connee Boswell, New Orleans La, singer (Pete Kelly's Blue)
1908 Halsey Stevens, Scott NY, composer (Triskelion)
1911 Dana Suesse, songwriter (You Ought to be in Pictures)
1911 Nino Rota, Milan Italy, composer (Torquemada)
1914 Irving Fine, Boston Mass, composer (Toccata)
1921 Hans G Kresse, artist (Eric the Viking)
1923 Tom Fears, NFL end (LA Rams)
1924 John Backus, inventor (FORTRAN computer language)
1926 Hans Otte, German composer/pianist
1927 Ferlin Husky, country singer (Born to Lose, Gone)
1930 Andy Williams, Wall Lake Iowa, singer (Moon River, Andy Williams Show)
1930 Jean-Luc Godard, French director (Alphaville, Hail Mary)
1930 Phyllis Curtin, West Virginia, soprano (NYC Opera)
1931 Ellen Blazer, Dutch TV director (Sonja)
1931 Jaye P Morgan, Mancos Colo, singer/actress (Gong Show, Night Patrol)
1932 Corry Brokken, singer
1934 Nicolas Coster, London, (Lionel-Santa Barbara, Electric Horseman)
1934 Viktor V Gorbatko, cosmonaut (Soyuz 8, 24, 37)
1938 Jos‚ Serebrier, Montevideo Uruguay, conductor/composer (Star Wagon)
1945 Laura Dean, Staten Island NYC, composer/choreographer (Drumming)
1948 Ozzy Osbourne, English heavy metal musician; ate a bat (Suicide)
1949 Heather Menzies, Toronto Canada, actress (Jessica-Logan's Run)
1950 John Akii-bua, Uganda, 400m hurdler (Olympic-gold-1972)
1951 Danger Alberto Juantorena, Cuba, 800m runner (Olympic-gold-1976)
1951 James Turner Brewer, Maywood Ill, basketball player (Oly-silver-1972)
1951 Mike Stock, rocker (Stock, Aitken & Waterman-Road Block)
1951 Rick Mears, Indy-car racer (over 25 wins)
1952 Mel Smith, author (Morons From Outer Space)
1953 Franz Klammer, Austria, downhill skier (Olympic-gold-1976)
1955 Melody Anderson, Edmonton Alb, actress (Flash Gordon, Brooke-Manimal)
1956 Heart Boucher, Canada actor
1959 Kathy Jordan, Penn, tennis player (US Opens Doubles 1981)
1960 Mike Ramsey, US, ice hockey player (Olympic-gold-1980)
1965 Katarina Witt, Staaken GDR, figure skater (Olympic-Gold-1984, 88)
1968 Kevin Telles, actor
1980 Anna Chlumsky, Chicago Ill, actress (My Girl)
1981 Brian Bonsall, actor (Family Ties, Star Trek Next Generation)

Deaths which occurred on December 03:

450 Petrus Chrysologus, 1st archbishop of Ravenna, dies
1137 Lotharius III, of Supplinburg, Roman-German emperor (1133-37), dies
1154 Anastasius IV, Pope (1153-54), dies
1463 Louis Chalon, prince of Orange, dies
1491 Thomas Basin, French historian/bishop of Lisieux, dies
1789 Claude-Joseph Vernet, French seascape painter, dies
1807 Clara Reeve, English author (old English baron), dies
1839 Frederik VI, king of Denmark (1808-39)/Norway (1803-14), dies
1857 Christian D Rauch, German sculptor, dies at 80
1892 William Bonaparte, grandson of Lucien
1894 Robert Louis Stevenson, English writer (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde), dies
1910 Mary Baker Eddy, founder (Christian Science (Monitor)), dies
1919 Pierre A Renoir, French painter/sculptor, dies
1937 Prosper Poullet, Belgian mayor, dies
1957 Frank E Gannett, newspaper publisher dies at 81
1967 Fred Engelen, Flemish actor/director, dies
1973 Michael O'Shea, actor (Denny- It's a Great Life), dies at 67
1985 Sam Gillman, actor (Sam-Shane), dies at 70
1991 Alex Graham, British cartoonstrip artist (Fred Basset), dies

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 JOHNSON STANLEY GARWOOD---APPLEGATE CA.
Name: Stanley Garwood Johnson
Branch/Rank: United States Marine Corps/O2
Unit: HELICOPTER MARINE MEDIUM 34 MARINE AIR GROUP 3 1 MARINE AIR WING
HMM-364, MAG-36, 1st MAW
Date of Birth: 11 November 1940
Home City of Record: APPLEGATE CA
Date of Loss: 03 December 1965
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 153627 North 1081351 East
Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: UH34D # 148762 - Co-Pilot
Missions:

Other Personnel in Incident: Riley, Kirk Irwin, Capt., Pilot, KIA;
White, Robert Henry, Cpl., Crew Chief, KIA;
Dempsey, Warren Leigh, Cpl., Gunner, KIA;
Nine ARVN also killed.

REMARKS:

Submitted by:
HMM-364 Command Chronology
Kenneth L. Gross, Maj. USMC(Ret)

Capt. Riley and his crew were the lead aircraft of a flight of six UH-34's
on December 3, 1965. All aircraft were carrying a full complement of ARVN
troops whose destination was an outpost known as Hiep Duc, just West of Tam
Ky. The entire area was noted for being a very "hot spot".

Ken Gross relates, "We tried to go in as high as possible, though we were
limited by somewhat low ceilings, which may have placed us approximately
2000 feet above ground level. The flight was in normal cruise when we
reached the vicinity of UTM grid coordinates BY031273 where the Viet Cong
fired on us with time delay fused mortars. Unfortunately Capt. Riley's
aircraft received a direct hit in the belly, where the fuel tanks were
located, and they never stood a chance. Capt. Riley tried desperately
to get the aircraft on the ground, but it was burning so fiercely he
appeared to lose control and the aircraft rolled inverted and crashed.
No one survived".

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...

0741 St Zachary begins his reign as Catholic Pope succeeding Gregory III
1347 Pope Clemens VI declares Roman tribunal Coke di Rienzo as heretics
1468 Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano succeed their father, Piero de Medici, as rulers of Florence, Italy.
1557 1st Covenant of Scottish protestants form
1586 Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England, from Colombia
1621 Galileo perfects the telescope
1639 1st annulment by court decree passes
1676 Battle at Lund: Sweden beats Denen
1678 Edmund Halley receives Master of Arts degree from Queen's College, Oxford
1685 Charles II bars Jews from settling in Stockholm Sweden
1694 English parliamentary election set for every 3 years
1699 Baron Jacob Hop appointed treasurer-General of the Hague
1762 France cedes to Spain all lands west of the Mississippi--the territory known as Upper Louisiana.
1775 1st official US flag raising (aboard naval vessel Alfred)
1818 Illinois admitted as 21st US state
1828 Andrew Jackson elected 7th President of US, John C Calhoun Vice-President
1833 Oberlin College in Ohio, 1st truly coeducational college opens
1834 1st US dental society organized (New York)
1835 1st US mutual fire insurance company issues 1st policy (Rhode Island)
1844 Roman Catholic Society Apostole of Prayer forms
1847 Frederick Douglass publishes 1st issue of his newspaper "North Star"
1863 Longstreet abandons his siege at Knoxville TN
1864 Skirmish at Thomas' Station, Georgia
1866 Paid fire department replaces volunteer companies
1868 Trial of Jefferson Davis starts; 1st blacks on US trial jury
1878 Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah Israel
1881 Henry M Stanley finds Leopoldville/Kinshasa
1883 48th Congress (1883-85) convenes
1901 Milwaukee is dropped from the American League & replaced by St Louis Browns
1903 Panglima Polim surrenders to Captain Colijn at Atjeh
1906 The U.S. Supreme Court orders Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) leaders extradited to Idaho for trial in the Steunenberg murder case.
1907 George Cohan's musical "Talk of the Town" premieres in New York NY
1910 Neon lights, 1st publically seen (Paris Auto Show)
1912 Gerrit Brinkman becomes 1st Dutch traffic officer
1912 Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece & Bulgaria sign weapons pact
1914 Netherlands army shoots up geïnterneerde Belgian soldiers: 8 killed
1920 Turkey & Armenia agree to peace treaty
1921 9th CFL Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts defeats Edmonton Eskimos, 23-0
1922 1st successful technicolor movie (Tall of the Sea), shown in New York NY
1923 1st Congressional open session broadcast via radio (Washington DC)
1926 Manchester Guardian (German Reichswehr/Red Army work together)
1929 Boston Bruins begins then NHL record 14 game winning streak
1930 Air-borne chemicals combine with fog to kill 60 (Meuse Valley Belgium)
1930 Otto Ender forms Austrian government
1930 Richard Rodgers/L Hart's musical "Evergreen" premieres in London
1931 Alka Seltzer goes on sale
1932 20th CFL Grey Cup: Hamilton Tigers defeats Regina Roughriders, 25-6
1932 General Kurt von Schleicher becomes chancellor of Germany
1933 Joe Lilliard QBs Chicago Cardinals; last NFL black until 1946
1933 Connie Mack sells Mickey Cochrane to Detroit Tigers for $100,000
1934 KYW-AM in Chicago IL moves to Philadelphia PA
1934 Italian colonial Tripoli & Cyrenaica annexed to Libya
1938 AAU's decides to continue linear measuring system over metric
1939 Dmitri Shostakovich's 6th Symphony, premieres
1941 Hitler views Poltava Ukraine
1943 9th Heisman Trophy Award: Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame (QB)
1943 Battle of Monte Cassino, Italy begins
1943 Howard Hanson's 4th Symphony, premieres
1944 NFL Cardinals-Pittsburgh merger dissolves
1944 British order to disarm, causes general strike in Greece
1944 Hungarian death march of Jews ends
1944 Mussert puts Seyss-Inquart plan for small Nazi-Europe
1944 US 5th Armour division occupies Brandenburg Hürtgenwald
1946 12th Heisman Trophy Award: Glenn Davis, Army (HB)
1946 US government asks UN to order dictator Franco out of Spain
1947 Tennessee Williams play "A Streetcar Named Desire" premieres in New York NY
1948 "Pumpkin Papers" come to light (claimed to be from Alger Hiss)
1948 1st US woman army officer not in medical corps sworn-in
1948 Chinese refugee ship "Kiangya" explodes in E China Sea, killing 1,100
1948 Bradman scores his last century, 123 in his own testimonial
1949 KRLD (now KDFW) TV channel 4 in Dallas-Fort Worth TX (CBS) begins
1950 Cleveland Browns last NFL team with no-pass game (beat Philadelphia 13-7)
1950 Cleveland Browns' Horace Gillom sets club record with 12 punts
1950 Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast
1952 1st TV broadcast in Hawaii
1952 Marcos Perez Jiménez elected President of Venezuela
1953 "Kismet" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 583 performances
1953 Eisenhower criticizes McCarthy for saying communists are in Republican party
1953 Premier of Dmitri Shostakovich's 5th String Quartet
1955 KTVE TV channel 10 in Monroe-El Dorado LA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1956 Wilt Chamberlain's 1st collegiate basketball game (scores 52)
1956 England & France pull troops out of Egypt
1956 KFSA (now KFSM) TV channel 5 in Fort Smith AR (CBS) 1st broadcast
1957 23rd Heisman Trophy Award: John Crow, Texas A&M (HB)
1958 Indonesian parliament accepts nationalisation of Dutch businesses
1959 State of emergency on Cyprus ends
1960 Frederick Loewe/Alan Jay Lerner's "Camelot" premieres Majestic Theater NYC for 873 performances
1961 George Blanda of Houston Oilers kicks 55-yard field goal
1961 Anton Geesink becomes 1st not-Japanese judo world champion
1961 Beatles meet future manager Brian Epstein
1961 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1962 Edith Spurlock Sampson sworn-in as 1st US black female judge
1962 Pravda criticizes western art
1964 Police arrests 800 sit-in students at University of California at Berkeley
1964 "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" 1st airs on TV
1964 KHQL (now KCAN) TV channel 8 in Albion NE (ABC) begins broadcasting
1965 USSR launches Luna 8; crashes on Moon
1965 Beatles begin final UK concert tour in Glasgow
1967 1st human heart transplant performed (Dr Christiaan Barnard, South Africa)
1967 Final run of "20th Century Limited", famed New York-Chicago luxury train
1967 Derek Clayton runs world record marathon (2:09:36.4)
1967 Ex-President Sukarno under house arrest in Indonesia
1968 Pitcher's mound drops from 15" to 10" & strike zone reduced from knees to shoulders to top of knees to armpits, to help hitters
1970 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1971 Miss Teenage America Pageant
1971 President Nixon commutes Jimmy Hoffa's jail term
1972 Convair 990A charter crashes in Tenerife Canary Island, 155 die
1973 Pioneer 10 passes Jupiter (1st fly-by of an outer planet)
1976 Dr Patrick J Hillery elected President of Iraq
1977 The State Department proposes the admission of 10,000 more Vietnamese refugees to the United States.
1978 Pat Bradley/Lon Hinkle win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1979 11 trampled to death at Cincinnati Who concert
1979 Christie's auctions a thimble for a record $18,400
1979 45th Heisman Trophy Award: Charles White, Southern California (RB)
1979 Iran accepts constitution
1980 New York Federal jury finds Representatives Thompson D-NJ & Murphy, D-NY, guilty
1981 Beth Daniel/Tom Kite win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1981 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1982 1st New Jersey Devil hat-trick (Steve Tambellini) defeat Hartford 5-4
1982 35.7 cm rainfall at Big Fork AR (state record)
1982 77ºF highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in December
1982 Tommy Hearns wins WBC Welterweight title in decision over Benitez
1983 "Marilyn: An American Fable" closes at Minskoff NYC after 16 performances
1983 49th Heisman Trophy Award: Mike Rozier, Nebraska (RB)
1983 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1984 2,000 die from Union Carbide poison gas emission in Bhopal, India
1984 Oldest groom - Harry Stevens, 103, weds Thelma Lucas, 83, in Wisconsin
1985 23rd Shuttle Mission (61-B)-Atlantis 2-lands at Edwards AFB
1986 Sri Lanka all out 55 vs West Indies in one-dayer Walsh 5-1 in 4 3 overs
1988 54th Heisman Trophy Award: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State (RB)
1988 New York Lotto pays $45 million to twelve winner (#s are 1-8-13-18-28-48)
1989 Presidents George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev announce the offical end to the Cold War at a meeting in Malta.
1989 Pat Bradley/Bill Glasson win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1990 National League batting champion Willie McGee signs as a free agent with San Francisco Giants
1991 Hulk Hogan defeats Undertaker to become 4th time WWF champion
1991 Muslim Shiites release US hostage Alan Steen
1991 White House Chief of Staff John Sununu resigns
1992 UN Security Council votes unanimous for US led forces to enter Somalia
1995 "Company" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 68 performances
1995 "Holiday" opens at Circle in Square Theater NYC for 49 performances
1995 84th Davis Cup: USA beats Russia in Moscow (3-2)
1995 Beth Daniels/Davis Love III win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1995 Jack Russell takes 11 catches in Test Cricket vs South Africa, a record
1995 Naeem Akhtar takes 10-28 for Rawalpindi B against Peshawar
1995 Northwestern South Carolina begins using new area code 864
1997 "1776" opens at Gershwin Theater NYC
1997 Golden State Warrior guard Latrell Sprewell, four-year, $32 million, contract terminated for attacking his coach P J Carlesimo

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Illinois : Admission Day (1818)
Philatelists : Sir Rowland Hill Day (1795/1840)
World : Heart Transplant Day (1967)
U.S. : National Roof-Over-Your-Head Day

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Cassian of Tangier, patron of stenographers
Lutheran, Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Francis Xavier, apostle of India & Japan

Religious History
1170 Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, 52, returned to England after six years of exile in France. (Becket would be martyred on December 29th of this year killed by soldiers sent by his former friend, English King Henry II.)
1841 Birth of Clara H. Scott, American music teacher and composer. A contributor to the collections published by Horatio R. Palmer, she is best remembered today as author and composer of the hymn, "Open My Eyes, That I May See."
1902 Birth of Mitsuo Fuchida, the pilot who flew the lead plane in Japan's air attack on Pearl Harbor (12/7/1941). Following WWII, through representatives of the Pocket Testament League, Fuchida was converted to Christianity in 1950.
1908 Birth of C.F.D. Moule, Anglican clergyman and New Testament scholar. He authored numerous autographs on Biblical studies, including "The Phenomenology of the New Testament" (1967).
1976 In Chicago, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (AELC) was formally organized. The bulk of membership derived from former affiliates of the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"An honest politician: One who stays bought."

Question of the day...
Why do they say something is out of whack? What is a whack?

Murphys Law of the day...(Koppett's Law)
Whatever creates the greatest inconvenience for the largest number must happen.

Astounding fact #54,876,901.3...
Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.

GOOD MORNING TROOPS AND CANTEEN!

MoJo wanted to stop in and say "HELLO" to everyone!

Today is a very busy day at MoJo's house! There are doctor's appointments for the kids and a very dear friend visiting from out of the country. I haven't seen her in 3 years and I finally get to see her. It's been too long, but what a great early Christmas gift. Oh! Did I mention that I have to go to the COMMISSARY today. UGH!

Anyways, while I'm venturing out amongst the peeps today. I will leave you with an early Lunch Hour Music Break!! I hope you all enjoy it. Don't forget to click on the album covers!!

God Bless Our Military and Their Families! God Bless everyone in the Canteen and those that lurk.

*HUGS* to all!

So, where are all the Canteeners tonight?

From Navy Newsstand:

Service Members Help Local Business Honor Veterans

Story Number: NNS031203-02
Release Date: 12/3/2003 10:34:00 AM

By Senior Chief Journalist (SW) Doug Hummel, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove Public Affairs

WILLOW GROVE, Pa. (NNS) -- Service members from Naval Air Station and Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove paid tribute to veterans, and were honored during the Veterans' 2003 Commemoration Week program held Nov. 13 in the Education Center of the Prudential Financial complex in Horsham.

This was the second year in a row that service members from the station participated in Prudential’s veterans program.

“By recognizing the achievements (of veterans) during this month, we are emphasizing our most important message - that of embracing diversity and building an environment of inclusion for everyone,” said Joyce A. Johnson, Prudential’s executive sponsor for the event.

The program began with the Honor Guard from the Air Force’s 913th Airlift Wing marching the American flag to the front of the stage, where honors were rendered. Air Force Master Sgt. Randy Plunkett, a recruiter with the 913th, sang the National Anthem in front of a crowd of more than 150 Prudential associates, along with family and friends attending the key event during the company’s weeklong commemoration.

“Veterans Day reminds us that we need to stop and give thanks to the over 25 million living veterans and pay our respects to them,” said Johnson, as she addressed the crowd at the event. “We also want to remember to pay our respects to those who lost their lives fighting for the freedoms we enjoy today. As we reflect on the men and women who have served, we came up with this year’s theme, ‘Honoring All Who Served.’”

The keynote speaker for the event was Cmdr. Norman G. FitzPatrick, the executive officer of the station’s Naval Air Reserve command and a native of Merion, Pa.

During his speech, FitzPatrick focused on his career in the Navy and the oath of office that he took every time he was promoted.

“Our oath is what makes our armed services different than any other in the world,” said FitzPatrick. “We don’t swear to defend a king, a queen or a flag, or a ruling family or even our Army or our Navy. We swear to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic. We swear to obey the orders of the President of the United States and the officers appointed over us.”

After his speech, FitzPatrick answered questions from the audience and explained that, to him, the best ways to pay tribute to veterans are by saying thank you, honoring the flag and paying attention during the national anthem.

The Prudential choir closed the festivities by singing a medley of each service's song and finished with a flag-waving crowd joining in to sing “You’re A Grand Old Flag.”

“It makes me feel good to see this kind of support and respect given to the veterans who served, and that we are cared about,” said Schutoro Brinkley, a veteran who has been with Prudential Financial for more than seven years.

Brinkley and other veterans donated uniforms, pictures and newspapers documenting their time in the military that were on display, showing the difference they made by serving their country.

“I’ve gotten a lot of ‘thank you's,’ especially this week because of Veterans Day, and ‘congratulations’ for defending our country from my co-workers here,” said the Gulf War veteran. “That was really great, and it made me feel good.”

For related news, visit the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, Pa. Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/nasjrbwg.