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Good evening to all who visit the Canteen!!

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

To our men and women who are serving overseas, where it's already Christmas Day, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Though you're far from home, we hope it's some comfort to know there are a LOT of folks back here who hold you near and dear in our hearts, today and every day.
Love and best wishes from Dana and Petey!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Evening radu!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Kindness For Soldiers Alive and Well In America

24 Hours In Airport Reveals Travelers, Country’s True Feelings for Troops

Spc. John S. Wollaston
3BCT PAO

Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport – Just hours after the attack on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon two years ago, President Bush told the world that in response to the attacks on our country; we had “responded with the best that America has to offer”. All it took was a 24 hour layover in one of the worlds busiest airports for me to realize that the human spirit of kindness and goodness that seemed so re-invigorated after 9/11 continues to burn bright in the travelers at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. And it’s reflected in they warmth and kindness shown by complete strangers to those of us who are coming home or returning from leave in Iraq.

It’s not just the cheers and applause from the employees of the airport that are so touching. It’s the random travelers, people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds, taking time in the hustle and bustle of catching their flight to thank us for what we’re doing, that made me realize just how much support for our efforts in Iraq there is back in the United States and elsewhere.

“Thank you for what you’re doing over there.” A woman passing by our gate told us on the way to her flight. “God bless you and keep your heads down.” Said a man who’d served in the Marines during Vietnam. Sometimes there were the unspoken smiles and knowing glances from people that told you just by their look they were proud of us.

Sometimes the appreciation for what we’re doing comes from the most surprising of places. The day Saddam was captured, I heard the reports on the news channels from the Arab “street” about what a “dark day” is was for Arabs that Hussein had been captured with nary a whimper. Five days later, standing in line at McDonalds inside the airport waiting for my order, a man behind the counter whose name badge read Khalid looked at my uniform, then looked at me with a broad grin and said “No more Saddam!”
A woman operating the cash register next to him nodded her agreement and added that “bin-Laden is next.”

The one random act of kindness that took the cake for all of us waiting to finally board our flight after such a long delay due to maintenance problems was a gentleman named Art Richardson of LaFox, Illinois. Mr. Richardson, seeing all of us on the wrong side of the security gates and unable to access anything more than vending machines for food, took it upon himself to buy lunch for 126 soldiers he’d never met nor probably would see again in his life. Sitting in our designated waiting area, we watched in amazement as boxes of cheeseburgers, fries and cokes were brought out to us after having been purchased by Mr. Richardson. “I’ve always wanted to be able to play Santa Claus.” Richardson said. “This is my opportunity.”

Before departing for his flight, Mr. Richardson gave a 1st Sergeant from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade, who was in charge of our flight, a Christmas card and his business card. “In case you want to personally thank the gentleman who provided us this lunch, here’s his address.” The 1st Sgt. Said to all of us there. As the 1st Sgt. read off the pertinent information I looked around and, to a man, everyone had stopped eating and pulled out a pen and paper to take down this strangers address. I have a sneaking suspicion the amount of Christmas cards he receives every year is about to increase greatly this year.

I could go on with anecdotes of how people stopped myself or one of the soldiers in the group I was with to tell us they were proud of us, to thank us or to simply say “God bless you”. I was never tired of thanking these strangers, people I’m not likely to ever meet again for their kind words and deeds. And neither did the soldiers around me. During my two weeks back in the states, there were many more instances of strangers performing acts of kindness that caught me off guard. What little news we do get in Iraq bombards us with the “mainstream” media’s opinion that most of the people in our country and the world don’t support our efforts to free Iraq of a terrible despot and allow them to live as free as we do in the U.S. Over the last 24 hours, stuck in the B terminal of the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport, I saw the “mainstream” media’s impression of how this country and it’s people feel about us completely blown to pieces. And to those people, anonymous to me and my fellow soldiers except for their kind words and deeds, let me simply say a humble thank you, God Bless you and Merry Christmas.