I Gave Eight Quarters.

FP

[CindyDawg]

I really messed up. About a week ago, some elderly women were at a store , supporting the VFW. I gave one of them a dollar and she was all smiles. She started to hand me the flower and I waved her off and said "that's ok" I realized immediately, by the look on her face, that I had been nonchalant about her gift but it was too late to take my actions back. I didn't mean anything by it. People always hand me "free stuff" for donations. Now I feel really bad, after reading your post. I didn't know.

[litehaus]

Twas a tearful morniing at my church too.....

[Iscool]

If there's a VFW, there's got to be poppies...And there's got to be a VFW...Just would seem so...

Course I'm not in Maine...

[kenth]

I got one Friday. I tried to tell the veteran not to thank me, that it was I who needed to thank him.

[tongue-tied]

Ouch...well, you didn't know what it was. For what it is worth, I bet they get that sort of refusal all of the time.

And you're right we do get crap thrust in our face all the time as "free" and a "gift".

I remember buying a cheesy flower for 20 bucks from a girl (maybe 18) back when I was about 25. She was so cute...and then I realized her and her boyfriend were just suckering the guys when I saw her saunter over and hand him the cash and planted a big smooch on him. (I was a sucker for the short shorts and tank top.)

Hey Cindy, at least you gave money and didn't just blow them off. You're still right in the world.

[tongue-tied]

I read your homepage...and have to say the cartoon at the bottom...still has me laughing for some reason. No kidding, I am truly LMAO. (My neighbors must think I'm nuts. But oh well.)

[CindyDawg]

Thanks:') When I go to Mexico I take a roll of quarters for the kids. They always want to sell you gum. I buy a pack and then throw it away later. Once though , there was a little girl about 4 or 5. I gave her a couple of quarters. She thanked me and walked away. At the corner about a dozen bigger kids came out of no where and knocked her down and took her money away. They were gone again before I could get to her and she ran away too.

[AppyPappy]

You still have tomorrow to give.


They don't though.

[technomage]

IB4TZ

You are so far off on this one it's not even funny.

[LonePalm]

I know how you feel.

I got mine three weeks ago for a fiver. I was wearing it today when I led the church and the other veterans in the Pledge of Allegience.

It is very strange being SOPA (Senior Officer Present Alive) when we still have 3 WWII vets.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Polybius]

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

[gotribe]

You did well.

Those of us who live in free countries are the exception in history. It's only through bloodshed - constant bloodshed of someone but ourselves - that we are free. Despite what liberals might want - peacefully negotiating the peace - this world doesn't grant freedom without bloodshed.

[Delta 21]

Memorial day is the hardest for me too...

[middie]

Several churches in the central Fla. area invited vets to wear their uniforms to services today. While it was often humorous to see the ''donelap sydrome'' in evidence (my gut ''done lapped'' over my belt), it was a nice touch. There were more than a few in WW II 'Ike Jackets,' I'm going to corner those guys and gather some oral history. There was also a WW II navy nurse with flowing gray hair and cane-assisted slow walk who, we discovered, was on a hospital ship off shore in the Channel during the Normandy landings on D-Day.

[Ladysmith]

:o)

[rockabyebaby]

I hold in my hand a "Buddy Poppy", I donated yesterday to a veteran who was shocked when I handed over a couple of bucks and thanked him for his service, he was speechless, guess this guy wasn't used to getting thanked. So humble was he and so proud was I to make his day. God bless all those who have served and especially those who have given their lives serving our country, God rest their souls and keep them close to You.

[alisasny]

I feel right along with you. Blue Angels were in town this weekend for 2 Airshows and they have been flying over my house since Thursday. I get emotional when I see them and always wonder how anyone can mess with the US.

For all the sacrifice, men and women still join willingly to protect and defend the freedoms we all share in this great country.

[LonePalm]

My family has a long and fortunate history in the US military. I am the geneologist in my generation. So far as I can tell, everyone came home from the Revolution, 1812, Mexico, Civil War (both sides), Spanish/American, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the First Gulf War. I don't know of anyone in the current dust up.

My mom's mom was one of the first women officers in the US Navy when the Nurse Corps was founded. Her father was a surgeon for the Royal Army Medical Corps when the US Army said he was 'Not Physically Qualified.'

I had three uncles at Guadalcanal, one on-shore and two off-shore. All three retired as O-6's. My dad was just out of boot camp when the war ended. He went back for Korea.

Me, I'm just an aging cold warrior.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[newzjunkey]

Remembering our lost vets... *bump*

[P8riot]

I'm with you. I bought six. One for each of the friends I lost on the USS Stark in 1987. I've done that every year since then, and then I send them along with a letter to each of their families.