FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Chuck Yeager ~ June 15, 2015

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | StarCMC

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, vetvetdoug...thanks for adding more information.

[Kathy in Alaska]

In first....ML grabs the gold!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

And in second....Sand snags the silver!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

And rounding out the top three....Pro bags the bronze!!

[SandRat]

I see Monday has stared.....

[MoochPooch]

Hi Kathy. This brings back memories of the film THE RIGHT STUFF.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Ms Feather...*hugs*...test pilots are special people.

We’ve had sun all day. Porch time for you?

Sunrise....4:20am
Sunset....11:38pm

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hi there, Seven...now that you mention it, I have seen him prowling the sidelines a time or two.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hi yarddog...

Breaking the Sound Barrier F-86 Pilots Jackie Cochran and Chuck Yeager, Edwards AFB, 1953

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

Ready to take on the new week?

[Conservative4Ever]

Definitely, the Right Stuff.

[yarddog]

Jackie Cochran grew up very poor in my home town of DeFuniak Springs Florida. She was married and her little boy accidentally burned to death in her back yard.

She went to hair dressing school and made something of herself. She eventually married the president of General Dynamics, one of the wealthiest men in the world. She kept her married name of her child’s father “cochrane”.

My Father was present when a man pulled her out of Ponce de Leon Springs, saving her life. She was just a young girl then but in later life she would send the guy a check every year. My Father saw one of the checks. She didn’t just forget the guy who saved her life.

[ConorMacNessa]

Welcome To All Who Enter This Canteen, To Our Serving Military, To Our Veterans, To All Military Families, To Our FRiends and To Our Allies!



Missing Man Setting

"The Empty Chair"

By Captain Carroll "Lex" Lefon, USN (RET), on December 21st, 2004

"In the wardroom onboard the aircraft carrier from which I recently debarked was a small, round table, with single chair. No one ever sat there, and the reasons, both for the table being there, and for the fact that the chair was always empty, will tell the reader a little bit about who we are as a culture. The wardroom, of course, is where the officers will dine; morning, noon and evening. It is not only a place to eat – it is also a kind of oasis from the sometimes dreary, often difficult exigencies of the service. A place of social discourse, of momentary relief from the burdens of the day. The only things explicitly forbidden by inviolable tradition in the wardroom are the wearing of a cover or sword by an officer not actually on watch, or conversation which touches upon politics or religion. But aboard ships which observe the custom, another implicit taboo concerns the empty chair: No matter how crowded the room, no matter who is waiting to be seated, that chair is never moved, never taken.

The table is by the main entrance to the wardroom. You will see it when you enter, and you will see it when you leave. It draws your eyes because it is meant to. And because it draws your eyes it draws your thoughts. And though it will be there every day for as long as you are at sea, you will look at it every time and your eyes will momentarily grow distant as you think for a moment. As you quietly give thanks.

AS YOU REMEMBER.

The small, round table is covered with a gold linen tablecloth. A single place setting rests there, of fine bone china. A wineglass stands upon the table, inverted, empty. On the dinner plate is a pinch of salt. On the bread plate is a slice of lemon. Besides the plate lies a bible. There is a small vase with a single red rose upon the table. Around the vase is wound a yellow ribbon. There is the empty chair.

We will remember because over the course of our careers, we will have had the opportunity to enjoy many a formal evening of dinner and dancing in the fine company of those with whom we have the honor to serve, and their lovely ladies. And as the night wears on, our faces will in time become flushed with pleasure of each other’s company, with the exertions on the dance floor, with the effects of our libations. But while the feast is still at its best, order will be called to the room – we will be asked to raise our glasses to the empty table, and we will be asked to remember:

The table is round to show our everlasting concern for those who are missing. The single setting reminds us that every one of them went to their fates alone, that every life was unique.

The tablecloth is gold symbolizing the purity of their motives when they answered the call to duty.

The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones who kept the faith.

The yellow ribbon around the vase symbolizes our continued determination to remember them.

The slice of lemon reminds us of the bitterness of their fate.
The salt symbolizes the tears shed by those who loved them.
The bible represents the faith that sustained them.
The glass is inverted — they cannot share in the toast.
The chair is empty — they are not here. They are missing.

And we will remember, and we will raise our glasses to those who went before us, and who gave all that they had for us. And a part of the flush in our faces will pale as we remember that nothing worth having ever came without a cost. We will remember that many of our brothers and sisters have paid that cost in blood. We will remember that the reckoning is not over.

We many of us will settle with our families into our holiday season, our Christmas season for those who celebrate it, content in our fortune and prosperity. We will meet old friends with smiles and laughter. We will meet our members of our family with hugs. We will eat well, and exchange gifts and raise our glasses to the year passed in gratitude, and to the year to come with hope. We will sleep the sleep of the protected, secure in our homes, secure in our homeland.

But for many families, there will be an empty chair at the table this year. A place that is not filled.

WE SHOULD REMEMBER."

Many Thanks To Alfa6 For Finding Capt. Lefon's Chronicle Of "The Empty Chair."

"Träumerei"
Robert Schumann
(Click)

Never Forget The Brave Men And Women Who
Gave Their Lives To Secure Our Freedom!!

[Charles Martel]

I was going to look for a good photo of the General in his days with the NF-104a, the aircraft that graced so many magazine pages and model kit packaging graphics back then.

But this is better...

[Kathy in Alaska]

Happy 3rd Birthday, Maddi!!

Click

[luvie]

....till they all come home....

[luvie]

Now, there’s a hero for you! And a daredevil and an innovator and many other hats he’s worn. Thanks for his story!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mac...*HUGS*...ready to take on Monday?

More fixits today?

[ConorMacNessa]

There goes another career! Oh wait, this was a long, long time ago in a Nation far, far away that had ideals, a moral compass, and a sense of humor.

The Nation in which I was reared, for which I served, and for which I would serve again.

"I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life.
I am prepared to give my life in their defense."

[luvie]

It's raining and I'm lovin' it, Night Owls!