FReeper Canteen ~ Remembering Our Troops! ~ 01 October 2020

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | The Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~

~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~

DANGLING FROM 350 FEET

Marines are being lifted to a height of over 350 feet in the air to avoid any possible obstacles before flying around the area during insertion and extraction rigging training on Camp Pendleton, Calif., Nov. 19, 2015. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Briauna Birl

Canteen Mission Statement

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies' military
and family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

WELDING SHOP

Navy Seaman Quinton Mems welds a handrail in the machinery shop aboard aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Atlantic City, Nov. 30, 2015. Washington and its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing 2, are deployed to support Southern Seas 2015. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Clemente A. Lynch

MISSION READINESS

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Taylor Giffard role-plays as an opposition force member during a mission readiness exercise for the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, Nov. 24, 2015. Giffard is a ground signals operator with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Owen Kimbrel

PROFICIENCY JUMPS

Paratroopers conduct parachute landing falls as part a proficiency jump program over the Sicily drop zone on Fort Bragg, Nov. 21, 2015. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Darius D. Davis

MARTIAL MOVE

A Marine Corps recruit executes a rear hand punch during a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program session at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Nov. 25, 2015. The recruit is assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tyler Viglione

EXIT EFFORT

Marine Corps Capt. Ericka Johnson conducts egress training on the Quantico Reserve Support Unit Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., Nov. 20, 2015. The training replicates the effort required to exit an overturned vehicle. Johnson is a Legal Service Support Section defense attorney. U.S. Marine Corps photo

PROVIDING SECURITY

As seen through a night-vision device, a U.S. soldier provides security after participating in an airborne operation onto Juliet drop zone in Pordenone, Italy, Dec. 1, 2015. The soldier is a paratrooper assigned to 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Paolo Bovo

Please remember that The Canteen is here to support
and entertain our troops and veterans and their families,
and is family friendly.

[luvie]

....We'll Never Forget!
No Matter How Long Ago You Fought!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Right now, looking out my window, is a layer of fluffy white clouds, a layer of blue sky, and a layer of dark clouds, getting darker.

[radu]

Howdy, my.

This is your friend who passed recently, isn’t it?
He certainly lived a full life.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, TMN78247...it's a good crew and we work hard to honor our troops, past and present.

And we thank you for your service to our country.

[luvie]

There Is A Beautiful
Full Moon Out There Tonight!
It's the Harvest Moon



Neil Young~Harvest Moon

Benny Goodman~How High The Moon

Paul Hardcastle/Jazzmasters~Moon Trekkin'

Mannheim Steamroller~Full Moon

Ottmar Liebert~Dancing Under The Moon

Tom Scott~Mambo To The Moon

Sting/Herbie Hancock~Sister Moon

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!

[radu]

I’m not surprised your leaves are falling in droves. It’s been windy up there today. Watching some of the small planes land on the lake made my tummy a little queasy, they were rocking so hard. Even the BIG Dreamlifter that flew in this morning was rockin’ as it landed. Nothankyouverymuch! LOL

[radu]

Thicker clouds are moving in from the west now, making for an interesting prelude to sunset. Pretty splotches of sunshine and shadows on the mountains.

[luvie]

God rest his soul
May Doug rest in peace...

[radu]

Howdy, luvie.

So THAT’S why the cats are driving us crazy . . . . full moon. LOL! I hadn’t paid attention to it the past couple of nights.

Still enjoying nice weather? Summer didn’t sneak back in?

[Biggirl]

It did!

[mylife]

gnight gang.

https://www.jones-walkerandson.com/obituary/Douglas-Price

[luvie]

Hey, radu!

Yep...and I need to go out front and look at it. My cats don’t change much during a moon change....that I can tell.

Peaches’ ear is looking better. I got it squished and am now doctoring with sanitary wipes and antibiotics. He looks like he feels much better.

[Kathy in Alaska]

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

We made it through hump day! Hurrah for us!

Was today Mixer Day?

[Kathy in Alaska]

I don’t do small planes, but can imagine the rocking and rolling...no thanks!

But I have come in on more than one flight on the big Alaska Airlines jets when the bumpy landing approach had the plane rocking. Thankfully I’ve only once been on a flight that had to go around again as the shaking was so bad. So close to home, but unable to land, and as we “take off” again, we pass over my house on the big circle to try to land again.

[MoochPooch]

Fall is creeping up slowly. This week has been warm, but temperatures will drop next week — right in time for Succoth!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Permission Granted!

[ConorMacNessa]

Thanks very much, Kathy!
***HUGS***



Striding up the gangplank as we speak,
rendering Hand Salutes to our National Colors
and to the Officer of the Deck!
Thank you very much for this evening's
"Remembering Our Troops" thread!

[radu]

You are so lucky your kittehs don’t turn lunactic when the moon’s full. LOL It can be a zoo here at times.

Glad Peaches’ ear is doing better. That had to hurt!

[The Mayor]

Next Wednesday : )

[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!!