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A Touch of Home
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This is how I think of the USO Canteen
Freeper Style. It is like a cottage down a road,
a place where a weary veteran can spend the night.
Since it opened, it is magical how so many
Freepers who post here, feel it too.
It has been so dear how the Freepers
kept making it a cottage - a home-type of
place that had a huge living room
for them to visit in and a dance floor,
a library, etc.
Many Veterans have written to me,
saying that the Canteen is like home
to them for the first time since they
served.
This is your Canteen -
a respite from our busy
and sometimes troubling world.
Make yourself at home.
Snow Bunny
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If you know a Veteran, someone in your family,
friend of the family, neighbor, who served their
country, take a brief moment of your day to thank
them.
Thank them for the sacrifice they made
for the better good of their country.
We at Free Republic, and the USO Canteen FReeper
Style, are thankful for every service member
in our military, who has served our great nation.
So, to the men and women who answered the call,
In both times of war and peace, thank you.
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Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
John McCrae
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The USO Canteen Honors FReepers
who have served, or are now serving their country.
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You may have a loved one who has served in the past.
We at the FReeper USO Canteen would like to honor each and every one.
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Loretta was born November 30, 1946 in Hannibal, Missouri,
a river town steeped in folklore and Mark Twain.
Her family owned orchards and truck farms.
Loretta spent hours playing in the orchards,
eating the most delicious peaches in the world,
and helping care for her “baby” brothers.
Her family was very large, and Loretta
was the first grandchild, but soon she had
many cousins, as well as siblings, to play with.
Loretta learned to mother at a very early age.
A bird with a broken wing,
or, an orphaned kitten to nurse
with a baby doll bottle was usually
included in the family on a regular basis.
More siblings were to follow.
Her Mom had to start working full
time at a publishing company to
help support the family.Loretta’s Dad
was a hard worker as well.
Her parents would take the family
camping on overnight fishing trips.
A field trip to the local rock quarry to
collect rocks for the garden, or, catching
tadpoles for an aquarium was common
entertainment.
Most important to Loretta was the piano
set up in the plumbing shop office for her
to play. She had taken lessons for several
years and was by age 10 performing for
school concerts, or playing an old pipe organ
at the Church during Sunday Masses.
There were Catholic churches and the
two were later consolidated into one parish.
Loretta attended both churches and played
at both places, sometimes three Masses or more
on Sunday and possibly a wedding too. Sometimes
she would literally run the half mile between the
churches to get to the next Mass.
She often stuck Bluesagewoman, under the organ
to pump the pedals to the pipes of the organ at
Blessed Sacrament, her legs were too short to reach.
Loretta was in the convent in Nerinx, Kentucky.
Dad was lifting her up to kiss the angel
Loretta decided she wanted to become a nun.
So after graduation from school, she entered the
Loretto Convent in Nerinx, Kentucky. The family
would make a “vacation” out of the drive to go
see her at the convent. However, after a couple of
years, she left the convent before taking the final vows.
This “leaving” would become a pattern
of Loretta’s behavior, which was enhanced
by her tremendous sense of adventure and
lack of fear. But maybe what folks termed
"leaving" may have actually been "going"
toward something new, exciting and different.
Loretta entered Southern Illinois University
that fall and moved to Illinois.
Loretta won a scholarship as an exchange student.
She immediately packed up and moved to Luxembourg.
She lived in a drafty old castle and made side trips on
the weekends visiting Spain, Germany, France, Holland,
and several more countries.
One of her stories to she shared from her experiences
was about the pipe organ in a hallway at the castle in
Luxembourg. The organ was hundreds of years old,
extremely ornate, and had a massive pipe system.As
she would play the organ the Count of the castle would
sit on the other side of the door and listen, apparently
enthralled with the music and Loretta.It was such a
romantic story.
Loretta was always the best storyteller.
Her animated face and creative word choices made for many pleasurable evenings spent as
a family enjoying those things that are free:
stories, popcorn, and laughter.
Music was also a passion in the family.
One brother played classical guitar and the
two little sisters played guitar, but not nearly
as well. They had a banged up piano sitting
around. Somewhere along the line a banjo,
mandolin, harmonica, drums, bongos, violin,
clarinet, combs, spoons, anything that could
be bought cheap or scrounged up were
introduced, and whomever could handle
the instrument, played it.
Bluesagewoman said ,"I am sure much
of what we called music was really just
noise. But Loretta thought it all sounded
glorious to her and encouraged us."
She taught for a short time, then joined the Army
She was last at Ft. Lee, Virginia doing computer programming and logistics.
When she joined the Army she
was 31 or so years old. Loretta
just called her family up one
day and told them she had enlisted.
They had assumed, since her box
of grits, toothbrush and travelling
underwear were gone, she was out
camping again.The boys in the
family had missed being drafted for
various reasons, and here Loretta
runs off and joins up.Who woulda
thunk? Loretta’s Mom was
absolutely stunned.
Bluesagewoman said.......
"My sister Loretta once told us a few years
later in a rare minute of lucidity, that it
was one of the smartest things she had
ever done, to leave the convent and join
the army; they had better insurance."
Life in the Army was very difficult
for a woman at that time.The smallest
boots they had were way to big and
they destroyed her knees and flattened
her feet running many miles in training.
She studied and worked hard, eventually
working logistics. She was put to work
on computer projects for the Army.
She was also a royal screw-up, driving her
drill sergeant nuts, going left for right,
messing up the cadence destroying
the marching choreography.She was
notorious for walking into the men’s
restroom by mistake, once walking in
on a multi-starred general in all his glory.
Her sense of humor got her through it all.
However, after only a few years in the army,
Loretta started having seizures. The problem
eventually caused the Army to discharge her
on medical disability. Seizures were not
conducive to army life and the potent
medication used to control them was
unacceptable for a soldier to use. Her
last post was at Fort Lee, Virginia.
Loretta bought an old house in Petersburg,
Virginia in the Colonial section of town.
The house was run-down, but belonged to
the period. She started to fix it up, taking
great pleasure in its antiquity. The houses
on both sides of her house had been
completely restored and were beautiful
enough to be in Better Homes and Garden
magazine. Loretta loved that house, and
had used every penny of her Army pension
trying to pay for it and fix it up. Loretta
dreamed the whole family could one day
move there.
Loretta’s Dad became ill about the
time Loretta bought the house. Loretta
took him to her home and she and one
of her sisters nursed him until he died.
Her Mother died from a heart attack a
few months later. Loretta often took
people in who were poor, mentally ill,
or hungry. Sometimes renting out rooms
in the house. Bluesagewoman said they
called her "the wing-under-taker."
The money from renting rooms was
not enough so she took a job in
Alaska teaching Eskimo children
music, math and computer. She left
a friend in charge of her house in
Virginia and moved to the tundra.
In Alaska she lived in a log cabin with an
outhouse, and a fireplace for heat. She
loved the Eskimo children but the
life on the brutal and frozen tundra was
becoming too hard for her. She often had
little or no food. Finding and chopping
firewood was a constant chore.
A while later Loretta began having problems
and was transferred to the Salem VA hospital
where they discovered that she had probable
Alzheimer’s. It make it difficult to care for
her properly for her best care so she was taken to a nursing home.
They retired her about 1987 or so, on disability.
Loretta’s old personality would emerge
from time to time. She infrequently
realized she was sick and those times
were the most heartbreaking, when
she would ask,"What is wrong with
me?"and desperately try to go "home"
not knowing even where home was.
She had an almost childlike fascination for
flowers, trees, cats, babies and music, all
that she loved when she was a child.Her
lack of fear often made it difficult to
keep her out of trouble. Her physical
strength made it hard to keep her from
wandering, and really far. When she
would look for home all we could do
was take her outside, say “home is
that way,” and try to keep up; let her
walk herself to exhaustion then tuck
her into bed.
But the same lack of fear had always
caused her to explore life to the limit.
I can only think of the saying “Places
to go, People to meet, Things to do” as
being coined especially for Loretta.
Loretta will always be thought of for
being a marvelous sister, caring
and loving . The water fights she
would instigate, giving the younger
kids water pistols, then, she’d
show up with the garden hose,
or a 5-gallon bucket. (Yes, she
managed to fool them repeatedly
into trusting her that this time, no,
she wouldn’t cheat.) Loretta was
always there with wise words to
guide the siblings, stunts to distract
them, and she had all the answers to
their questions on religion, life and love.
Loretta currently resides in a Veteran's Home
in Missouri in the final stages of Alzheimer's.
She is 56 years of age
She held their hands through sickness,
sorrow and celebrated in their joys.
She shared their families, though she
had none of her own, and was delighted
to have nephews and a niece.
“ Loretta’s treasures were love,
adventure, diversity, and humor.
The little, pesky details may have
gotten lost in her mind, but will
never be truly “forgotten” no matter
the progress of the disease. Even
though this was not the way
she intended for things to be, she’s
made one hell of impact on the
world, her family, and we’ll never
know how many others. The world
bent to suit her, not the other way.
Loretta was an incredibly strong-willed,
generous and courageous woman.".......
Loretta was never firmly rooted to this earth.
One day God will be taking her back
Loretta is one of his favorite angles.
Thank you Loretta. And thank you
Bluesagewoman for sharing and letting
us get to know your sister Loretta.
You fought this battle well my friend
...........until the very end
An enemy you could not see
until one day .... you were set free
Like a solider in a battle, you fought with all your might
some stood all alone .... no loved ones left in sight
but onward you marched until the very end
the silent enemy lurking at every single bend
Yes, you held your head up high until you could no more
and then one day you saw it...the gleam on a distant shore
While holding on to loved ones hands
you reached out to the one who stands
Upon the other side.
As gently as a dove
He guided you along .... giving you his total love
The enemy was lost .... the battle you have won
When you reached out and took the hand of God's only son!
Your name is written in his book
you have now regained all that the enemy took
You fought the battle well my friend
For you see .... you really won in the end.
You were our mother, father, sister or brother
A good friend, a spouse, a son or even someones daughter
We will not forget you as we hold you in our heart
For not even this silent enemy can keep our souls apart
Upon this wall we etch your name with LOVE
So others may have hope as you watch now from above
You are an unsung hero who fought the battle well
And now stand on heavens shore where forever you will dwell
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