USO Canteen FReeper Style Pray for the Troops and President Bush .... October 27,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style ~Coteblanche ~Grantswank~Snow Bunny~

[Snow Bunny]

.

.

.

.

Although we are always aware
that the Canteen is operating
in Cyberspace, we want the troops
and anyone who is on the receiving end
of prayers at the Canteen,
to know that these prayers are very real.

I hope the troops and Canteeners
alike, will view this Canteen Chapel,
as a place where you might go in times of
trouble or times of joy to be with your God.

"Come unto me all ye who are weary and
burdened,and I shall give you rest." (Matt: 11:28).

.

.

.

George W. Bush: A President of Faith

.

A Man of Prayer

A reporter on CNN was asked

"What did George W. Bush do
on his first morning as president-elect?"

This was Tony Clark's answer:

"He attended a prayer service with family,
friends and staff members."

George W Bush's priorities were established
on the first day of his Presidency.

The President Takes His Faith to Work

President George W. Bush looks over to Thomas Martello, 6,
during the signing ceremony of the Victims of Terrorism
Tax Relief Act in the East Room Jan. 23.
"We're joined today by families who have lost loved ones
in the great acts of evil," said the President.
"As you draw on faith and personal strength to cope with your grief,
I hope you'll also find comfort in the knowledge that
your nation stands with you and prays for you.
We mourn those whom we've lost, and we face the future together."

The President Lives his Faith

President Bush says he prays every day
in all kinds of situations,
and has been seen to quietly bow his head and pray
before news conferences and important meetings.
"I pray for guidance. I do not pray for earthly things
but for heavenly things, for wisdom
and patience and understanding."

"For strength and support, Bush turns to
the same things that have sustained
him for two decades: his faith and his family . . .
Bush prays and reads the Bible every day.
These days, aides say, they often spot
a Bible on his desk in the Oval Office.
In conversation or meetings, he often refers to
passages of Scripture that he has just read."

"There are prayers that help us last
through the day, or endure the night.
There are prayers of friends and strangers
that give us strength for the journey.
And there are prayers that yield
our will to a will greater than our own."

George W. Bush September 14, 2001
National Day of Prayer and Remembrance.

Listen to President George W Bush
in an Inspiring Song by Russ Lee

Don't miss this.

I'm Going To Live What I Believe

.

.

.

Music for a Sunday

How Great Thou Art (Elvis Presley) ......A Mighty Fortress

Amazing Grace (Statler Brothers).....Praise Adonai (Steve Israel)

The Lord's Prayer.....Ave Maria

.

Hymns of the Military

.

Army Hymn: "God of Our Fathers"

Navy Hymn: "Eternal Father Strong to Save"

Air Force Hymn: "Lord Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly"

.

We, at the Canteen, offer these prayers 
to those serving their country 
today. God Bless you all.

.

Psalm 59:1,16&17
(Patti Vaillant)

"Deliver me from mine enemies,O my God:
Defend me from them that rise up against me.
But I will sing of thy power;yes I will sing
aloud of thy mercy in the morning; for thou
hast been my defence and refuge in the day
of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength will
I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of 
my mercy."

.

Our Prayer
(Celine Dion/Andrea Bocelli)

I pray you'll be our eyes, 
And watch us where we go.
And help us to be wise 
In times when we don't know.

Let this be our prayer, 
When we lose our way.
Lead us to a place, 
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe. 

I pray we'll find your light,
And hold it in our hearts
When stars go out each night,
Remind us where you are.. 

Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace 
Give us faith so we'll be safe.

We ask that life be kind
And watch us from above.
We hope each soul will find
Another soul to love.

Let this be our prayer,
Just like every child,
Needs to find a place, 
Guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe.

.

.

The Chaplain's Corner

J. Grant Swank, Jr.,
Pastor, New Hope Church

.

.

KEEP YOUR HEAD HELD HIGH

.

Frog and I peered eye to eye. Riveted. Don’t tell me those instinct-driven creatures don’t know what’s going on. They’re just like my three kids when they were little. They’d stare me right in the eye as if I were invisible—and they too were nowhere to be seen. Oh well, since I don’t grab hold of evolution, I leave other brains to figure out the connection on that one.

Anyhow, Frog spied me out and vice versa. Then as I leaned over to throw a small stick into the water, Frog hopped into oblivion. Splash. I yelled to the others, "I just saw a frog!" Dumb. As if we had never come upon a frog before. Why do we adults do that?

Autumn had come upon us. So it was time to praise the good Lord for His turn in season. With that, some of us Lakes Region believers took to the trail—Cascade Falls Trail to be specific.

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon for browsing the bushes and taking in those exceptionally spiked trees. Their heads reached far, far, faaarrr up there. A well-worn path spoke of fellow travelers who had enjoyed those same enticing environs.

Anna looked back at us, then put her hands into the air as if to conduct the choir. We got the message. It was time to sing a chorus or two. So we enthusiastically began: "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing. I will sing. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, of the mercies of the Lord."

Now some may call that a ditty. We called it "singing for fun in thanks to God for a day off from work—and hearts in tune with heaven."

Before long we came upon the falls and picnic area. Then there was the Cascade Brook with its mossy rocks and impressive descending waterway.

"Look at all this slate," someone pointed as we took in the gray bits and pieces strewn about our feet. "Reminds me of Monson," another responded, recalling the slate slabs characteristic of those north-of-us parts.

"Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid For the Lord my God is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation."

The singing continued—gladly so.

"There used to be a lion’s cage here," a seasoned pathfinder pointed out. "Many years ago walkers came upon a lion in that iron frame."

"I remember when they used to put bears in cages alongside the road," another reminisced. "As children we used to linger about them, mesmerized especially by the pandas."

"That could never happen today. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would shut down those tiny confines."

Of course, all that was true. Yet on our trail the remains of a metal housing broken into pieces due to the ravages of time stared back at us from beneath the trees.

"God is so good to us," I thought. "Here we are with true friends, outdoors’ splendor and a few bare logs for relaxing alongside the falls. We are truly wealthy folk."

It doesn’t take much to make a soul happy when you’re head is looking up and your heart is in the right place.

Servicewoman and serviceman: remember: keep your head held high and your heart in the heart of God. Also, know that all of us love you and are praying for you.

.

Click on the banner above to listen to this beautiful song.

.

Our Canteen Chaplain,Grant Swank,is pastor 
of the New Hope Church. He has pastored for 
40+ years, ministering in Calgary, Alberta;
Indianapolis; Kansas City; Manchester CT; 
Akron OH; Fishkill NY; Walpole MA and presently 
in Maine. 

Grant also finds ministry in writing for various 
Protestant and Catholic publications, including 
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, DECISION and THE PRIEST. 

Presently, Grant is providing columns for 
websites such as CHALCEDON, INTELLECTUAL.
CONSERVATIVE, 
MENSNEWSDAILY, MICHNEWS and WOUNDEDSHEPHERDS. 

He also writes a weekly column, "Lakes 
Religion," for the PORTLAND PRESS HERALD 
newspaper, Portland ME. 

He and his wife, Priscilla, have traveled 
extensively, including the Middle East, Europe 
and South America. The Swanks have three adult 
children: Crystal, Jay and 
Heidi Jo.

.

[MoJo2001]

THank you for the "Pilot's Prayers" and the military wives letters. Absolutely wonderful! *HUGS*

[MoJo2001]

Woohoo!! I love our transportation for the day!!

Thank you, Mr.Tonkin!! Love it! Love it! Love it!!

[patriciaruth]

In honor of Reformation Sunday

A Mighty Fortress is our God
(hymn by Martin Luther (1483-1546), loosely translated from German)

A mighty fortress is our God,
A sword and shield victorious;
He breaks the cruel oppressor's rod
And wins salvation glorious.
The old satanic foe
Has sworn to work us woe!
With craft and dreadful might
He arms himself to fight.
On earth he has no equal.

No strength of ours can match his might!
We would be lost, rejected.
But now a champion comes to fight,
Whom God Himself elected.
You ask who this may be?
The Lord of hosts is He!
Christ Jesus, mighty Lord,
God's only Son, adored.
He holds the field victorious.

Though hordes of devils fill the land
All threat'ning to devour us,
We tremble not, unmoved we stand;
They cannot overpow'r us,
Let this world's tyrant rage;
In battle we'll engage!
His might is doomed to fail;
God's judgment must prevail!
One little word subdues him.

God's Word forever shall abide,
No thanks to foes, who fear it;
For God himself fights by our side
With weapons of the Spirit.
Were they to take our house,
Goods, honor, child or spouse,
Though life be wrenched away,
They cannot win the day.
The Kingdom's ours forever!

From the Lutheran Book of Worship
Copyright 1978, by Lutheran Church in America, The American Lutheran Church, The Evangelical Church of Canada, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

[SAMWolf]

You're Welcome.

[SAMWolf]

Freedom is not Free
by Herb Peppard
Nova Scotia

I stood on Vimy Ridge and saw
The names carved in that stone,
And in my troubled mind I heard
the shell fire and the moans.
The cries from these, our gallant men
Five thousand miles from home.
'Twas then my eyes were filled with tears
And truth came clear to me,
these men paid a terrible price
For Freedom is not Free!

I stood beside an unknown grave
Near Vimy's sacred sod,
And forced myself to read the words
Carved in that stone so flawed.
It read: "A CANADIAN SOLDIER,
KNOWN ONLY UNTO GOD!"
Then emotion filled my troubled soul
I could not speak nor see,
The truth was on that weathered stone,
Our Freedom was not Free!



The Capture of Vimy Ridge

At 5.30 on the morning of April 9, 1917, Easter Monday, the creeping artillery barrage began to move steadily towards the Germans. Behind it advanced 20,000 soldiers of the first attacking wave of the four Canadian divisions, a score of battalions in line abreast, leading the assault in a driving north-west wind that swept the mangled countryside with sleet and snow. Guided by paint-marked stakes, the leading infantry companies crossed the devastation of No Man's Land, picking their way through shell-holes and shattered trenches. They were heavily laden. Each soldier carried at least 32 kilograms of equipment, plus, some say, a similar weight of the all-pervasive mud on uniform and equipment. This burden made climbing in and out of the numerous trenches and craters particularly difficult.

There was some hand-to-hand fighting, but the greatest resistance, and heavy Canadian losses, came from the strongly-emplaced machine-guns in the German intermediate line. Overcoming this resistance, three of the four divisions captured their part of the Ridge by midday, right on schedule. In the final stage, the 2nd Canadian Division was assisted by the British 13th Brigade, which fell under its command for the operation.

The 4th Canadian Division's principal objective was Hill 145, the highest and most important feature of the whole Ridge. Once taken, its summit would give the Canadians a commanding view of German rearward defences in the Douai Plain as well as those remaining on the Ridge itself.

Because of its importance, the Germans had fortified Hill 145 with well-wired trenches and a series of deep dug-outs beneath its rear slope. The brigades of the 4th Division were hampered by fire from the Pimple, the other prominent height, which inflicted costly losses on the advancing waves of infantry. Renewed attacks were mounted using troops that were originally scheduled to attack the Pimple. Finally, in the afternoon of April 10, a fresh assault by a relieving brigade cleared the summit of Hill 145 and thus placed the whole of Vimy Ridge in Canadian hands. Two days later, units of the 10th Canadian Brigade successfully stormed the Pimple. By that time, the enemy had accepted the loss of Vimy Ridge as permanent and had pulled back more than three kilometres.

Vimy Ridge marked the only significant success of the Allied spring offensive of 1917. But though they had won a great tactical victory, the Canadians were unable to exploit their success quickly with a breakthrough, mainly because their artillery had bogged down and was unable to move up with them through the muddy, shell-torn ground. Instead, some Canadian artillerymen took over captured German guns which they had earlier been trained to fire.

The Canadian achievement in capturing Vimy Ridge owed its success to sound and meticulous planning and thorough preparation, all of which was aimed at minimizing casualties. But it was the splendid fighting qualities and devotion to duty of Canadian officers and soldiers on the battlefield that were decisive. Most of them citizen-soldiers, they performed like professionals.

Canadians attacked German machine-guns, the greatest obstacles to their advance, with great courage. They saved many comrades' lives as a result. Four won the Victoria Cross for their bravery in such dangerous exploits. Of these, three were earned on the opening day of the battle.

Private William Milne of the 16th Battalion won the VC when he crawled up to a German machine-gun that had been firing on the advancing Canadians, bombed its crew and captured the gun. Later, he stalked a second machine-gun, killing its crew and capturing it, but was himself killed shortly thereafter. The whereabouts of Private Milne's grave is unknown.

Lance-Sergeant Ellis Sifton of the 18th Battalion charged a machine-gun post single-handed, leaping into the trench where it was concealed and killing its crew. Soon after, he was met by a small party of Germans who were advancing through the trench. He managed to hold them off until his comrades arrived, but then one of his victims, gasping a last breath of life, fired upon him.

During the fight for Hill 145, Captain Thain MacDowell of the 38th Battalion entered an enemy dug-out, where he tricked 77 Prussian Guards into surrendering and captured two machine-guns by pretending he had a large force behind him. His large force consisted of two soldiers. MacDowell had earned the Distinguished Service Order on the Somme.

On April 10, Private John Pattison of the 50th Battalion jumped from shell-hole to shell-hole until, 30 metres from an enemy machine-gun, he was in range to bomb its crew. He then rushed forward to bayonet the remaining five gunners. Pattison was killed two months later.

Of the four Vimy VCs, only Captain MacDowell survived the War.

At Vimy, the Canadian Corps had captured more ground, more prisoners and more guns than any previous British offensive in two-and-a-half years of war. It was one of the most complete and decisive engagements of the Great War and the greatest Allied victory up to that time. The Canadians had demonstrated they were one of the outstanding formations on the Western Front and masters of offensive warfare.

Though the victory at Vimy came swiftly, it did not come without cost. There were 3,598 dead out of 10,602 Canadian casualties. Battalions in the first waves of the assault suffered grievously. No level of casualties could ever be called "acceptable", but those at Vimy were lower than the terrible norm of many major assaults on the Western Front. They were also far lighter than those of any previous offensive at the Ridge. Earlier French, British and German struggles there had cost at least 200,000 casualties. Care in planning by the Corps Commander, Sir Julian Byng, and his right-hand man, Arthur Currie, kept Canadian casualties down.

The Canadian success at Vimy marked a profound turning-point for the Allies. A year-and-a-half later, the Great War was over. The Canadian record, crowned by the achievements at Vimy, won for Canada a separate signature on the Versailles Peace Treaty ending the War. Back home, the victory at Vimy, won by troops from every part of the country, helped unite many Canadians in pride at the courage of their citizen-soldiers, and established a feeling of real nationhood.

Brigadier-General Alexander Ross had commanded the 28th (North-West) Battalion at Vimy. Later, as president of the Canadian Legion, he proposed the first veterans' post-war pilgrimage to the new Vimy Memorial in 1936. He said of the battle:

"It was Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific on parade. I thought then ... that in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation."

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Hmmmmm...I'm not sure which one it is (I have a few more like these, too) - but your wish is my command, MoJo!!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

LOL - is that you, Jen? Looking good! Enjoy the hot tub! See you tonight!!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I can do slow. I can. I can. I can. I think. (I just typed "I will not spook the horse" 500 times in Word.)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thank you cote for the great layout of our Sunday Pray for the Troops and President Bush thread. I love having the hymns to play as I read along.

[MoJo2001]

Goddess, you are downright mean and nasty. Of course I didn't get out of bed to get one today. This looks absolutely yummy!! *HUGS* Thank you, Goddess!! I absolutely love it!!

[MoJo2001]

Woohoo!! Duchess, you definitely love our troops!! *HUGS* Thank you for sharing them with all of us!!

[MoJo2001]

I hope you are around later so we can jam to some music!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Did you speed type, or did you practice typing slowly? LOL! I am trusting you to NOT spook the horses. I have every confidence in you being able to do slow for one day each week, this Sunday of Prayer for our troops and our President.

[MoJo2001]

Thank you, Chaplain Grant. I'm so glad you are here. You have lifted the Canteen with your presence. God Bless you.

(Whispering)I didn't want to scare you, Chaplain Grant; but we could use someone who can keep tomkow6 in line. He hears voices and it's just downright frightening. We are most thankful for any prayer that could be said to help our dear, beloved tomkow6.(/whispering)

(Whispering)Um, one more thing! I have a huge confession that I would appreciate if you didn't share with Ma. (Kathy In Alaska) Um, my Ma doesn't realize that I left the house this morning when she specifically told me to go to bed. So? Any help in that area would be much appreciated. Thanks!(/whispering)

[Kathy in Alaska]

I really love hearing the Heroes Song every day. It is a wonderful reminder, each and every day, that our troops are out there protecting us and our freedoms; that they are far from home and we need to pray for them each day, that they will stay safe and be home soon. Thank you, Jen, for posting this reminder so faithfully. ((NHH))

[Kathy in Alaska]

[redhead]

"Oh my goodness, Girlz, check out today's terrific transportation..."

Yippee! I get to drive again! I LOVE this stuff!!

We pray every day not only for the President to be able to bear up under the burden he carries, but also for all troops, that they be surrounded by mighty angels and brought home safely. Thanks for being there, troops, and God bless you all.

[PhilDragoo]

Snow Bunny

Thank you for posting the photo of Ted Maher at 14.

Ted's other home on Free Republic is the current Ted Maher thread.

It's a signal day when the major committees of both houses of Congress call Secretary Powell's attention to Ted's plight.

Ted served honorably and now Colin Powell can intervene on behalf of a veteran of the Army he led.

God Speed the finest fighting force on earth on its mission arranging Saddam Hussein's face-to-face with Allah.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Aren't Sunday's "rides" really neat? And what a plus to have a resident driver. Will you be able to manage 2 shifts today?