USO Canteen FReeper Style Salutes Norfolk Naval Base .... November 6,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

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The USO Canteen FReeper Style
Delivering a Touch of Home

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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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Norfolk Naval Base

Just a few miles down the James River
is the gigantic Norfolk Naval Station,
home of the Atlantic Fleet, whose ships,
including six aircraft carriers,are providing
firepower and logistics for Operation
Enduring Freedom in South Asia.

Nearby at Little Creek Amphibious Base,
Navy SEALS train for Afghan operations.
In Virginia Beach, Oceana Naval Air Station
is the base for many of the carrier aircraft striking al-Qaida.

The Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth
will be refitting city-busting Trident
submarines so they can attack terrorist camps
with highly accurate conventional missiles
rather than nuclear-tipped ones.

Naval Station Norfolk occupies about
4,300 acres of Hampton Roads real
estate in a peninsula known as Sewells
Point. It is the world`s largest Naval Station;
in fact, based on supported military population,
it is the largest military station in the world.

When the 76 ships and 138 aircraft homeported
here are not at sea, they are along side one of
the 14 piers or inside one of the 15 aircraft hangars
for repair, refit, training and to provide the ship`s or
squadron`s crew an opportunity to be with their
families. Naval Station is homeport to aircraft carriers,
cruisers, destroyers, large amphibious ships, submarines,
a variety of supply and logistics ships, C-2, C-9, C-12
and E-2 fixed wing aircraft, and H-3, H-46, H-53, and H-60 helicopters.

Port Services controls more than 3,100 ships
movements annually as they arrive and depart
their berths. Port facilities extend more than four
miles along the waterfront and include some
seven miles of pier and wharf space.

Air Operations conducts over 100,000 flight
operations each year, an average of 275 flights
per day or one every six minutes. Over 150,000
passengers and 264,000 tons of mail and cargo
depart annually on Air Mobility Command (AMC)
aircraft and other chartered flights from our airfield.
It is the hub for Navy logistics going to the European
and Central Command theaters of operations, and to the Caribbean.

NORFOLK NAVAL AIR STATION, Virginia --
President Bush on Tuesday praised the development
of high-technology weapons systems as part of his
plan to "keep the peace." The Commander-in-
message came in an address delivered to a crowd of mostly military personnel at the only NATO
military base in the United States, the headquarters
of the Allied Command Atlantic (ACLANT) in Norfolk, Virginia.

021009-N-9964S-075 Norfolk, Va., aboard
USS Harry S. Turman (CVN 75) Oct. 9, 2002 –
Steven Tyler (2nd from right), lead singer of the
rock band “Aerosmith” along with Joey Kramer (right),
the band’s drummer, take a tour of flight deck control
where a crewmember explains how aircraft are moved
in the hanger bay and on the flight deck of Truman.
“Aerosmith” boarded and toured Truman while the carrier
was pier side at Norfolk Naval Station. The band had
returned to perform in the area, having cancelled their
original performance scheduled for September 11, 2001
U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class
Christopher B. Stoltz(RELEASED)

Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, VA. Apr. 16, 2002 -
An Electronics Technician 2nd Class heads home with
his daughter, at pier 6 after returning from deployment
aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61).

At sea aboard the cruiser USS Cape St. George
(CG 71) Apr. 19, 2002 - The Secretary of the Navy,
the Honorable Gordon R. England, addresses
crewmembers of the Norfolk, Va.- based cruiser,
thanking them for their dedicated service.

Naval Station Norfolk, Va., Apr. 20, 2002 —
A Navy wife greets her husband, an Interior
Communications Electrician 1st Class, as he returns
rom a deployment aboard the amphibious transport
dock ship USS Shreveport (LPD 12).

Norfolk Naval Station, Va., Apr. 25, 2002
U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67)
returns to her homeport.

Norfolk, Va., May 6, 2002 — Assisted by tugs,
the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)
glides up the Elizabeth River past downtown Norfolk's
waterfront on its way to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in
adjacent Portsmouth, Va.

Naval Station, Norfolk, Va., May 7, 2002 —
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, far right, along with
members of Navy Region Mid-Atlantic's Honor
Guard and Mr. Jon Clodfelter, second from left,
demonstrate the design of a new commemorative
Virginia license plate honoring those who lost their
lives during a terrorist attack the guided-missile
destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67).

This is why the USO Canteen FReeper Style is here,for our troops and their loved ones serving now! And to thank Veterans that have served!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Good topic today - having been homeported in Nofuc>>>> err Norfolk, and was actually even there once or twice (tee hee) I appreciate it... :0)

[Soaring Feather]

Thanks for the photos of the troops and Robin Williams.

[Soaring Feather]

Hi AntiJen, sorry you're not feeling well.

[mdittmar]

U.S. Identifies Remains of Three Soldiers Killed in Vietnam

They’re home.

[Snow Bunny]

Hi Chad,I am so glad to see you.What a huge place Norfolk I mean Nofuc is. MOJO2001 told me how to pronounce it. hahhahaa....I had been saying it the wrong way for years..LOL......Great to see you.

[Snow Bunny]

I am crying, thank you Mdittmar so much for the information and link.

Thank you!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Norfolk was a fun place, but I wasn't hardly ever in port long enough to really enjoy it much - too many dirty, smelly hippies to spray with firehoses, so little time... ;0)

[Snow Bunny]

Hi Cobby it is nice to see you.

[Snow Bunny]

LMHO.....heh heh

Love it Chad.I am sooo glad you sprayed them with firehoses.

[Snow Bunny]

I am praying for you Sandy. Love you my friend.
(((( hug ))))

[Snow Bunny]

These are great photos of the troops with Robin Williams Sam,thank you so much. Robin Williams is so funny and totally natural at it, he is one comedian that does not need a writer he just lets it run wild like he is. LOL

[COB1]

HI, BUNNIEKINS!!

Ain't it great to wake up to a Republican House and Senate with a man like George W. at the helm?

I was a poll watcher yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it!
I felt like letting out a great big Texas yell this morning:

YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAA!!

{{{{HUGS!}}}}

[Snow Bunny]

Hi my friend. I know.....a BIG Yipeeeee for yesterday.Great to see you.

[Snow Bunny]

Hi Dog, thank you so much! Luv ya

[Snow Bunny]

Hi ya hi ya my friend.
(((( hug ))))

Thank you big time for your support.I hope you had a beautiful day today.

[Snow Bunny]

Hi, good to see you. I agree what a night! Yipeeee for last night and the fabulous election returns. God Bless America and our troops.

[tomkow6]

Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes, Ill. (Nov. 4, 2002) -- U.S. Navy recruit Shaquila Turner from Memphis, Tenn., and fellow recruits inventory and read a passage out of their freshly issued Bluejacket's Manual. Recruits are required to read the “From Civilian to Sailor” passage during their first few hours of arriving for basic training. The manual is issued to the recruits on the “First Night of Arrival.” RTC is part of Naval Training Center Great Lakes, Ill., and is the only U.S. Navy basic training site. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Michael Worner.

U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka, Japan (Nov. 6, 2002) -- An experienced Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) instructs another Hospital Corpsman during a mass casualty drill. The drill tested the response to an attack by weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons. Yokosuka's hospital and fire department train regularly as an integrated team of first responders in mainland Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Tom Watanabe.

Salem, Ore. (Nov. 4, 2002) -- Retired Chief Musician Elmer Melby celebrates his 100th birthday on “Navy Day.” Navy Band Northwest traveled over 446 miles round trip to pay tribute to one of their own. Melby was born in Manfred, S.D., on Oct. 17, 1902. He was only 17 years old when he visited a Navy recruiter for the first time in 1919 and was told to stick to his story when he told the skeptical recruiter that he was 21 years of age. Melby first learned to play drums in his father's band as a youth, so enlisting in the Navy and joining the Navy Band was a natural. While in the Navy, Melby also learned how to play clarinet, saxophone, and violin. During this time every ship had its own band. When not playing, band members manned battle stations and kept the ships clean. U.S. Navy photo.

At sea aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Nov. 4, 2002 -- Sailors exercise on treadmills in one of the gyms aboard the aircraft carrier. This aids in learning how to deal with stress, which is a fundamental part of living shipboard. Activities like exercising, hanging out with your friends, or just watching the waves from above the flight deck on “vulture’s row” are all good ways Kitty Hawk Sailors unwind from their daily duties. Kitty Hawk is the Navy’s only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier and is homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Justin Proulx.

[Snow Bunny]

OH wow John, wasn't it wonderful. I am so happy and proud of people for voting the right way the BEST way for America! Thank you John for your King of Ping pinging.
(((((( hug )))))

[Radix]

"Darth Vader and Janet Reno!!
Seperated At Birth??"


SELF APPOINTED HUMOR COP.


Excuse me MoJo, You have just violated the Prime Directive of Humorists.


I have to give you a ticket and I admonish you. Do not ever be this funny again!

It is a rule, and I am just trying to do my job.

-Radix

[Aeronaut]

.....a BIG Yipeeeee for yesterday.

Maybe I'm greedy, but I really hope things change in SoDak, too. We have a majority, but somehow sticking it to little tommie...