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

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

.

.

The USO Canteen FReeper Style
Delivering a Touch of Home

.

.

.

.

A Touch of Home

.

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

.

.

.

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.

.

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 

.

.

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!

[radu]

LOL!!! I love the pic of the Care Package "goodies". No surprise there. Men will be men no matter where they are and that sort of "goodie" is ever so popular! LOL!!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

P.S. Lest your forget who it is you are addressing (heheheh...no one should be allowed to have this much fun):

[Snow Bunny]

But see I love storms, and I can't help it, Snow blizzards,thunder and lightening , strong winds the whole thing. haahahhaha.....well a sunny day thrown in is ok once and awhile......lol

I will help with the Masts..................zoom

[radu]

That looks ever so wonderful! I can make it ten minutes til we get there. I'm getting my sea-legs under me pretty well.

[Kathy in Alaska]

She's perfect! I take back everything I ever said about your Captain skills. LOL! Thank you so much. And the hat (excuse the pun) tops her off perfectly. Please notice that we have calm seas ahead.

[radu]

LOL! You sure are having a blast with this! ..... er, Cap'n Duchess (said as I salute)

[radu]

Where's cote? Isn't she sailing with us? She didn't fall overboard, did she?

I love storms....but not when I'm on the water! I did that once in a 32 ft. cabin cruiser years ago off the coast of Florida. An experience I never care to repeat. I still get the willies when I think about that day. brrrrrrr!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Well, consider this the "sunny day thrown in". Radu is trying not to get sick on Tonkin's ship. And Captain Duchess is............is.............is............being the Captain.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Hey, you catch on fast! : )

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

She's perfect! I take back everything I ever said about your Captain skills.

Okay. That's good. Stop right there (I notice you're on the edge of complaining again a couple posts down). LOL

[radu]

How to Mail Your Love to a Man: 11 Care Package Treats No Guy can Resist

Great post! Gives me some ideas for packages I'm trying to get together to send.

[Snow Bunny]

OH wow brrrr is right.I am sure glad you made it ok. I would never want anything to happen to you.

[Snow Bunny]

ROTFL......awe a sailing a sailing aboard the oh what is the next word in the song....bounty maine is that it? hahhaahaha

Duchess I mean Capt. Duchess how about row row row your boat. hahaahahaha

[radu]

I'm doin' jus' fine. This Dranima..Dremani...Dra-ma-mine, is workin' jus' swell. I'm a little groggy but nope, not sick. be glad to get to calm waters, regardless.

[radu]

Hey, you catch on fast!

LOL!!!! ... uh, Cap'n!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Complain? Not me. Not today. Not now. No way.

[radu]

I like your outfit, Kathy. It's darling!

[radu]

LOL! That "fun" little cruise was back in 1971 but I still remember it like it was yesterday. Needless to say, I'm not overly fond of water transportation. But I'm game to sail on anything at the Canteen. :-))

[Snow Bunny]

What a precious picture!

[Kathy in Alaska]

That song.........I can't dredge up the words from childhood. But I remember it! LOL! Duchess, you're the singer. Stir any brain cells? How about you, radu, ring any bells?