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!

[Snow Bunny]

ah smooth sailing I can see it yessss just up ahead.

[radu]

That little girl is darling!!!

[radu]

Dang! I'm afraid I'm no help with the words to the song. The only bells that ring are those that always ring in my head. I think others hear them, too. I've heard them say I'm a little "ding-y".

[Kathy in Alaska]

I'm almost afraid to ask. How did you manage to fall overboard? Were you underway or at anchor or just hanging? Were you rescued right away? At least it was Florida. Maybe it was fairly warm water?

[radu]

A beautiful graphic. I won't forget our Canadian allies who gave the ultimate sacrifice in Operation Enduring Freedom. May they Rest In Peace.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Much better!

[Snow Bunny]

Be right back, I have to post tomorrow's thread. Back in a couple of minutes.I will be down in the thing down inside of the ship, the hull or kitchen or hmmmmmm I wish I knew all the right names for this. I am going to get in trouble from the Capt. hahahahaha

[Mo1]

Evening/Morning Kathy

What a GREAT DAY IT IS ... WAHOOOOOO!!!

[radu]

Oh no. I didn't fall overboard. We were just caught way out from land by a HUGE thunderstorm and were tossed about badly. I honestly don't know how we kept from capsizing. It was the most terrifying ordeal I've been through. This happened in early March, so the water was cold. I'm glad we didn't get tossed off the boat.

When we got back to the marina, I scrambled off the boat, got down on my knees and kissed the ground. I spit sand out of my mouth for a good hour afterwards! LOL!!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

LOL! Seas are now dead calm and we have smooth sailing back to port. We still have clean up to do. I suppose, just this once, I could take over your clean up duties.

[radu]

ROTFLOL!! You slay me, Snow Bunny!

We'll see you when you get back from the...dang! I don't know either! hahaha!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Forget that tune! I pick the tunes! (LOL!)
MASH YOUR CAPTAIN!
(Am I not totally obnoxious? LOL)

[Mo1]

OH WOW ... what touching pictures Snow Bunny

I have good friends from High School that are stationed down in Norfolk

And the hubbies Uncle is a retired career Navy man

GO NAVY!!!

[radu]

Oooooh, I'm ok. Just hand me a mop and I'll swab the deck. It'll be easy to swing it with all the swaying I'm doing. giggle!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I suppose, just this once, I could take over your clean up duties.

Uh, when we're sailing, I don't HAVE any...but, since I am a benevolent captain and I want to earn the respect of my crew, I'll wash my own drinking glass. That'll win 'em over. : )

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I like your attitude! Keep it up, and I'll recommend you for a promotion!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

I think you are going below to the galley (kitchen) to post. This way you can snack while you work. We can ask Scully and the Pirates to give us a list of the correct nomenclature for a few things below deck. If you need the bathroom, be sure to ask for directions to the head. LOL!

[radu]

Just doin' my duties, Cap'n. We don't want to return Tonk's ship back to him in any other condition than tip-top.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I'm changing into my jammies.

See you at 0600 hours! (God bless our troops.)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hi Mo! 11:30PM here. You are up awfully early, unless you haven't been to bed yet. So nice to see you. Are you in Lautenberg's area? Yuck! But the pubbies did a pretty good job all across the country. Now they have to do the right thing and get the government back on track to conservative. Judges first!!