A FreeRepublic Tribute to Our Veterans and Current Military Members

A Forum Community Effort | 11/11/2002 | DoughtyOne

[DoughtyOne]

A Tribute to Our Veterans and Those Who Have
Paid the Ultimate Price to Preserve
Our Nation and Our Ideals
 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - Arlington Cemetary

This year's DoD Poster Honoring Veterans

      
A Few of the DoD's Past Posters Honoring Veterans

President Bush - Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the USofA

   
President Bush and United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

The President of the United States George Bush (right) and
his Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (left)

An artwork by Roberto Prada
Depicting SoD Rumsfled

General Richard B Meyer
Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff
General Meyer is the 15th
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
 

      
   

The Patches of the Major Departments of Defense and the Coast Guard

The Pentagon - The Headquarters of the Department of Defense for the United States of America
 

Memorials

 

To Our Veterans and Current Members of Our Armed Forces
Thank You for Your Service to Our Nation

I and Other Members of this Forum Salute You!

Here's Our Best Wishes for a Happy Veterans Day for You.

 

[Feiny]

[Feiny]

HATS OFF TO ALL VETERANS!!!!

[bkwells]

Thank you for the post from an Active Duty Navy Senior Chief.

[T Wayne]

Many thanks for the thread.

To all the others posters, many thanks for Your service to your country and for the respect shown to the other Veterans who have served and died for their country.

I would also like to honor my 5 Uncles who served during WW2 and Korea, especially Uncle Joseph who was killed in a bomber crash shortly after takeoff, My oldest brother who served in the Army, '57-'59, My next brother who served in the Army (in Europe) '68-'70.

And my Son Geoffrey, USMC, '95-'99

And those souls from LZ San Juan Hill, 1970. Bravo Btry, 6/11 Arty, in support of the 4/3 Inf. Btn.

T. Wayne, Arty Recon Sgt., Charlie Co. 4/3 Inf., Feb 1970

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks very much for your comments. I hope you'll let other active military members know that they'll always find friends on this site. Tell them to look for Roll Call. All the best to you.

[DoughtyOne]

There's the quote of the day. Thanks. I feel the same way.

[anniegetyourgun]

Thank you for what you did.

[maxwellp]

We Americans honor our veterans today, including the ones who never made it home. And we thank them. We pray for our current military all over the world. As President Bush said today in a speech to all veterans "They are the best Americans".

[GopherIt]

Thanks from a 28-year Active Medical REMF who salutes all the above and thanks God for the honor of serving with them.

[xzins]

Today at the Veteran's Day program I had the honor to be seated next to a WWII POW. G_S_ was held by the Germans at Stalag Luft #4 in both Germany and Poland until the end of the war. He is an old man. I prayed the opening prayer and when I sat down, GS handed me an old crumpled piece of paper. On it was written "The Airman's Prayer." I said to him, "G_, would you mind if I used this in my closing prayer?" His elderly head nodded.

After the program I asked if he was on email. He nodded again. He was a man of few words, I guess. I asked if he would send me a copy of the "Airman's Prayer." Again, he nodded, so I gave him my address. He allowed me to write it on the reverse side of his crumpled piece of paper.

I just had this arrive on my computer and thought I'd share it with you all. I wondered about the numbers as I read the prayer at the meeting today. I've got moist eyes as I write this now to you.

God Bless America. God Bless you G_S_. God bless you soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen out there.


"The Airman's Prayer"


NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP
AND PRAY THE LORD MY SOUL TO KEEP
AND SHOULD I DIE UPON THE MORROW
LET NO ONE GRIEVE IN USELESS SORROW
FOR WHEN I GO INTO THE BLUE
I BUT TAKE THE CHANCE AS OTHERS DO
BUT SHOULD I RETURN TO LIVE AND TELL
OF THE THIRTY-FIFTH TIMES I CHEATED HELL
I'LL THANK YOU LORD FOR BEING KIND
AND PUTING AT REST AN UNEASY MIND
IN ANY EVENT I HOPE YOU KNOW
THAT NO MATTER HOW, OR WHERE, OR WHEN I GO
THAT WHEN I GO INTO THE BLUE
I'M CLIMBING THE STAIRS THAT LEAD TO YOU
AND BECAUSE I'M NOT AN ANGEL YET
ITS AS CLOSE TO HEAVEN AS I CAN GET

THE THIRTY-FIVE MENTIONED WAS THE REQUIREMENT OF MISSIONS
TO FLY BEFORE WE COULD GO HOME. I ONLY FINISHED 25 AND
WAS SHOT DOWN ON THE 26TH
THANKS FOR LETTING ME SHARE THIS WITH YOU
GR___ L. SW________

[maxwellp]

We will be praying for your son, as well as all our military. We live in New York State - used to live in New York City - and we, after 9/11, are all in danger now. We are afraid for America and our lives these days, but rage at people trying to destroy America overcomes fear.

[DoughtyOne]

It's my pleasure I can assure you. That's why I like these threads. One person can start them, but they can't tell how really great they are going to be until others have chipped in and provided the real gyms. Thank you.

[Faithfull]

Mere words can't express my appreciation to all of you who have served our country. I thank you and will remember you and yours in my prayers. May God Bless you really good!

[HiJinx]

You know we used to kid each other about REMFs while on Active Duty, but now that retirement has set in and I've seen what life is like on the outside, I realize there is no such thing.

We may have sat at a desk working requisitions, or in a big windowless building reading secrets, or treating hangnails at a stateside clinic. But our place in the big green (or blue) machine was vital to the operation of the whole thing. Each of us had his or her part assigned, and we did our best to fulfill that part.

Please, never consider yourself a REMF. You're service is appreciated, probably by a lot more people than you'll ever realize.

HJ
SFC, USA (Ret)
'76-'96

[Brad’s Gramma]

Please tell your husband thank you for his service. God bless you, too, for being the wife of a great serviceman.

OhioW, thank YOU for being the mom of a great new defender of freedom.

ALL vets, a heartfelt thank you. You've given more than we deserve.

[Mr. Silverback]

Two "thank you"s:

Thanks DoughtyOne for this tribute. It means something to those of us who have served.

Thanks to anyone, in this thread or not, living or dead, who has worn the uniform of the United States and defended her. They say if you love your freedom, thank a Vet. Ido, and so, I do. We can never thank you all enough, God bless you.

[NautiNurse]

Thank you DoughtyOne for the beautiful tribute, and thank you, thank you, thank you! to all of our nation's brave men and women who have served and currently serve our great United States in the armed forces.

We love you, appreciate you, and know we wouldn't be a great nation without you!

[fly_so_free]

Thank You and God Bless You, to all who served, and who currently serve our country. We would not be living in the freedom of our great nation if it was not for your sacrifices. As has been said many times, we can never repay the debt we owe to you. Saying a Prayer now, that we will always honor our Veterans and never take our freedoms for granted. Amen

My grandfather served in WWII, my dad in Korea, My uncle was a Marine, and my God-daughter is in the Army.

[middie]

I do not intend to be, or sound, facetious, nor do I think it's a rhetorical question to ask: Given the general tenor of FR, does the thread's salute and solemn invocation of thanks to our veterans include those vets who choose to be Democrats? I ask because, like most folks, I have many friends in my Alumni Chapter, American Legion Post, etc. and other groups who are indeed Democrats. Do we honor them for their service, or do we ignore their contributions and exclude them from our best wishes because their politics are anathema to be majority of FR posters?

Just thought I'd ask.

[Toidylop]

U.S. soldier Sgt. Ted Mays of Pineville, Louisiana, 55, poses in front of the flag of the USA, at the office of the 769th Engineering Battalion, at U.S. Air Base in Bagram, 55 kms (34 miles) north of Kabul, Afghanistan (news - web sites), on Friday, Nov. 8, 2002. Mays served two tours in Vietnam and he served in operation Desert Storm in Iraq and volunteered to come to Afghanistan. Even though he is again thousands of miles from home this Veterans Day, Sept. 11 makes the difference, he says. ``The other two times, itwas in someone else's backyard. This time, it was in my backyard. This one's for me. I think a lot of people think that way, which is why they support us,'' said Mays. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)