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.

 

[DoughtyOne]

To: DoughtyOne

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.

99 posted on 11/11/2002 5:18 PM PST by middie
 

This is probably one of the best questions asked on this forum.

It goes beyond the issue of the military, although I'll certainly address that aspect of it.  In my opinion, you treat others with respect until you can no longer do so.  If you have presented enough evidence to shoot down every possible reason they still cling to Democrat principles, you disengage the arguement and agree to disagree as friends.  If this doesn't work and they wish to trash you, then you can respond with defense and rational arguements to rebut.  If you lose control you lose.  I try not to, but I do lose in this manner at times.

In truth you probably don't discuss politics with these folks.  It's probably best not to unless they ask you for a reason.  Then you can give them an opinion and a good reason.  It's our job to be ready.

When it comes to military service it trumps to a certain degree.  I will not denegrate a man's service.  I will pointedly disagree with him on principle, but I make it a point to thank him for his service.

The other night I was surprised to find myself face to face with Senator Inouye from Hawaii.  I have some vast differences with his views.  I knew I would only see him for a few minutes.  Instead of picking one negative item and going for it, I took his left hand, shook it, and thanked him for his service to our nation.

If a former member of the military advocates policies that will weaken the military or harm it, all bets are off.  If a former member of the military conducts himself in a way that undermines our national security or issues that affect this nation's well being, I will have no respect for them.  I will not denegrate their service.  I will conduct myself in a professional manner, but I'll leave no doubt about how I view their choices if it enters the discussion.

Humor is a good way to make points.  If you can keep the conversation light, it helps.  One of the best ways to crack a person's beliefs is to ask the single question that they cannot answer other than to oppose what they thought their views always were.

On the subject of Abortion, many have been convinced a woman should have the right to choose.  Ask anyone if they think there should be fewer abortions, down from the 1.25 million that take place per year, and you get a very high response of yes.  Then say to them, what both sides in this debate need to do is set aside differences and work toward that goal.  Ideally both sides would like to see a number as close to zero as it can get.

I don't think Democrats are aware of the sordid ilk their leaders assoicate with these days.  They see most issues superficially and don't get down to the nuts and bolts like folks on this forum do.  I have to try to remember that when I talk to folks.  Often I'm talking over their heads politically, if you catch my drift.

Winning people over to any cause is a worthy ambition.  To do it smoothly and effortlessly is an art.  Some people are very good at it.

[Rockitz]

Thanks for this tribute.

I am one of the few who, based upon the year of my birth, never had to register for the draft in any way, shape, or form. I think there were one or two years like that. I am so thankful for never having to fear going to war that I can't express it in words. I watched "Saving Private Ryan" again the other night and just watching it gripped my body with fear all over again as though I was watching it for the first time. My two younger brothers were US Marines and my father served in the US Navy but none thankfully saw in combat. I am thankful to be able to help the US Air Force help deliver the best in reconaissance, weather, navigation, communications and warfighter satellites in my current position. My life is, however, not on the line every moment of every day for months at a time. I can't even imagine. Thanks from the bottom of my heart, veterans! God bless you always!

[CTOCS]

Middie,

In a fox hole, you do not ask for a voter registration card, you ask for a bible, or a picture of a loved one. Of course we salute them.

I served with a couple myself.

Having said that, this conservative family consisted of:

Father (WWII, Korea), Older Brother (RVN), Self (Yom Kippur, 6 Day, RVN), Younger Brother (BTWN Wars, DTSORM), Younger Sister (Wife of O5/USN RVN), Mother (CINCHOUSE, 52 years active duty ((The bravest of us all)) )

Brothers and sisters in arms, I salute you all!!

And God bless every damned one of you................/CTOCS

[hulltq1]

USAF 1973-77

[PhiKapMom]

Years ago I was at a Memorial Service for an Air Force pilot who lost his life in a plane crash when this poem was read. It has always stayed with me especially Veteran's Day when all of our Veterans are honored for their service to this Nation!

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high unsurpassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941

[Kev-Head]

God Bless those who have & are now serving this great country & all who dwell within her borders.

[DoughtyOne]

In Joplin Missouri one of the television stations used to sign off with that poem. That was in the mid 60s. That's where I first heard it. It's nice. Thank you.

[Orion]

Veterans Day - a day set aside for a nation to show its gratitude for those who keep the bad guys at bay. The usual parades and speeches, flags and festivals fill the day. Vets from around the republic feel appreciated or do they?

Deep inside, what do vets want? While I can not begin to speak for the millions of veterans in our nation, I can say what I want and what I don't want.

The last thing I want is for some politician, who found his life too busy for full-time service, to speak glowingly about the importance of military service and sacrifice. I think this about covers most of Congress, and our last two presidents. Slinking around behind the Iron Curtain and being sequestered in the Air Guard with the children of other influential families qualifies as "too busy" for service. Spare me the talk and get to the bottom of widespread illnesses that afflict those whom went into harm's way at the behest of those who were "too busy."

Parades are nice, as are memorials, but the greatest tribute one can make to a vet, is to follow in their footsteps. To step up and be counted among those who believe that certain things are greater than our "busy" schedule, is the mark of a grateful individual and a grateful nation.

My grandfathers were born in the '20s, which means they served in WW2. They saw the worst humanity has to offer. They could have had deferments, but they went. My great uncle never came back. They served with the men who cracked the Atlantic Wall, liberated North Africa and France. They were at Okinawa, Leyte Gulf, and in some way, supported the few men that won the greatest naval battle in world history - Midway. Without the efforts of the vets and deceased in that war, the 20th Century would not have been "America's Century." The Soviet Union would have emerged as the greatest power in the late '40s.

How do we show our gratitude? I say the best way is to serve - to stand your watch over our republic, and if harm should come, not to wilt in the face of adversity. That is how we thank our vets.

So, how does a nation, totally dependant on air and sea power, show its gratitude? Do they serve? In a word...

NO.

My church has about 1000 adults in attendance on any given Sunday. This past Sunday, all the veterans were invited to stand and accept the gratitude of the remainder. Less than a dozen stood. Do the math...that's about 1%, which includes those who served in WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. If you factor out the airline pilots, no one under 40 is a vet, which is significant with 80% of the church body in their 30s and 40s. Lest anyone think I live in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, or some pot-infested beach town on the West Coast, I live in lily-white suburb just north of Dallas, TX.

It gets worse. My daughter's school has an annual commemoration of all the veterans in the families of the children. Each student writes the name of a vet on a star, and posts them on the wall for all to see. Of the 500+ stars, there were only three of parents of children at the school. The rest were WW2 and Korea vets, with a smattering of Vietnam vets. The school is p-K through 2nd grade, and has about 150 students.

Again, people are just too busy.

What are our vets fighting for? The UN? The blessings of an Arab coalition? The ability of a nation of brainless women who drive around the 'burbs in their Ford Extinctions, shuttling Johnny, Jessica, and Joshua to and from soccer practice, while voting for president based upon how cute a candidate is, or how much he fills the emotional void of an absentee husband who is working 60 hours a week to afford the lifestyle of his bimbo wife? A distraction from newsworthy sexual escapades of a man selling military secrets to our enemies? To be a butt-insky in every civil war on the planet? Sweet crude at $15/bbl?

Is this the agenda of a grateful nation? My guess is that if Johnny, Jessica, and Joshua were serving in the military, their bimbo mom would care about Gulf War syndrome. Congressmen would be called to account for it. My guess is that as kiddies traded soccer cleats for combat boots, we would care if our military secrets were sold to our enemies, and most would tell the UN where to stick it. If OUR children were in the military (rich East Coasters, urbanites, white trash, and middle-class kids), we would allow people around the world to settle their own disputes, and if the price of oil went to $40/bbl, we would find that easier to digest. Perhaps all the 0% financing for the latest Ford Extinction would yield to keeping the van tuned up for another 50K. Perhaps we would be a nation that didn't have troops stationed on every corner of the globe, and we would pressure Congress to defund welfare programs, and modernize our military hardware.

That will never happen as long as most Americans view their military the way the French view their Foreign Legion - expendable "other people."

I do not begrudge any one individual who does not serve. The military cannot accept everyone, and there are those who just should not be trusted with the life of a fellow shipmate, marine, or soldier. I can say that I am disgusted with a nation, and a selfish generation that finds military service is best suited for "someone else." It is the same people that look upon the military as a social experiment (liberal elites), and those who take every opportunity to pontificate on how it should be run, and what rights those in uniform have and don't have (conservative elites), that find their blood and time are too precious to spend in service to a nation that has given so much.

Personally, I stand in awe of what those men accomplished at Midway in June of 1942. It was the greatest American moment of the 20th Century. If I were to walk up to LT Rich Best (he sank 2 carriers at Midway), and express my gratitude, that would be in order. Perhaps he would be more appreciative if those who thank him for giving us the second half of the 20th Century, followed in his footsteps. Deeds speak louder than words.

I find it sad that a nation thanks its vets by being too busy to do what the vets did. I guess the vets are "other people" and we are too good for them.

[JoJo Gunn]

Good for you. I suspect he feels a little lighter now, better able to reach the Other Side when that day comes.

[archy]

When it comes to military service it trumps to a certain degree. I will not denigrate a man's service. I will pointedly disagree with him on principle, but I make it a point to thank him for his service.

Why then, here you go: Sp5 Dwight Johnson, 1/69 Armor, 4th Infantry Division.

He's the fella hangin' from the M48A3 tank's main gun tube. I wish there'd been a Free Republic around for him when he came home. There wasn't.

[hresources]

From a U.S. Army retired "old soldier", Thanks.

[middie]

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Apparently my post was either baffling to many or deemed not worthy of consideration. There are things that transcends partisan politics, military service is the first one on that list. We march, fly, fight, and ,if fate dictates, die irrespective of the party label of the CinC or Congress.

Once it was a truism that partisanship stopped "at the water's edge." If that ever ceases to be a governing tenet we can next anticipate a reduction in civilian control of the military and involvement in politics by military leaders.

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you Middie. Nice talking to you.

[DoughtyOne]

P.S. I agree with your comments.

[rangersdaughter]

Thank you for taking the time, all of you, to remember our Veterans.

As you all know, my father is RANGERAIRBORNE. He must have had the crappiest Veterans' Day on record...he was in surgery.

Anyone who wants to send him a tiny note of thanks at his FReepmail addy would be so much appreciated. He will be healing from the surgery for weeks, but I am sure he will find a way to check on everyone here. ;)

Thank you again.

A very grateful rangersdaughter

[quietolong]

NFL salutes veterans and current military members during Veterans' Day Weekend
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/786542/posts


Also check out "Operation Uplink", the free phone card program for hospitalized veterans and active-duty service men and women.

[cmotormac44]

I have the honor to report 'on deck' for all my shipmates of Normandy--Semper Paratus-

[cthusker77]

Very, very inspiring and very much appreciated!! Gives me chills!

[DoughtyOne]

Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed it.