[DoughtyOne]

I felt that our veterans and current members of the military deserved a thread today. I hope that folks will join me in wishing them well on this thread.

[JoJo Gunn]

I am so grateful beyond words, (and feel humbled), to all who have served.

[SouthernHawk]

Thank You for the thread. It really does mean a lot to a retired Navy Chief with twenty years of service.

[kattracks]

Eulogy for a Veteran

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the Gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the mornings hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circled flight,

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there, I did not die.

Author Unknown

[InvisibleChurch]

Dear Vets, Thank you, thank you, thank you and may God bless you all.

[RightOnline]

This is a thread from three years ago that I think you'd like to see:

Salute to FReeper Veterans; Check in!

Here is its follow-on from two years ago (exactly one year after the first one):

Salute to FReeper Veterans; Check in!: THREAD #2

[ThinkingMan]

Your artwork has brought a tear to the eye of this vet. I would like to thank my father for his service in Vietnam and my Grandfather for his service in WWII. Neither will claim to be a hero, but both of them are.

Hopefully my 4 sons will be the first in four generations to serve in a peacetime military when their time comes.

[PGalt]

Thanks to all veterans.

[Tango Whiskey Papa]

"Bravo Zulu"

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go. Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.

And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind."

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
January 1970 Dak To, Vietnam
Listed as KIA February 7, 1978

[michwm]

USAF
1976-1979 379th Security Police Squadron Wurtsmith AFB
1979-1980 TUSLOG Det. 190-1 SPS Incirlik Turkey.

[tictoc]

Thank you, veterans.

Thank you, active members of the armed forces.

I know how much I and everyone else in the free world owe you, and I am grateful.

[earonthief]

Thank You Sir.
This day is in rememberance of our veterans tis true, but as a vet I feel the need to thank our loved one's and most especially our country. You are the reason we are, and why we will be.

THANK YOU

1975-1995 SSGT USMC (Ret)

[OldFriend]

A heartfelt thank you to all who served and their families.

[commish]

USAF 1981-Present

1981-1985 AF Technical Applications Center Patrick AFB, FL
1986-1989 9th Strategic Recon Wing Beale AFB, CA
1989-1992 86th Communications Group Ramstein AB, GE
1992-1998 Defense Information Systems Agency Maxwell-Gunter AFB, AL
1998-present Standard Systems Group Maxwell-Gunter AFB, AL

[commish]

USAF 1981-Present

1981-1985 AF Technical Applications Center Patrick AFB, FL
1986-1989 9th Strategic Recon Wing Beale AFB, CA
1989-1992 86th Communications Group Ramstein AB, GE
1992-1998 Defense Information Systems Agency Maxwell-Gunter AFB, AL
1998-present Standard Systems Group Maxwell-Gunter AFB, AL

[The Mayor]

GOD Bless our Vets!

Army 76-79

[Jim Ralls]

This veteran salutes you and all who served. I would like to also salute my grandfather; Captain Thomas J Whalen USMC, KIA France April 1918; and my father; Colonel Stanley M Whalen, USAF Retired.

Thanks to all again

Lt Colonel Thomas J Whalen
USAF Retired

[ladtx]

This is a post I usually put on the "FR's Finest" thread but it deserves posting here today also.

In memory of my fellow Vietnam helicopter pilots who were killed in that war the following were lost on NOV 11. Todays losses are especially poignant on since they fell on Veterans Day. God bless them all.

1966 MAJ William F. Callinan -- 170 AHC 52 CAB, Age 36, Bangor, Maine
1966 CPT Milton F. Smith -- 170 AHC 52 CAB, Age 25, Dania, Florida
1966 CPT John J. Livingston -- 117 AHC, Age 26, Cedar Hill, Missouri
1966 WO1 Terrence M. Rooney -- 117 AHC, Age 22, Denver, Colorado
1966 CPT Walter R. Speare III -- 119 AHC, Age 24, Bedford, Oregon
1966 1LT Dee W. Stone Jr. -- 119 AHC, Age 23, Forest Hill, New York

In memory of WO1 Terrence M. Rooney -- 117 AHC: KIA, South Vietnam.
Always smiling
Terry was one of our newest pilots at the Dragon Flight, 55th. Avn. Co., Yoido Island, K-16 Korea. I remember him as always smiling and saw him off in a taxi as he departed the 55th. for a leave before his deployment to Vietnam. I will always remember him. His smiling face looking back from the taxi as he departed will always remain in my memory. Jesse Shannon -- Friend in the 55th Avn Co Korea

Unit patch of the 117 Assault Helicopter Company "Warlords".

A pair of 117th AHC "Annies"

IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLADE

SCOUTS OUT!

[big'ol_freeper]

Hooah!! A tribute to all who serve the cause of liberty: Freedom

[madfly]

A big thank you to the Veterans and all active military members who serve our nation.

[ladtx]

A Veterans Day tribute to Army Aviation.

I AM ARMY AVIATION

My Olive green chest has donned a host of great names: Kelly, Rosbeck, Dempsey, Holloway and a multitude of others that have etched my worn and weary smile on history`s mirror.

From a humble beginning, I have climbed to the summit. I have seen my family mature in the hottest of cold wars and have mixed my blood, sweat and tears with the brackish paddies of Nam Can and the crytal blue of Dong Ha.

Thus, I have paid the price of involvement, earned my badge of courage and come of age. On my durable wing I have leisurely soared through the thin humid skies over Ia Drang and my rotor wash has uncovered" Charlie" in the mangroves of Ca Mau.

From Soc Trang, Blackhorse,and LANE, I have flown and have sent my tracers slicing through the Asian dusk and dawn....stabbing at the elusive shadows that menace freedom. My rockets have given relief to my brothers-in-arms and brought smoke, flames and death to our enemies.

With keen vision and through my ingenuity I have found my enemy....the tyrant, the oppressor, who would deny his fellow man`s rights. I have guided the awesome terror of my cousins` shells to fix the fleeting, faceless guerilla.

On my back the Queen of Battle showed the fury of her long rifle. Together, through swamp and jungle, we have pursued, engaged and won.

The battle for democracy will go on until free men everywhere have won the age old conflict with forces of oppression, the shadows of darkness, the face of hate.

Whether at home or on foreign shores, I will be there....keeping my faith in God and Country....BECAUSE...........I AM ARMY AVIATION!

This was written in 1970 by Major Larry E. Joyce, Infantry, U.S. Army