A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....04-01-03....Courage

Ladtx; Billie | "Courage" written by ladtx

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   I can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

<

TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett.
MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick,Leroy S Mort, Mark17.
BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam,
dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony
BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang

TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx
MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law
BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68.
MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797
BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

         

GROUP 1A: TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

GROUP 2A: TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

GROUP 3A: TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

GROUP 4A: TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

      

GROUP 9A: TOP: Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog. MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son. BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

GROUP 10A: TOP: dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon. BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

GROUP 11A: TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son. BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset); WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

                     

"Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Courage by ladtx

Winston Churchill said that: "Courage is rightly deemed the first of human qualities...because it is the quality that guarantees all others."

Click to read some courageous profiles

Where does courage come from? What makes a regiment cross an open field in the face of withering rifle fire only to be cut to pieces? What pushes another regiment to follow in their brother’s footsteps and be likewise cut down, as portrayed in the recent movie GODS
AND GENERALS?

"True Courage is not the ABSENCE of fear, but the MASTERY of fear." ~ Mark Twain

Courage is a quality that is elusive and difficult to understand. Even the person who has displayed courage in the face of danger has difficulty explaining why they were courageous. The hero generally assumes an embarrassed look and kicks imaginary rocks at his feet and mumbles something about doing his job. But there is more to it than that. Most acts of courage on the battlefield are products of training and repetition, combined with leaders who have built trust and teamwork.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
~ Lao Tso

That was to be my beginning of my essay on courage. After researching courage, as evidenced by my Churchill quote, it only took a short flash on the television screen to set my concept of courage reeling. A young military wife and mother with a beautiful child in her arms was being interviewed on TV and there went all my high-flown theories from Clausewitz and the U.S. Army Field Manual 100-5.


The embodiment of courage was being interviewed by a pushy television journalist for the evening news and never wavered in the backing of her deployed husband and her country.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She now has had to pay the bills, mow the lawn, shovel the snow, go to PTA and attend all Cub Scout Pack meetings alone. She must endure thunderstorms, snowstorms, and icestorms and still get the kids to school on time.

She has to get the car repaired, change the oil and repair the lawn mower, alone. There will be weddings, funerals and birthday parties to attend. Yet she will do it all. There may be some tears of loneliness but she will endure. She will tell her parents and in-laws that she is fine and, no, she won’t come home, she’s at home.

She is the military wife of a United States fighting man at war. She is courage embodied. I’m proud to say she was my wife, she is my daughter-in-law. She is all of the military wives past and present throughout this country. They never get the recognition they deserve. We are proud of them and are heartened by them all. God bless them. We are a stronger country because of them.

SCOUTS OUT!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ladtx flew UH-1's in Vietnam, OH-58's in Germany, and the CH-47 Chinook in Korea and Texas. He served 20 years in the United States Army. He retired as a Chief Warrant Officer (CW4). Click on the calvery horses above to read more about him, and his family. Two of his three sons have recently been deployed: one in the USAF and the other USAR. ~ Billie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I am old enough to know that victory is often a thing deferred, and rarely at the summit of courage. What is at the summit of courage, I think, is freedom. The freedom that comes with the knowledge that no earthly thing can break you."
Paula Giddings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

O God, Your judgment probes to the core of our being, and courage comes by your direction. You are God whose anger is kindled by injustice, whose heart is touched by the suffering of a child. We seek the power of your protection for all the men and women fighting for justice in far away places. Give them courage to do battle on behalf of the oppressed. Armed with the breastplate of righteousness, let them never lose heart.

Lord, we pray for those who have the courage to stand and wait. Give them courage to stand firm in the face of tribulation. When they are tossed to and fro by the trials that beset them, give them clear heads and open hearts so that they can hear what you are saying. Lift them up to the heights where they can see a vison of your eternal order and give them a glimpse of your peace. Amen

Thank you, Nan, for the beautiful prayer.

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 03-31-03 A Salute to Our Military

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[Billie]

Ask Humblegunner about getting April Fooled this morning ;-)

I bet it's a good one! Gonna share, gunner?

[LadyX]

All right, Self - should know by now not to assume you know the flow of an essay by the opening paragraph.
Ladtx, you veered abruptly, and I nearly lost it. Bad enough to think of all the military wives of the moment, knowing what they face; but, unsuspecting, the change of focus pried the lid off an Old Memories Box.

Yes, the challenges are varied and endless for that particular 'Military Occupation Specialty' - that of The Spouse.
I served in that field for twelve years.

Pictures of Navy wives at the pier in Norfolk seeing off/welcoming their husband (mine was a hospital corpsman)?
Been there - done that; the last time on that pier was four months pregnant, holding a little boy about to turn ten months old - parked temporarily with another shipboard wife and her infant to share expenses until the ship returned from the Mediterranean Sea.

Blessedly, orders for shore duty at Chincoteague Naval Air Station (VA) arrived before the second delivery. Not much of an advantage with Port & Starboard Duty leaving little time at home for him - but at least he was there to drive me to the hospital - to care for me when three weeks later I became seriously ill with both an infection and mononucleosis acquired in the hospital - 104 fever for three days. He was there to care for the babies, with no outside help, far from home and friends.

Later, as part of the Air Force, you know some stories I've related here of our being in South Dakota, and the Cold War; driving from there to Fairbanks, Alaska in the dead of winter with three children and two dogs, and some of those unique challenges while sitting on top of the globe!

Blizzards, 50 below zero temperatures, the Good Friday Earthquake - rowing to my car across a snow-melted creek to get to town for food, living at the edge of woods full of moose and caribou and wolves and bears; they were all a breeze for One Dedicated. Squeezing pennies and stretching food and figuring how to pay for repairs to the car that broke down... I became a 'Professional' Woman all right!

Next came the drive back from Fairbanks with my husband needing spinal surgery for three ruptured disks - a mere 5,200 miles through Canada, down the Rockies, and across the South to visit family in Florida - then up to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Surgery successful, there was one year of catching our breath before he was sent to Southeast Asia at the height of the Nam War, as a forerunner of Air Force Special Ops. I taught school that year, the children then 5, 12 and 13, and then had to scramble to find temporary housing until October, base quarters needed for Reserve personnel activated because of the Pueblo Crisis. In May, 300 of us wives were dumped into an expensive summer resort area to fend for ourselves.

When he returned, he had been assigned down the road to Charleston, SC - that week was our anniversary, and as we moved, it was pouring rain, and I held my roses on my lap while we headed for The Next Abode.

Regrets? None - - I knew the importance of our roles and what it required. I was blessed with parents of a generation who loved dearly their children, but did not spoil them - didn't turn them into 'Gimmees.'
We were taught to amuse ourselves as children and never ever utter the word 'bored' - to be respectful and cheerful and willing, and that every question/problem has an answer/solution, if you look for it instead of whining and crying.

The joy of it was seeing so much of America while living and contributing to its history, and the preservation thereof - and seeing so many of God's creations.

Deprivation was balanced with living in the Rocky Mountains; seeing the vistas going around the end of them and through the Yukon Terrotory to Fairbanks - breathtaking displays of the Aurora Borealis - going camping above the Arctic Circle, and then close to Mt. McKinley, looking out at vastness that defied comprehension.

It was seashores and Rochester and Ohio and Norfolk - and - countless towns and cities and The American Land.

Yes - I send special prayers for all those spouses who cope with the unexpected and unimaginable, not certain their warrior will return to them. Some will not. It is what they contribute to America, while the ignorant protesters spew their venom.

I mourn for the latter, who might one day wake up and realize where their position has placed them, and what it has made of them. Judgment Day might find them in an awkward position, explaining their blindness.
Others of us had to pay the price of their life's tab, keeping evildoers at bay.

They cried the word Peace while we were busy ensuring it.

Yes, ladtx, much is asked of military wives, but the rewards last a lifetime...

[Billie]

Good morning, jw, and thank you. Ladtx' essays are always very moving and there's a personal touch to them - as well as ALWAYS having at least ONE sentence that grabs you. He has the knack of 'grabbing' us with what he has to say, doesn't he?

LOL! re JH's 'trick' on me. :)

[JohnHuang2]

JH2, your little trick on Billie about the pics not showing just amuses me to no end...))))))

Who me? I did that? No, I didn't. You didn't see me, I didn't do it. Okay, I did. hehehe.

G'morning, friend :)

[JohnHuang2]

And G'mornin' to y'all, too :)

[humblegunner]

He tricked me!!!
(From our local site)

"Flyer Posted: Apr 1 2003, 04:23 AM
WOW! I never thought we would do it. We nuked Baghdad about 2:00 a.m. local time. Awesome video. I'm sure it will be replayed all day.*

Humblegunner Posted: Apr 1 2003, 06:07 AM
*April Fool!
Dammit, you had me searching news for ten minutes!!!"

[Billie]

Another page out of Maggie's Memory Book. :) Good morning, Military Wife/Marine. :)

[Billie]

You did, too - it's right there in fine print. :)

[Billie]

Oh, my! That was a dirty trick. Did you see the pic someone posted of Saddam in his casket yesterday? Now if only that were true.

[JohnHuang2]

shhhhhhh! Let's keep this a secret, k?

;)

[ohioWfan]

Good morning, John!

I'm off to buy a necklace for my close encounter with BARBARA BUSH on Friday night (Ashbrook Center, Ashland, OH)!

I am SO excited to get to meet the MOM of the man who is going to be judged by historians as one of the STRONGEST Presidents in American history (and who, not incidentally, kissed my very own cheek!).

I plan to write a report on what she has to say, and post it this weekend.

[LadyX]

Nan, it does not require eloquent words to express how profoundly grateful I am for knowing you and our being true Sisters.
He has indeed blessed us.

Your prayer this day is just perfect....

[JohnHuang2]

I'm off to buy a necklace for my close encounter with BARBARA BUSH on Friday night

Congrats!

I look forward to your report! :)

[Flyer]

He tricked me!!!

At least you admitted it. No one else will fess up to falling for it.

[Pippin]

Billie, I went to myprofile page and noticed that my picture of the Sacred Heart is not showing up. What's up?

[Pippin]

Wrong picture, I meant the one of Jesus holding a lamb.

[Pippin]

Howdy, (((JW)))!

[Billie]

: )

[Billie]

Oh, how wonderful, ohio! Look forward to your report - and photos!!!!

[jwfiv]

It's a fine and springlike day here...I'm sure that yours will be just as wonderful.

I saw cherry blossoms in a shot from DC yesterday, so I'm hoping you have a touch of spring in your neighborhood, too.