USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ Guest Military Chaplain Service and Father's Day ~ June 15 2003

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The USO Canteen FReeper Style

Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to:

Click the banner to visit the 84th Division Website

Drill Sergeant training soldiers at Ft. Benning The 84th Division (Institutional Training) spans a six-state area, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

The peacetime mission of the 84th Division, known as the "Railsplitters", is exciting, as well as critical to national defense. Examples of the many missions performed by 84th Division soldiers include:

Runs a year round school system providing military specialty skill training to Army Active Duty, Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers throughout the Division’s six-state area.
Provides training to Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) Cadets on university campuses and at Advanced Camp.
Provides Basic Combat Training to new recruits each year at various Army installations.
Provides One Station Unit Training (OSUT) to Infantry Soldiers.
Provides Initial Soldier Inprocess Services to various Army Installations.

The 84th Division "Railsplitters" History

Platoon Training The 84th Division has a history that reaches back to Abraham Lincoln and the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832. The Division patch is a symbol of that legacy and shows an ax splitting a log for a rail fence -- hence the nickname "The Railsplitters."

Officially, the 84th Division was not formed until August 5, 1917, during World War I. At that time it was a combat infantry unit composed of men from the states of Wisconsin, Kentucky and Illinois. The new division trained for 13 months before it was sent to Europe. But instead of entering the fight as a unit, it was split up to provide replacement personnel for other units. Many individual members did become heroes during this period.

The Division was disbanded after World War I. It was not reactivated until, 1942, after the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered World War II.

On November 10, 1944, the Division landed in France and was rushed to the front in Belgium. It was the first unit to smash the northern section of Germany’s dreaded Siegfreid Line.

When the German Army began its last great counter-offensive, the 84th Division again blocked the path. In freezing cold and snow, General Von Rundstedt threw the German Army at the 84th again and again. But the Division held its ground in what became known as "The Battle of the Bulge".

After the war, the 84th Division came home to Wisconsin, as part of the U.S. Army Reserve. In 1947, it was designated as an Airborne Reserve command. Later in 1959, it was redesignated as a Training Division for Infantry and Artillery. Its mission later included Armor and Artillery Training.

On January 21, 1991, a portion of the 84th Division (TNG) was mobilized in support of Operation Desert Storm. More than 500 Railsplitters reported to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, along with equipment and weapons systems to provide refresher training to several thousand reactivated Individual Ready Reservists. On March 22, 1991, after achieving tremendous success, the Railsplitters returned home.

As the result of a reorganization in 1993, the 84th Division (TNG) merged with the 85th Division (TNG) and expanded its area of operation to include Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.

The 84th Division (Tng) provided refresher training in June 1994 for 41 Army Reservists who were deployed to the Sinai in 1995 as part of the U.S. contribution to the Multinational Force Observer (MFO) Sinai Peacekeeping Operations in Egypt from January through July 1995.

In April 1995 the Division become an Institutional Training division, again expanding its area of operation to include Wisconsin, Illinois Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

A subsequent reorganization in August 1995 expanded the traditional missions of the Division (IT) units to include peacetime and mobilization school training of individual soldiers. The reorganization also shifted the command and control of U.S. Army Reserve Forces Schools from the former Army Reserve Commands to the Divisions (IT). The 84th Division assumed responsibility for 14 USARF Schools in Region E, comprised of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

Javelin Training Meanwhile, the training model which matches mission to unit and individual soldier qualification has been implemented. Selected units perform initial entry training missions augmenting active forces at Forts Jackson, Knox and Sill. Others perform skill level 1 and 2 training at Ft. McCoy, WI, while others have participated in counterpart training at Ft. Hood, TX. The quality of the 84th Divisions support has consistently exceeded active components expectations. Last year, 13 Army Achievement Medals by the active component counterparts, and numerous letters of commendation - to a force of only 43 soldiers - was awarded as a result of the 84th Division support to its mobilization station, Ft. Hood, TX.

During the 90’s, the 84th Division has become an integral force at the U.S. Military Academy where soldiers wearing the Railsplitters patch regularly assist in training the best and brightest future officers of the Army. Both NCOs and Junior officers are sent by the 84th Division to train West Point Cadets in a variety of military subjects at the academy.

Today, the 84th Division headquarters is located in Milwaukee. The Division currently has eight brigades. Three brigades conduct initial entry training while the remaining four school brigades train in a wide variety of subjects including; combat support MOS training, health services MOS training, and professional development training.

On March 23, 1997, Wisconsin State Highway 33 was officially dedicated as the Railsplitters’ Memorial Highway. The formal ceremony paid tribute to the thousands of men and women who have served and sacrificed over the years and recognized the efforts made by those who continue to serve today.

"Dear American Soldier"
by Chaplain (LTC) James A. DeCamp, Division Chaplain

On 22 January 2003, the Jewish World Review carried this tribute to American soldiers by Michelle Malkin which deserves wide coverage.

Dear American soldier,

You don't know me, but I know who you are and I will not forget.

You are deploying from Fort Carson and Fort Hood and Fort Bliss and Fort Stewart. You hail from Middletown and Middleboro and Greenville and Redding and Thousand Oaks and Maple Tree. You are white, black, brown, and yellow-but always Americans first.

You are with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and the 10th Combat Support Hospital and the 571st Air Ambulance Medical Evacuation Company. You are with the 1st Cavalry Division and the 3rd Infantry Division and the "Iron Horse" 4th Infantry Division. You are Black Knights with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment. You are engineers, drivers and medics in the 13th Corps Support Command.

Your motto is "We Will," "Steadfast and Loyal," "Swift and Deadly," "Always Prepared," "First to Fight," and "No Task Too Tough."

You will be joined overseas by thousands of sailors and Marines on the USS Boxer and USS Bonhomme Richard and USS Cleveland and USS Dubuque and USS Anchorage and USS Comstock and USS Pearl Harbor. You will get support in the Gulf from an airborne infantry brigade, a squadron of F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters, and two squadrons of F-16CJ radar-jamming fighters.

You have friends on the USS Constellation in the Persian Gulf, and the USS Harry S Truman in the Mediterranean Sea, and the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln stationed at Perth, Australia, and the USNS Yano en route to the Red Sea, and the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on its way to a training mission in the Pacific.

You have classmates and colleagues and cousins who died at the Pentagon and in the Twin Towers on September 11. You have buddies who took bullets over the past year in Afghanistan and Kuwait and the Philippines during Operation Enduring Freedom. You have uncles and brothers and fathers and grandfathers who sacrificed their lives in past wars.

Their deaths haunt you. Their heroism inspires you. Their footsteps beckon and you cannot resist.

You have wives who are tough as nails and husbands who are enormously proud. You have toddlers who know the colors of the American flag and grade-schoolers who have memorized Army verses like these:

The hardest job, the dirtiest job
Since ever war began
Is picking 'em up and laying 'em down
The job of an infantryman

No mission too difficult
No sacrifice too great
Our duty to the nation
Is the first we're here to state

Our doughboys come from Brooklyn
Our gunners from Vermont
Our signals from Fort Monmouth
Our engineers DuPont

Against the foes of freedom
We fight for liberty
We make no peace with tyrants
On land or on the sea

As you pack your green Army duffel bags, press your desert camouflage fatigues, polish your boots and kiss your families goodbye, please take these words with you:

Thank you. Thank you for answering the call to arms. Thank you for being fit and young and brave and willing. Thank you for loving freedom enough to put your own life on the line to defend it....

Stand tall. Fight hard. And know that there are legions of Americans who are boundlessly grateful for what you have volunteered to do.

We know who you are. We will not forget. And we will pray every day for your safe return. Hoo-ah!

USO Canteen FReeper Style

Military Support Links

Armed Forces Careers


Army	Navy	Air Force	Marines	Coast Guard

The Fisher House program is a unique private-public partnership that supports America's military in their time of need by providing homes close to a loved one during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.

There are currently 31 houses located on the grounds of every major military medical center and several VA medical centers. These houses will play a critical role in caring for casualties from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Donations will be used to help meet the cost of lodging for a family whose loved one was injured in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. There is a limit to the number of families who can stay in a Fisher House and program is committed to help provide lodging for families who must find commercial lodging, because the Fisher House is full.

Access the Wounded Heroes Guestbook to write a message of encouragement for a hero wounded in the line of duty.

Messages in the Wounded Heroes Guestbook are viewed by wounded soldiers, their loved ones, and the general public.

Visit the Veterans of Foreign Wars Home Page

Visit the Department of Veterans Affairs

VetsCoR is pleased to present: a CD message of support from America to our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen deployed in the Middle East, and other places around the globe, in the ongoing war on terrorism.

If you have a family member deployed, and would like to send them a copy of the CD, please click here. (VetsCoR will mail a copy of the CD FREE to any APO/FPO or military address.) If you want a copy of the CD and you are not a member of the Armed Forces, you may order a copy for $5.00 each. Click the VetsCor Logo for more information.

Share your thoughts, good wishes and messages with American troops
deployed around the globe. In turn, we hope those in service will
be able to view them on this site, and perhaps respond themselves.

ADD A SERVICEPERSON: Please help make this tribute more
complete by creating a page for your own friends and family who
are currently deployed around the globe.

Support the Military Relief Societies!
Please support the the Military Relief Societies that help families whose loved
ones were injured or killed in battle. Click any one of the following:

Operation Relax

Two Million Dollars in Vacations Going to U.S. Military Personnel!

Sandals and Beaches Resorts will donate a million dollars directly to active U.S. military personnel.
If you are currently serving, simply click the banner above and fill out an Application for your
complimentary vacation. Applications will be examined for authenticity and once approved,
a three-night travel certificate valid for two in deluxe accommodations will be sent to applicant and
will be valid for 24 months after issue date. Airfare is not included. There is a limited amount available
so don't delay!

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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on June 15:
1330 Edward the black prince, prince of Wales (1343-1376)
1767 Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson 1st lady
1843 Edvard Grieg Bergen Norway, composer (Bewitched One)
1888 Maria Dermo–t Java, Dutch novelist (The 10,000 Things)
1894 Robert Russell Bennett Kansas City, composer/arranger (Oklahoma!)
1900 Otto Clarence Luening Milwaukee Wisconsin, composer (Sonority Canon)
1902 Erik H Erickson psychologist (Existentionalist)
1902 Max Rudolf Frankfurt Germany, conductor (G”teberg Symphony Orch)
1910 David Rose London England, orch leader (Red Skelton Show, Stripper)
1914 Saul Steinberg Romania, cartoonist, illustrator (New Yorker)
1922 Morris K Udall (Rep-D-Az)
1932 Mario Cuomo (Gov-D-NY)
1935 Belinda Lee England, actress (Who Done It, Runaway Bus)
1937 Waylon Jennings singer of innumerable country songs (Ramblin' Man)
1941 Harry Nilsson [Johnny Niles], laid-back singer/songwriter
1942 Xaveria Hollander [DeVries], Surabaya Indonesia, auth (Happy Hooker)
1943 Aron Kincaid LA Calif, actor (Warren-Bachelor Father, Ski Party)
1944 Inna Ryskai USSR, volleyball player (Olympic-2 gold/2 silver-1964-76)
1945 Nicola Pagett actress (Oliver's Story, Privates on Parade)
1945 Rod Argent England, keyboardist (The Zombies-She's Not There)
1946 Jim Varney Lexington KY, "Hey Vern", actor (Ernest Goes to Jail)
1946 Judy Pace LA Calif, actress (Young Lawyers)
1947 Lee Purcell NC, actor (Big Wednesday, Mr Majestyk)
1950 Heidi Schller Germany, 1st woman to take olympic oath (1972)
1950 Noddy Holder rock vocalist/guitarist (Slade-Cum On Feel The Noize)
1951 Tom Forzani CFL wide receiver (Calgary Stampeders)
1953 Rita Lee Federic Wisc, playmate (November, 1977)
1954 Jim Belushi Chicago Ill, comedian (Sat Night Live, Trading Places)
1954 Terri Gibbs Augusta Ga, blind singer (Somebody's Knockin')
1955 Tree Rollins Winter Haven Fla, NBA center (Cleve Cavaliers)
1956 Polly Draper Palo Alto Calif, actress (Ellyn-30 Something, Hooters)
1957 Clio Goldsmith Paris France, actress (The Gift)
1958 Wade Boggs Nebraska, Red Sox 3rd baseman (AL bat champ 1985-88)
1959 Eileen Davidson actress (Young & Restless, House on Sorority Row)
1963 Helen Hunt LA Calif, actress (Jill-Amy Prentiss, Lisa-It Takes Two)
1964 Courtney Cox Birmingham Ala, actress (Family Ties, Cocoon II)
1965 Carrie Mitchum LA Calif, actress (Donna-Bold & Beautiful)
1973 Neil Patrick Harris Albuquerque NM, actor (Doogie Howser)

Deaths which occurred on June 15:
923 Robert I, King of France, dies in battle
948 Romanus I Lecapenus, Armenian emperor of Byzantium (919-44), dies
1381 Wat Tyler leader of English Peasants' Revolt, beheaded in London
1467 Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy, dies at 76
1849 James Knox Polk the 11th US Pres, dies in Nashville, Tenn
1968 West Montgomery jazz guitarist dies of a heart attack at 48
1982 Neil Fitzgerald Irish actor, dies at 90, in Princeton NJ
1984 Meredith Willson composer (Meredith Willson Show), dies at 82
1984 Ned Glass actor, dies at 78 of heart failure
1985 Meredith Wilson dies
1987 Walter W Heller, US economist (Old Myths & New Realities), dies at 71
1989 Ray McAlly actor, dies in dublin at 63
1989 Victor French actor (Highway to Heaven), dies at 54 of cancer

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 KOPFMAN THEODORE F. KENT OH.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 SWANSON JOHN WILLARD ARLINGTON IL.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
763 -BC- Assyrians record total solar eclipse event on clay tablet
1215 King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede, England
1219 King Valdemar brought victory for Denmark
1381 Wat Tyler, leader of English Peasants' Revolt, beheaded in London
1389 Battle of Kossovo; Turks defeat Serbs, Bosnians
1520 Pope threatens to toss Luther out of Catholic Church
1567 Jews are expelled from Genoa Italy
1590 Pope Leo X threatens to ex-communicate Martin Luther
1664 NJ established
1775 George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of American Army
1779 General Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, Bronx
1785 2 French balloonists die in world's 1st fatal aviation accident
1804 12th amendment ratified; deals with manner of choosing president
1836 Arkansas becomes 25th state
1844 Goodyear patents vulcanization of rubber
1846 Oregon Treaty signed, setting US-British boundary at 49ø N
1851 Jacob Fussell, Baltimore dairyman, sets up 1st ice-cream factory
1857 SF Water Works organized
1860 1st White settlement in Idaho (Franklin)
1862 Gen JEB Stuart completes his "ride around McClellan"
1864 Battle for Petersburg begins as Gen Grant assaults Confederate line
1864 Robert E Lee's home area (Arlington, VA) becomes a miltary cemetery
1866 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #88 Thisbe
1866 Prussia attacks Austria
1869 Celluloid patented by John Wesley Hyatt, Albany, NY
1869 Mike McCoole (US) defeats Tom Allen (England) in bare-knuckle bout
1871 Phoebe Couzins is 1st woman graduate of a US collegiate law school
1876 Sara Spencer (R) is 1st woman to address a US presidential cconvention
1877 Henry O Flipper becomes 1st black graduate at West Point
1878 1st attempt at motion pictures (used 12 cameras, each taking 1
picture) done to see if all 4 of a horse's hooves leave the ground
1887 NY Giants beat Phila Phillies 29-1
1889 Start of the Sherlock Holmes Adv "The Stockbroker's Clerk" (BG)
1894 Phillies beat Cincinatti Reds, 21-8
1896 Tsunami strikes Shinto festival on beach at Sanriku Japan
27,000 are killed, 9,000 injured, with 13,000 houses destroyed
1902 Canada's Maritime Provinces switch from Eastern to Atlantic time
1902 Justin Clark of Corsicana, Tx minors hits 8 home runs in 1 game
1904 Side-wheeler "General Slocum" burns in NY's East River (1,031 die)
1907 44 nations meet in 2nd Hague Peace Conference
1915 US government mints 1st $50 gold pieces, for Panama Pacific Expo
1918 1" of snow falls in Northern Pennsylvania
1918 50th running of Belmont Stakes (Johren wins)
1919 1st nonstop Atlantic flight (Alcock & Brown) lands in Ireland
1924 Ford Motor Company manufactures its 10 millionth automobile
1924 Native Americans are proclaimed US citizens
1925 B Jekhovsky discovers asteroid #1093 Freda
1929 1st time NY curb stock exchange transacts more business than NY Exch
1933 C Jackson discovers asteroids #1278 Kenya & #1279 Uganda
1934 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1324 Knysna
1934 Great Smokey Mountains National Park dedicated
1934 K Reinmuth discovers asteroid #1322 Coppernicus
1938 1st night game at Bkln Ebbets Field (Reds 6, Dodgers 0) as Cin Red
Johnny Vander Meer hurls unprecident 2nd consecutive no-hitter
1939 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1676 Kariba
1940 French fortress of Verdun captured by Germans
1944 US forces begin invasion of Saipan in Pacific
1947 1st night game at Detroit Briggs Stadium (Tigers 4, Athletics 1)
1950 Itzigsohn discover asteroid 1581 Abanderada, 1582 Martir & 1779 Parana
1951 1st coml electronic computer dedicated Phila
1951 Joe Louis scored his last knock out victory
1956 John Lennon (15) & Paul McCartney (13) meet for the 1st time as
Lennon's rock group The Quarrymen perform at a church dinner
1957 42.01 cm (16.54") of rainfall, East St Louis, Ill (state record)
1957 Yanks trade Billy Martin & Ralph Terry for Ryne Duran
1960 Argentina complains to UN about Israeli illicit transfer of Eichman
1962 Phillies score 10 runs in an inning against Reds en route to 13-8 win
1962 South Africa passes a bill setting death penalty for many crimes
1963 SF Giants Juan Marichal no-hits Houston Colt 45s, 1-0
1967 Gov Reagan signs liberalized California abortion bill
1968 John Lennon & Yoko Ono plant an acorn at Conventry Cathedral
1969 "Hee Haw" with Roy Clark & Buck Owens premiers on CBS TV
1971 Vernon E Jordan Jr, appointed exec director of National Urban League
1972 Rock fall inside Vierzy Tunnel (France) causes 2 train crash; 107 die
1973 "American Graffiti" opens in NYC
1976 Yankees trade May, Martinez, Pagan, MacGregor & Demsey to Baltimore
for Holtzman, Alexander, Grant Jackson, Elrod Henrick & Jim Freeman
1977 Spain's 1st free elections since 1936
1978 Jordan's King Hussein marries Elizabeth Halaby, 26-yr-old American
1978 Soyuz 29 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6; they stay 139 days
1979 1st space shuttle SRB qualification test firing; 122 seconds
1980 Jorge Orta of Cleveland gets 6 hits in a baseball game
1982 Riots in Argentina after Falklands/Malvinas defeat
1983 Supreme Court struck down state & local restrictions on abortion
1984 Thomas Hearns KOs Roberto Duran
1985 En route to Halley's Comet, USSR's Vega 2 drops lander on Venus
1986 Pravda announces high-level Chernobyl staff fired for stupidity
1988 NASA launches space vehicle S-213
1989 Balt Orioles pull their 9th triple play (vs Yankees)
1989 Ronald Reagan is knighted by Queen Elizabeth
1990 "Dick Tracy" with Warren Beatty & Madonna premiers
1991 Philippines volcano Mount Pinatubo errupts
1992 Ghana Airways inaugurates flights to JFK Airport (NYC)

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Arkansas : Admission Day (1836)
Denmark : Flag Day/Valdemar Day (1219)
Idaho : Pioneer Day (1910)
Korea : Farmer's Day-day to transplant rice seeds
Oregon : Treaty Day (1846)
Paraguay : Chaco Peace Day (1935) - - - - - ( Sunday )
US : Father's Day (Remind the guy how much you care) - - - - - ( Sunday )

Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of SS Modestus, Crescentia, martyrs
RC : Commemoration of St Vitus, martyr, protector of epileptics

Religious History
1520 Leo X issued the papal encyclical 'Exsurge Domine,' which condemned German Reformer Martin Luther as a heretic on 41 counts and branded him an enemy of the Roman Catholic Church.
1649 Margaret Jones of Charlestown became the first person tried and executed for witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts.
1686 In Boston, the King's Chapel was organized. It was the first Anglican church established in colonial New England.
1950 American missionary martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'A man without Christ has his roots only in his own times, and his fruits as well.'
1979 Greater Europe Mission moved its headquarters from Chicago to Wheaton, Illinois. Founded in 1949, GEM is an evangelical missionary agency involved in church planting and evangelism in over a dozen European countries.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Life is a sexually transmitted disease."

Good Morning Tonk!

Ahhh, Father's Day! A special day for all dads, but especially for the military dads. We put our kids through many special challenges. The funny thing is they love us anyway, and years later, after they are grown, so many look back on their nomadic lifestyle and have a sense of humor and nostalgia as they consider:

You might be a military brat if:

actually like the clothes at the BX and don't mind that 100 other people are wearing the same thing.
all your former very best friends are as long gone as your last move.
always wish you were back at the last place you were stationed, even 20 years later.
answer the question "Where are you from?" with "I'm kinda from all over the place."
are able to imitate others' speech patterns easily.
are amazed at people who have lived somewhere more than three years.
are amazed at people who have never left their hometown.
are amazed at people who have who have never seen foreign currency.
are amazed at people who think Frankfurt is a some kind of hotdog.
are asked "Where did you learn to speak English so well?".
are asked "Is it hard always moving around?" when you've never known anything different.
are brought to tears by military music.
are going to a grocery store, but call it a commissary.
are initially confused when asked where you are from, but quickly respond "Everywhere."
ask what they mean when someone asks where you are from.
at 22 you are trying to find someone in the military to marry so you can get a new I.D. card.
avoid visiting the doctor because you don't trust civilian hospitals.
bagged groceries at the commissary on payday.
bought US savings stamps.
can ask for a beer in most European languages.
can bounce a quarter off your bedsheets and have hospital corner on your bed.
can call up actual memories of a country while you're in Geography class.
can identify ranks and duty station by the stickers on the car's bumper.
cannot speak the language of the country in which you were born.
can recite all of the AFRTS commercials along with the television.
can remember ordering a Big Mac, fries, and a beer.
can still convert foreign currency in your head.
can talk to anyone and everyone from anywhere and everywhere.
can't convince a stateside cousin that your Japanese kimono doll REALLY came from Japan.
can't drink Budweiser without being coerced.
conceal your father's rank because once people find out he has stars they'll never treat you the same.
craved to have a class six ration card.
didn't save things so you wouldn't go over the weight allowance of the next move.
didn't see a TV till you were almost a teenager.
do not understand why many of your friends are afraid to be in an airplane.
don't believe it when someone tells you they never left their hometown.
don't feel quite right seeing military personnel younger than you.
don't really know how to answer the question "What is your home town?".
don't remember the names of your childhood friends.
draw a quick map of the world to show someone where you last lived.
enjoy seeing guys in fatigues on city streets.
ever got sick eating chocolate field rations.
every room you've ever had was stark white, and you couldn't put nail holes in the walls.
everyone complains about your name being the most scratched out in their address book.
everywhere you go, you think you see someone you went to school with.
expect someone else to do your housework, but can't afford it.
feared turning 21 because they would take your ID card away.
feel like you should be visiting the States rather than living in them.
feel more at home on a military base than in town even though you've been a civilian for 26years.
feel more comfortable living near a military base and get bummed-out when a base gets closed.
felt like a part of history that was happening around you.
find that you can easily amuse yourself for hours at airports, train or bus stations.
find yourself with friends throughout the world.
get frustrated when others talk about going to their hometown to see old friends, teachers, etc.
get nostalgic when seeing O.D. Green.
get the itch to move every 3-4 years and forever feel like the outsider in the civilian world.
give someone a break because they are in the military.
go into culture shock upon returning to the States.
got beer from the Limonade man at the kiosk.
got dressed up and played pranks at Fasching.
got grounded, restricted to quarters, or put on KP duty.
got in trouble on the train to Berlin for taking a picture.
graduated from a high school you only attended for a year.
had a dad who bought you a used SAM to play with.
had a father who was always telling to "police the area".
had a pup-tent in your yard until your parents found out what was going on in there.
had a supply of K-Rations that you traded with your friends.
had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in a mess hall.
had your introductory speech prepared and memorized for your first day at a new school.
had your school lunches planned and served by people wearing sergeant or private stripes.
have a collection of beer caps from everywhere.
have a very best lifelong friend whom you have known for less than a few years.
have been asked just where in NY "Apo" is.
have been hit on at the young age of 13 by men in uniform.
have driven four hours to Munich for the taste of a poorly done Big Mac.
have to explain that being born in Germany does not make you German.
have to explain why your SSN is from an APO, and your home of record and state of residence don't match.
have forgotten how to speak more languages than most people ever learn.
have USAA as your insurance company.
haven't seen your best friend since the last time Dad was transferred.
hear the sound of freedom when military aircraft fly by while civilians complain about the noise.
know exactly how horrible AFN commercials are.
inexplicably have the urge to move to a new place every year for no reason at all.
keep bumping into people all over the world who know friends that you haven't seen in years.
kept evac-backpacks by the front door with clothing and passports incase "IT" happened.
knew the rank and name of the kid next door's father before meeting the kid next door.
know how great it is to be able to return to base and your little slice of America.
know how to pack a footlocker.
know kilometers better than miles and celcius better than fahrenheit.
know that Radio Luxemborg was the number one way to keep up with the latest rock and roll hits.
know the words and tune to military march songs.
know what "the land of the big PX is."
know what a jump tower is and after a few beers - thought it made good sense to climb one.
know what Ami geh heim or knittle in die buxe means.
know what the "land of the round door knobs is".
know what the relative value of a pfenning, won, or yen is compared to the U.S. Dollar.
know about a variety of cultures.
left school frequently for bomb scares.
like institutional-style cooking and enjoyed going to the Mess Hall.
liked going shopping with mom for an hour and a first 10 years of your life.
made better grades in geography because you'd been to the places you were studying.
meet another military brat sometime somewhere and are instantly bonded.
miss shopping at AAFES or the PX.
most of your Scout camping equipment had US instead of BSA stamped on it.
most of your siblings were born in various foreign lands.
munched hot brotchen and gummies on the way to school.
name schools in three countries on two continents when asked what high school you attended.
never quite finished decorating your place because you knew you'd be moving soon.
noticed Tom Cruise in uniform, outside with no hat, and having a non-regulation haircut in Top Gun.
painted a picture on the Berlin Wall before it fell.
panic when you can't find your I.D. or passport.
played American Football at the schwim bad to impress the German girls.
polished your father's boots and brass for his upcoming inspection.
put your hand over your heart at 5 p.m. knowing the flag was coming down somewhere.
realize that the latest fashions in the States are not the same clothes you bought on base.
refer to being in the U.S. as "in the world."
remember following your favorite film as it made the rounds on the AAFES theater circuit.
remember being able to watch the Super Bowl or World Series live on TV at 2 am.
remember Chris Noel's dedication show on Armed Forces radio during the Vietnam war.
remember hanging out at the AYA.
remember the Saturday afternoon tank rides at Fort Hood.
say "Think OPSEC" to your friends so they will keep it secure, then realize it won't make sense to then.
start a major portion of your conversations with "When I was in..."
stand up and recite the national anthem at the start of movies.
still do yard detail!
still get the urge to pack up and move about every 22 months.
still look for your ID card after you've grown up.
stopped saying I used to live in Japan because people kept asking you if you spoke Chinese.
talk to someone with an accent and pick it up yourself.
tell everyone you are from a town that you haven't lived in since you were 4 years old.
the oldest friend you have is from your senior year of high school.
the term "combat loaded" refers to how the movers load the van.
think locals have such a limited perspective.
think of the fathers and mothers of your childhood neighbors by their rank.
think the US seems like a foreign country.
think you see old classmates on every corner, whether you are in Brussels, Bangkok, or Boise.
thought all doctors issued all purpose capsules for every ache and pain.
thought all pens had "US Government" printed on them.
thought aspirin came in 5,000 count bottles.
thought everyone slept under green or blue wool blankets that had "US" on them.
thought that a firing range made a great playground.
thought that the Quartermaster was the real Santa Claus.
thought vacations meant going stateside to visit the grandparents.
told civilian friends stateside where you lived, and they complimented your English.
try to remember to drive on the right side of the road.
try to take out your ID card when you enter a grocery store.
use words like "hit the deck", "visit the head" and "pogey bait".
used the federal warnings on your I.D. card to convince your cousins that you were a military agent.
waited every Saturday at noon for the alert sirens to go off.
went into hysterics when your grandparents thought of selling their house.
went out and found everybody leaving on Maneuvers.
went to school in a converted POW camp.
were born in an US occupied country and moved every 3 years.
were more interested in your new friend's father's rank than what color your friend was.
were pleased to find upon returning stateside that the locals spoke American.
still think of yourself as a yeoman after 20 years as a secretary.
battleship grey makes you feel warm and fuzzy.
can shine your military kid's brass better then he can.
come to the US, turn on the T.V., and notice that the shows are in English.
get the goose bumps when you first log-in to this www site.
see a homeless person and somehow feel spiritually related
your civilian boss has to ask you more than once not to say "Yes sir" and "No sir".
woke up to F-4's zooming overhead.
wonder if dad signed a hand receipt when you were born.
wondered who your new best friend would be as you enrolled in yet another school.
make things up about where you are from avoid the headaches of telling the whole long story.
are confused when your fiance talks about watching trees grow large in front of the house.
can recite which aircraft were in service in which era.
graduate from 12th grade and it's your 13th school .
have had your own punch card at the local Class VI store since you were 16
have climbed down to Survival Beach and back up.
use Script or MPC's instead of green backs.
went on week-long field trips to England, France and Italy.
had been to every Gasthaus in Germany, both East and West, before you were 18.
your SSN, home of record, state of residence, and place of birth are far from matching.
know "transfer" means "pack your toys and say see ya later".
were in your late teens before you realized flashlight batteries came in any color but OD.
and your friends played army in an abandoned concentration camp.

I am always so moved by the thoughts and prayers here. I want to post part of a letter from one of the jag lawyers now in Bagdhad: all of his letters are wonderful no politics and no biased news, just clear and consice truth. He can't say enough good about our men and women and those of the colition, how they all get along and what means the most. Hence the next two paragraphs:

Unfortunately there is still much to do here. That is the arena of Future Operations or FUOPS (probably because it's fun to say). I'm the night FUOPS JAG representative. Our group brainstorms and develops courses of action and plans for future operations including the continued fight, the security, stabilization and occupation of Iraq. We plan for things like whether and how to carry the fight north of Baghdad, how to get Iraqi Freedom Fighters into the fight, and generally what to do with Iraq once we've caught it. Running a country, even for the time until you can hand it back to the Iraqis, is an endless task. We try to figure out how to sort and repatriate prisoners of war, how to run the prisons, the assylums and the trains, what to do with the war criminals that we are investigating and basic governance. It's a blast. Many think that the army is a social dinasaur. They are wrong. The armed forces is a wonderful melting pot. Our mess hall is the world's best social brew. Service men and women of all shapes, sizes, colors and nationalities mingle easily. There are folks from countries from Albania to the Ukraine - thirty countries in all. The uniforms are amazing. There are Czechs in shorts, Aussies in polka dots, Koreans in checks, our Marines in digitized camos, and Estonians, Macedonians, Lithuanians, Bulgarians, Latvians, Romanians, Emerites, Koreans, Georgians, Slovakians and Polish in various shades of desert flora. They all get along famously...although you have to becareful with the good ehnic joke here or there - or you'll get your ass wooped! A twenty year old Czech private speaking a blend of sign language and mostly English casually discusses whether tonight's meat was ever on hoof with a fifty year old National Guard private from Tennessee speaking a blend of mostly sign language and a form of English. Generals and privates sit and converse as family, sharing news of the front, of family and of home. These unique men and women are merged by a unity of purpose and resolve.

Mail call has long been the highlight of a soldier's day. It still holds true. Soldiers love mail, any mail. They're getting a bunch here. Yesterday, 242,000 pounds were delivered in the theater; today 350,000 pounds. That's a lot of nuts, candy, cards, letters, photos and a whole lot of lovin. It is amazing what people send here - some even legal! The look on the soldiers face when they get mail is fantastic. Some open the boxes in front of everyone and announce the contents like presenting an academy award, others slink away to open their box in private - here generally in the privy (the only private place in the field...hence "privy"). Cards from so and so's third grade class, letters from Scouts, Churches, friends, friends of friends, firms, families and fiances and food, sundries and crazy stuff. Some for folks we don't know. We love the smell of the envelopes and the feel of something that was once in the hands of family and friends reminding us of home. We just love it. We send a bunch of the mail a few miles north to the boys who have toughed it out for twenty one days of hell. It is they who deserve the whole lot of lovin.

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