A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....07-22-03....A Few MORE of FR's Finest

Billie

[Billie]

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

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and 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....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

Please join me as we salute Group 12 of a Few of FR's Finest Military. Some are serving now, some are veterans, some are no longer with us, but all are deserving of our thanks and appreciation.

Top: Mo1's dad; BuffyT's Uncle (right, w/ her dad & grandmother); Armymarinemom's 3 sons.
Middle: ru4Liberty's dad; SheLion's husband, MaineRebel; wirestripper.
Bottom: fivetoes; bigghurtt; hurricane; ladtx' dad; Pippin's brother.

Mo1's dad never liked to talk about his time in the war, but she does know he served with the Army in the 69th Infantry Division in WW II.

BuffyT's uncle, Richard H. Thoos, is still MIA from WWII; his B-17 was shot down over France. The photo below is the crew in front of their flying fortress. Uncle Richard is in the second row, second from left. Another B-17 was nearby when his was shot down. They saw the crew parachuting to safety, but Richard was never found, either dead or alive.

Armymarinemom has much to be proud of, with three sons actively serving in the U.S. Army and U.S.M.C. The photo above with two of her sons is about six years old, and several ranks behind. She is hoping they will all be home for Christmas, so she can have a new formal photo of all three.

Ru4Liberty's father was in the U.S. Army in WWII. The photo was taken at Ft. Crockett in Galveston, Texas.

SheLion's husband, FReeper MaineRebel, passed away last year. He was Active Duty Military for a total of 26 years. He was in the U.S. Army from 1964 - 1968, serving in VietNam from June '66 until July '67 (6BN 27th Artillary). He received two Purple Hearts for injuries sustained while serving in Viet Nam. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1970 and retired in 1992.

Wirestripper enlisted in the Army in November, 1969, on a 3-year commitment. After extensive training in Ft. Belvoir Virginia regarding a new mobile assault bridge that the Army developed for armored units, he landed in West Germany in the fall of 1970. He remained there until his enlistment was up in the fall of 1972. Wirestripper was a proficient marksman, and spent about a year and a half on the 3rd Armored Division Marksmanship team, shooting in National Match Competitions throughout Europe.

Fivetoes joined the US Marine Corps a week after graduation from high school in 1970. He left active duty as a sargeant in 1973, In his words.."One thing that I do not remember is being debriefed when I left the active service of the United States Marine Corps. I took an oath upon entering the service to defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. I believe that anyone who has taken that oath still has an obligation to live up to it."

Bigghurtt has been in the U.S. Army for the last 5 years, and will soon enter the special forces...he is currently stationed at Ft. Detrick, MD, and has served at Ft. Knox, Ft. Gordon, and in the Republic of Korea.

Hurricane enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1951. He advanced from E-1 to E-7 and then was commissioned in the Warrant Officer Program, where he rose through the ranks to CWO 4 in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps (Seabees). He stayed in the Reserve and retired in 1986. Hurricane's photo is circa 1982.

LadTX' father was in the U.S. Navy, WWII. A military family, Ladtx served in Vietnam, and two of his sons are currently Active Duty.

Pippin's brother served in the U.S.M.C. Pippin is one of our frequent guest writers, and we know how proud she is of her brother.

Today we salute you, one more group of FR's Finest! On Monday, your group will be added to our regular Military Monday tributes. Thank you for serving!

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 07-21-03 Military Monday

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

[dutchess]

Just heard on the radio that it's confirmed that it was Saadams boys who were killed?????

Oh oh...

[Billie]

Oh, for such a momentous occasion - fly first class, stay at the swankiest of hotels and dine in only the best restaurants. Shall I make reservations at McD's Golden Arches? ;)

[Billie]

Hi, Chris - thank you! Isn't little Leila a cutie! A beautiful brunette to rival your beautiful little redhead.

[WVNan]

Sheesh, picky picky picky. Now she's counting the hours and I'm running out of time. GOT to get back to picture sorting Maggie. Leaving for Ohio about noon tomorrow and will be home (hopefully) before noon Thurs. Barely time to get a shower before we have to leave very early Friday. Oh, Maggie, we bought the van. I don't think we will drive it to S.C. because it eats too much. We will drive the Lesabre. Later Gator.

[lonestar]

Check this out.

http://64.177.83.63/liberty/email.htm

[Billie]

Hi, Colleen! Happy to see you back from vacation and to hear that you had an awesome one! So glad you got to visit with your cousin Brian.

I don't understand - a baseball game, and it's "silent night"? :)

[LadyX]

Check your e-mail in a few minutes for a Preview of where we plan to go to dine..:))

[Billie]

Thank you for the nice words, Sistah Bear! :)

That's a stunning photo you used to highlight the Military Oath. Doesn't it look like someone painted those sun's rays - they're so perfect.

[GailA]

We are 20 miles outside of Memphis and bracing for round 2...it is a WAR ZONE in Memphis..looks like an F5 went through it. BUT it was only straight line winds with micro burst. 1 weather spotter clocked 1 gust at 102 mph others 84 mph. This is one severe storm...LOTS and LOTS of Lightening in it. 2 deaths so far.

Only minor damage out our way.

[Billie]

I love this pledge graphic! And, I just noticed that it is a photo by our Finest "Flyer". Very nice!

Well, I'll just have to ping that Flyer again - I used this one for the 4th of July thread, and didn't see him there either!

Yoo hoooooooo, oh, Flyer! We love your rusted old car photograph!

[Billie]

Hoping that fivetoes gets to see today's tribute. And Buffy, and BiggHurtt, hurricane, ru, SheLion, and mo....I know it's been a long time for some of you since you sent your photos to me. SheLion, hope that time is healing your loss, and we'd love to see you again.

[iceskater]

Very moving. Thank you for sharing it.

But I need a tissue alert for these things. I think people in my office are beginning to wonder about me...

[Billie]

Prayers for our military men and women who are still in danger, and am so wanting to believe that the latest news about Saddam's two sons is true.

God Bless Our Military

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

Below are names of some of our FReepers' loved ones who are serving our country. If you have someone you would like to add, please address a post to Billie; Mama_Bear; Dansangel; Dutchess; Aquamarine and we will add their name to this list. As we pray for them, we pray also for all our nation’s leaders, and military personnel, and their families and friends. May God hold them close to His heart.

~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~

We ask Lord, that You guide the leaders of our great country in their hour of decision. The burden that has been placed on their shoulders is overwhelming. We ask that with Your infinite wisdom You guide them gently to the right decisions.

Please give us the strength, Lord, to get through each difficult and devastating day that faces each of us and our country. Protect and guide our Military that are now being called to duty, strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

OhioWfan........................son mystery-ak..........son, husband Gogrammy................grandson Inspectorette...................son Blessed American..........nephew Slip18..........................nephew anniegetyourgun...........nephew Pippin....niece,nephew,loved one Doug from Upland......son-in-law weldgophardline.....brotherinlaw Future Snake Eater..........cousin WaterDragon..son-in-law,grandson BeforeISleep...................son The Mayor........................niece LadyX.........................grandson fawn796.....................nephew ValerieUSA................2 sons Warrior Nurse...........active duty SK1 Thurman...........active duty David Osborne.........active duty fc2tomschermuly......active duty bkwells..................activve duty LongCut..................active duty Trish.......................active duty

Maigrey................cousin ladtx....................2 sons Mama_Bear...........nephew gator girl............husband severa................husband MozartLover......son, nephew LBGA........................son SpookBrat...........nephew Himyar.....................son boxerblues............2 sons the piper...................son sheeza...............husband kemathen7...........husband Tiffee4Bob.......boyfriend Diver Dave................niece deadhead................cousin JimRobinson.....2 nephews Armymarinemom.....3 sons Consort..2 daughters,son-in-law Darheel..................niece dixie sass.............nephew BeAllYouCanBe.........son AgThorn...............2 sons homeschoolmama.......nephew kneezles.................son

[MeekOneGOP]

Yep, tis true !!

Centcom: We have confirmed that two of the dead
were Saddam’s sons Uday and Qusay

They're dead, Jim.

[deadhead]

Yes, silent night Billie...they were trying to break some kind of a record. Actually had duck tape to put on our mouths if we were talking, lol...it was comical. We are not a quiet group. We also had a special surprise, cousins flew in from Ireland, only 2 of the group knew they were coming. The first night we were at Folly Beach, we saw a rainbow, 2nd one I have actually seen in my life. It was so beautiful, not the greatest photo, but here it is:

One more photo to post, wanted to share a picture of Brian (back from Iraq) with all of you, Brian is in the back of the photo:

[Mo1]

Mo1's dad never liked to talk about his time in the war, but she does know he served with the Army in the 69th Infantry Division in WW II.

Thanks Billie for adding my Dad's picture .. {{HUGS}}

I was able to do some research and found some info of dad's service time

Here is the Home page for the 69th

69th Infantry Division

Dad was in the 271st, Company K .. here is a story about their time in Germany

Excerpted from Trespass Against Them: History of the 271st Infantry Regiment,15 May 1943 – 25 May 1945, pp. 13-27

[lonestar]

I wish I'd been there!

[lonestar]

How far are you from Germantown? I have several cousins living there but have no clue where it is except "in Memphis."

[LadyShallott]

She is a cutie. I think we need to get a thread together on the Freepers Finest:The Second generation. LOL! Have a good night Miss Billie. God Bless!

Chris

[Flyer]

We love your rusted old car photograph

Too cool! That is one of my Dad's favorites, too. He has an 8 X 10 of it on the wall. I'm honored it found such good use.