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

[Dubya]

Just some veterans news.

2 celebrations planned at medical center

By Frank Perkins
Special to the Star-Telegram

Two celebrations will make this week special at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The first is a birthday party honoring former Navy Yeoman Marie Odee Johnson, who turns 106 Wednesday. The longtime Dallas resident is the oldest of 12 female World War I veterans living in North Texas, according to VA records.

The Dallas Navy League chapter will make a presentation to Johnson at 1:30 p.m. in the VA's Transitional Care Unit at the hospital, where she lives. Intended mostly for short-term care, the VA allows World War I veterans older than 100 to stay as long as they wish. Johnson moved there in 1998.

She joined the Navy during the last days of World War I while working as a secretary with the Dallas office of the FBI, according to her daughter, Marilyn Brooks, 75.

"I think those sailor boys working in the recruiting office at the federal building talked her into it," Brooks said. Johnson had two brothers in the Army and a sister in the Navy.

"She didn't ask anybody's permission. She just signed up and went," Brooks said. "She was just that kind of a daredevil. The first her family knew of her enlistment was when she called her father and told him, 'Well, you best put another war service star in the window.'

"She took a train to her duty station in Washington, D.C., and told me that at each stop, the people in that town or village would give fruit and snacks to the soldiers and sailors on the train," Brooks said.

Johnson was a secretary to a Marine general in Washington. "It was a great assignment," Brooks said. "The general was in charge of entertaining the troops when they came back from Europe, so my mother was kept busy passing out free tickets to Broadway shows and baseball games."

After her discharge, she returned to her job with the FBI in Dallas. She met another federal employee, Edward C. Johnson, wounded in action during World War I, and they married in 1924. "I was their only chickadee," Brooks said.

Brooks expects her mom to have a great time at the party. "She loves attention and talking to people, although she refuses to wear her hearing aid," Brooks said.

The VA estimates that 500 World War I veterans, fewer than 75 of them women, remain nationwide.

The second celebration, honoring the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, will be at 3 p.m. Sunday in the atrium of the medical center. The Dallas Veterans Council-Korean War Commemorative Partners is the sponsor.

Eight Korean War veterans -- an Army Distinguished Service Cross recipient, a Navy admiral, generals from the Air Force and Marines, and four former enlisted men -- will share their experiences, and the Town North Concert Band will perform. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Stonell Greene at (214) 819-1886.

[Dubya]

Thanks for sharing this.

[dansangel]

((((((((((Cal)))))))))

Sorry I missed you this morning. I've been busy with my new hires training class.

Hope you had (are having) a great day! :-)

[Dubya]

video entitled Military Prayer Point

VERY GOOD VIDEO.

[Aquamarine]

The Military Prayer Point flash video was very powerful. Thanks for sharing.

[dansangel]

(((((((((dutchess)))))))))

Been a month of Sundays since we've interfaced.

OK, so I exaggerate....but it *has* been a while!

[Aquamarine]

Happy to hear that you had a pleasant trip down South.Your family seems like such a great group of people, especially enjoyed seeing Brian.

[dansangel]

((((((((Meekie))))))))

Hoping you are able to stay cool over in the lonestar state!

((((((((Pippin))))))

That couple you described are morons. I say, good riddance to them!

[dansangel]

Beautiful pledge ((((((((((Mama_Bear)))))))))

I have to share something with both of you. A very dear co-worker surprised me today with a beanie bear. It is a commemorative of the USS Ronald Reagan and sports a patch on his chest stating so. He also has a sailor cap on his head and the tie arouund his neck. On his tag it says his name is "Ronnie."

I absolutely adore it! :-)

[dansangel]

That was absolutely chilling....and absolutely spot on.

Thank you for the link. I haven't forgotten. I wear a mercy band on my right wrist 24/7 with Margaret L. Benson's name on it. She was a Port Authority Police Department employee who died that day. She and her family are remembered in my daily prayers.

(((((((((lonestar and wienie))))))))))

[Aquamarine]

Never Forget.....that gave me chills.

[dansangel]

((((((((((Colleen)))))))))

Thank you for sharing your photos with us. Getting together with family is absolutely the *best*, isn't it?

[Aquamarine]

Thanks for link. The worlds a better place today.

[Mama_Bear]

It is a commemorative of the USS Ronald Reagan and sports a patch on his chest stating so.

Oh, how sweet! What a nice gift. :-)

I went to google looking for an image of it, but I couldn't find anything. It must be so new that it isn't out there yet.

[dansangel]

Let me see if I can find an image on Ebay.

;-)

Any excuse to go window shopping....lol!! BRB.....

[Aquamarine]

I posted this here a couple of weeks ago. Just went back and found it real quick...

New Beanie Baby to Commemorate Commissioning of USS Ronald Reagan

I want one too! :)

[dansangel]

LOL!! You beat me to it!

I just up loaded this one which will probably not show up very well on a white background:

[LadyX]

"The second celebration, honoring the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, will be at 3 p.m. Sunday in the atrium of the medical center. The Dallas Veterans Council-Korean War Commemorative Partners is the sponsor."

I had been at Parris Island more than a year when the truce went into effect, Dubya, and my husband (did not know him until later) was a POW who thus was liberated and marched back across the 38th Parallel depicted in that old movie about it.

Were you in Korea during the Conflict?

Glad you liked the video. Liberals tend to forget that God Himself sent men into war for His purposes - - -
sometimes it is necessary to quell evil.

[MeekOneGOP]

Seems like I keep hearing thunder in the distance.
Says 99 degrees right now. Hope we get some rain.

[deadhead]

A president who symbolized peace through strength will soon be associated with a toy best described as a little softie.

Beanie Babies mogul Ty Warner unveiled a new bear that pays homage to President Ronald Reagan -- it's part of a fund-raising effort by the Santa Barbara Navy League on behalf of America's newest aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, set to be commissioned July 12.

"The design was all done by the Navy League. No one in the family, per se, had anything to do with it. Of course, it was approved by Nancy. She has final say over anything like that. But the design of it, the look of it, that was all done by Ty and the Navy League."

Limited stock will be available. Item is now in stock and shipping.