from the
FReeper Foxhole
to the readers of Free Republic's
only daily history thread.
The announcement of the creation of the FReeper Foxhole was on December 6th 2002.
SAMWolf started digging and breathed life into the Foxhole with his first thread December 7th 2003. Snippy joined SAM in April and with the Foxhole family of readers we've grown from one Foxhole to a trench system!
A year has come and gone and we hope we have lived up to our Mission Statement. Each day for a year we've brought our readers threads to educate us, make us laugh, cry and humble us as we learn about the sacrifices, risks, valor, and ingenuity of others.
We've shared stories of our men and machines, victories and defeats, shame and glory. Biographies and stories of our Founding Fathers and less famous but just as important heroes we focus on Wednesday Warriors. We bring to the Foxhole, people, places and events that have shaped our lives and our country.
Yet, bringing the history to the thread is only the heart of the FReeper Foxhole. The soul of the Foxhole is you, our readers. SAM and I have been fortunate to call many of you friend and now have what we believe is a wonderful Foxhole "family", folks feel at home at the Foxhole and we are pleased to share our "home" with all of you.
The Foxhole has freepers who have been with us from the beginning and others who have decided to "fall in" along the way. Some are ever "present" and some we never know where we'll find them, perhaps on old threads just catching up or on threads months old by someone who happened upon them.
The contributions of FReepers are varied and each post is appreciated and enjoyed. We have posts on ships, planes, historical facts, patriotic graphics and outstanding commentary. The FReeper Foxhole continues to grow and change and we believe it gets better with each passing day.
We know we've "made it" when we have created legends of lore. From Casablanca to Bicyclespankentruppen, Darkesheare's "Cup of Doom" and Quaffing root beers as we share our experiences and knowledge.
We were very privileged to be invited aboard one of our warships, the USS Tarawa LHA-1 upon their successful return from Operation Iraqi Freedom and report to the Foxhole about some of our outstanding troops that our making tomorrow's history.
Hidden out of the mainstream on VetsCoR we're not easy to find which makes us grateful all the more for those who manage to find their way to the Foxhole. We have FReepers who fall in from far away lands like Poland, Japan, and New Zealand. We have folks fall in that are currently serving or have served and some who let us know about their relatives or friends who have a connection to the threads we post. We have folks from every job classification you can think of. We have home schoolers, historians, teachers, poets, programmers, construction workers and and retired folks who read the Foxhole.
We are happy to have old friends, new friends and even invisible friends. We hear from some every day, some occassionally, some only by freepmail and we know we have readers who never post. We have links to the Foxhole from Blogs and other websites.
We have been encouraged by stories related by our readers on our threads, by those wanting to learn more because it is important to them and those who have shared stories more personally through mail. We have Foxhole FReepers who watch our back and cover us when we are away. We are thankful and grateful for all of you.
The FReeper Foxhole would be nothing without you and we want to wish all of you a Happy Anniversary from the Foxhole. We enjoy your company and input and look forward to another exciting and educational year ahead.
A special thank you to Jim Robinson for providing a place for the FReeper Foxhole to exist.
SAMWolf and Snippy about it.
The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.
In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.
The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.
If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.
We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
