|
Posted on 11/10/2004 11:25:12 PM PST by snippy_about_it
|
|
 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
|
| Our Mission: 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.
|
|
 To our veterans - Thank You  Veterans Day A day set aside to honor our country's living veterans. At the Foxhole honoring veterans is a major part of our mission. Whereas we will not forget those who died or our POW/MIAs, and course those who are currently serving, today we specifically honor those men and women living among us who have served our country in times past, our living veterans. Especially here at the Foxhole we are blessed to have veterans as part of our Foxhole family both as readers and contributors.  We would like to welcome all our veterans to the Foxhole on this very special day as we attempt to honor you and thank you for your service to our country. Freedom is not free and our debt to you and those gone before you can never fully be paid. May God richly bless you all. Welcome home and we will never forget. It matters not where, when or how your served; here at home or in a foreign land, in the air, at sea or on land; in peacetime or in war, on the battefield or behind a desk; on supply lines; as an engineer, a mechanic, an infantrymen, a cook or medic. You chose to volunteer or fullfilled your duty by the draft and served America and we are forever grateful. Every job is important as they all support each other and the cause of freedom. Some sacrifices are greater, yes, and some service more dangerous than others, yet all service is sacrifice by the troop and their family and we highly respect that service. Some gave all, all gave some. Thank you all - from SAM and snippy "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." --Thomas Paine, Founding Father "The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their Nation." --George Washington "Let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain." --Dwight D. Eisenhower  Veterans Day is the day set aside to thank and honor ALL those who served honorably in the military - in wartime or peacetime. In fact, Veterans Day is largely intended to thank LIVING veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are appreciated, and to underscore the fact that all those who served - not only those who died - have sacrificed and done their duty. --- Department of Veterans Affairs      |
Thanks Grzegorz 246. :-)
HEY! Tell your son Happy Birthday from America!
LOL!
Thanks to you also, PE.
Morning w_over_w.
The picture goes great with your tribute.
I learned something!!
Thanks Coleus.
Hope your day was a good one.
Morning Victoria.
Thanks, Hug any Veterans?
The defeat of John Effing Kerry finally vindicates the vets who he smeared as war criminals thirty years ago.
AMEN!! Do you remember when Veterans Day was called Armistice Day?
Great pictures Matt, Thanks for posting them.
The fifth Saratoga (CV 3) was laid down on 25 September 1920 as Battle Cruiser #3 by the New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.; ordered converted to an aircraft carrier and reclassified CV-3 on 1 July 1922 in accordance with the Washington Treaty limiting naval armaments. The ship was launched on 7 April 1925, sponsored by Mrs. Curtis D. Wilbur, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned on 16 November 1927, Capt. Harry E. Yarnell in command.
Saratoga, the first fast carrier in the United States Navy, quickly proved the value of her type.
After the Japanese surrender, she sailed from Hawaii on 9 September transporting 3,712 returning naval veterans home to the United States under Operation Magic Carpet. By the end of her Magic Carpet service, Saratoga had brought home 29,204 Pacific war veterans, more than any other individual ship. At the time, she also held the record for the greatest number of aircraft landed on a carrier, with a lifetime total of 98,549 landings in 17 years.
The first destroyer to anchor in Japanese coastal waters at the end of World War II was one that, wrote Admiral Halsey, “admirably performed every mission assigned to her.” A lucky ship, USS Taylor, DD (later DDE) 468 earned 15 battle stars through three years of hazardous service in every major southwest Pacific campaign from Guadalcanal to Tokyo Bay, from which she emerged without casualties and nearly without a scratch.
Taylor, named for a Civil War-era naval officer, was built at Maine’s Bath Iron Works alongside DeHaven and commissioned in Boston 28 August 1942, the ninth ship of
the 175-ship Fletcher class. After short service with DesRon 20 in the Atlantic, she was transferred to the Pacific and assigned to Destroyer Squadron 21, with which she served with distinction in the Solomon Islands, for which she was later presented with a Navy Unit Commendation. With the squadron’s Destroyer Division 41, she continued her career in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands operations, off the Bismarcks and New Guinea, in the Philippines and off Borneo, sinking three submarines and rescuing twenty-one airmen.
In August 1945, Admiral Halsey selected the ships of DesRon 21 present in Japanese waters—Taylor with Nicholas and O’Bannon—to escort his flagship Missouri into Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. There, Taylor also transported correspondents to and from Missouri for the surrender ceremony, 2 September.
Mothballed when World War II ended, Taylor resumed her career for the Korean War and continued serving off Vietnam before being sold to the Italian Navy as Lanciere on 2 July 1969. She was used primarily as a source of spare parts before being stricken in 1971.
Morning Colonel.
Thanks for falling in.
Welcome to the Foxhole and Free Republic soldierette.
If you have an interest in American Military history, you found the right place.
The WWII vets of the Taylor at the reunion in Branson, MO, last October. Four of these superheros were at Pearl Harbor.
Cool! Thanks for dropping by.
Morning katiedidit1.
I always get upset when the local paper here barely mentions Pearl Harbor Day but puts Hiroshima on the front page every year.
August
So that's where you went yesterday! ;-)
"War means fighting, and fighting means killing."
Something today's PC crowd refuses to realize.
After seeing how the french treated that murdering terrorist Arafat "Old Europe" can kiss my....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
