Posted on 12/07/2007 6:35:36 AM PST by ShadowAce
I just wanted to post a big THANK YOU to all the WWII vets out there on this day of infamy. You are all very much appreciated!!
I thought it was pretty sad that no morning news program mentioned today’s date in history.
While the FReeper Canteen has a thread dedicated to it, I thought I’d throw out another one for visibility...
Thank you to the ladies at home as well!
“I thought it was pretty sad that no morning news program mentioned today’s date in history.”
Fox n Friends did.
As always, Gretchen looked beautiful.
Make sure your flags are flying at half mast today if you have a flag pole. Mine is.
A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS POEM
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, transforming the yard to a winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, And I crept to the door just to see who was near. Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A Marine, I puzzled, some twenty years old, All dressed in cammies, huddled here in the cold. Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear, "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here! Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.. To the window that danced with a warm fire's light. Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right, I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line, That separates you from the darkest of times. No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December," Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers." My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam', And now it is my turn and so, here I am. I've not seen my own son in more than a while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home. I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat. I can carry the weight of killing another, Or lay down my life with my sister and brother... Who stand at the front against any and all, To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright, Your family is waiting and I'll be all right." "But isn't there something I can do, at the least, "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?" It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget. To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead, To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.
Thank you to all the members of the previous Greatest Generation for serving your country dutifully and honorably and for showing the current members of the Newest Greatest Generation how to fight for the country that you love and to never be ashamed for doing so.
Thanks for the reply!
Thank you and all that you have done for my generation
“I consider it no sacrifice to die for my country. In my mind, we came here to thank God that men like these have lived rather than to regret that they have died.”
General George S. Patton
One cannot put a price on what they have done for us.
Great quote, and a great sentiment!
No problem! Our veterans deserve our undying gratitude at the very least.
Remembering my families WWII vets. My late grandfather Bill Hanawalt who was a SeaBee on Iwo Jima and went on to live a long life.
And my uncle Eugene Rothenberger who was lost on the USS Growler Nov ‘44: http://www.oneternalpatrol.com/rothenberger-e-w.htm
so true but it makes us all proud for what you have done for us
Just to clarify--I am not a vet. I do, however, appreciate everything they have done for us.
Yes, thanks to that great generation.
A couple weeks ago my wife and I got her Dad talking about his service in the Pacific Theater. We have written it down so that it will be there for future generations in the family. I wish I had done the same when my Dad was alive because he too served in the Pacific. I did get some information from my Mom about her wartime work for the Army Air Corp and Wright Aeronautical.
I just finished an internship with the VA clinic on Mare Island and it gave me a whole new perspective on our vets. To see them in their later lives and see how they have been affective from injuries or just time made my eyes open. Thank you all Pearl Harbor vets and to all the vets out there...
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.