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USO Canteen FReeper Style....Monday Mail Call....May 13,2002
FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

Posted on 05/13/2002 1:16:06 AM PDT by Snow Bunny

Our troops need our support and encouragement. They are away from home, some for the first time, and usually lonely or discouraged. It is important for us to reach out and help them in the same way we would want someone to reach out to our loved ones if and when they are in the same position.

They answered their call and we are answering theirs offering them the USO Canteen FReeper Style each day and thanking them for serving.

This is IN Coming Mail from some of those serving now.

We at the USO Canteen FReeper Style, a running thread at Free Republic, are proud to support our Military. The mail comes in from contacting some of our Military Bases, Marine Corps Leagues , and friends and family of those serving now. Also from responses at the wonderful P.O.Box that 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub has made so easily available to each of us here at Free Republic.

They are writing to those that frequent the FReeper USO Canteen to thank you for your support.


I work with damage-control and small-boats on a guided missile destroyer,I just want to thank you at the Canteen for your support. Thank you for being there for all of us. Sometimes you feel like you are all alone out here, then I get online and get to read the Canteen.
My girl broke up with me right before I left. I guess that could be the story for a lot of us .
My mom is all I have back home and she can’t afford a computer . She writes to me when she can and it is good to hear from her.
A buddy back at the base told me about an email he got from a creature with a heart, named Snow Bunny. It had the web address for Free Republic and told how the founder had been a Navy man and how everyone respected him. That he was a heck of a guy and had this place at Free Republic called the Canteen.
One lonely day I checked it out and sat here with , darn it anyway, tears rolling down my face.
I never saw anything like it in my life. OH I have surfed the web in school before I enlisted, but this is a whole new ballgame. The Canteen is my home now away from home.
All of you make a difference and your support means more then you may know. One of the things that makes it more real to me then just a place on the web are several things I’d like to share with you.
You know you all can be serious and then on a dime laugh and have fun and I like that. I like the way the day gears down just like life at home does. When you have done your business in the day and sit around with friends in the evening and cut up.
None of us here could be intense all day and the way the Canteen moves into night is why it feels so much like home too.
Thanks for being there .

Mark A.

Command Master Chief , right before 9-11 my wife and I had just gotten settled in our new home. I have 3 kids and a beautiful wife. Then I was transferred to Norfolk and then shipped out.
I missed Christmas but I know being here has helped preserve our freedom for the future. Only have a minute this time to write Snow Bunny. I know that other stuff I asked you not to pass on helped me to be able to share when I needed it most.
This time I do want you to pass something on to someone.
Whoever has a fan here and please tell whoever that for me. I wasn’t sure if whoever was a man or woman at first, but then I watched the reactions and the tenderness and could tell. So thanks for what you bring in your basket when you visit the Canteen.
I read every thread all the way through and it is powerful stuff. Thanks Snow Bunny for caring so much about us and making a place I can see others that care too.

Stephen A.

Air Force Sgt

Hey Snow Bunny, I am Charlie, just Charlie OK !!!!
Thanks for the Canteen from my heart .
I guess you can call me a lurker but that sure sounds weird. I can’t enter in but I can tell you I have read every day of the Canteen since March.I can’t get to it every day, so I go back and see what I missed when I do have the time.
Some of the ones I like are the one you call HiJinx, 4TheFlag,and you call this one Tonkin. Tell that Tonkin guy the Air Force knows how to spell. LOL , Victoria Delsoul and a mystomachisturning. You have to change that name beautiful girl, with your bubbly personality , AFVetGal one of our own, and this one gets me every time, Deadhead. That one reminds me of a rock group, but I have a crush on Deadhead and SassyMom.
Snow Bunny thanks for making it so I could write to you. Someday maybe I can tell you more about me. But you have been supper about it with a friend of mine and he said Bunny is AOK.

Hang in there and we will too.
Our friend,
Charlie

Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class

It is because of you all and your support and caring about us, that I am strengthened and makes me proud to serve our country. Please tell SAMWolf , my brother could use his talents. I saw where he was the head scrounger at the Canteen. I think my kid brother is headed in that direction when he gets in the Army. Bad boy turned “Bad Boy” in many ways and a heart as big as a ship.
Whoever whoever is, could you tell this whoever being that I have saved and sent a lot of things from whoever to my nephew and his wife. They have the time to pass it on to the rest of the family. Tell whoever thanks for the fun stories and jokes.
Snow Bunny, thanks for doing this for me. I never met anyone like you, not sure how I could thank you enough and Billie. So please know that you are making a difference out here and if your ears are burning it is because we are talking about you in awesome ways. God just gave some people bigger hearts and you Snow Bunny and Billie are two girls that got them.
God bless you all at the Canteen and thank you Free Republic for being all to so many of us.
James K.L.

Air Force 1st Lt

Mr. Jim Robinson and ladies and gentlemen of the Canteen. Thank you for your magnificent support and dedication, day in day out for all of us. You make a difference in my life. I printed out a copy of the logo for Free Republic with the Eagle and all and have it inside on my plane. Just so you know it is right next to a very sexy blonde. I didn’t think you would mind. Apple pie and moms and sexy blondes are all American.
I just wanted you to know your efforts are noticed and not just by me.
Your support means we have Americans that care about us and that goes a long way believe me.

Tim B.



TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: usocanteen; vcrlist
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To: redhead
(Just thought we'd like to make stars for banners and such for Memorial Day and the 4th.) And they are FUN to teach to kids...
421 posted on 05/13/2002 6:55:25 PM PDT by redhead
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To: SAMWolf
Fantabulous, Mr. SAM. Thanks.
422 posted on 05/13/2002 6:57:02 PM PDT by whoever
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To: whoever;4TheFlag
Looks like some thewe's going to be some competition for the next Dance we have.
423 posted on 05/13/2002 6:57:42 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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To: AFVetGal
You don't think I'd make that up, do you?
424 posted on 05/13/2002 6:58:42 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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To: Aquamarine
I'm really going to miss my gardens living in a rent house. Did I tell you all, people (so called friends) were looting our yard when we left? They went and dug up a bunch of my plants. If I ever find out who did it, I'll rip them a new one. I would have given them plants if they had just asked. Grrrr...

So anyway, are you coming to Jacksonville? Where are you going to be? Yes, we like the beaches here. We love beach combing. It's our new favorite thing to do. We body surf. Does that count? LOL

425 posted on 05/13/2002 7:02:13 PM PDT by SpookBrat
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To: Aquamarine; sassymom; samwolf; snow bunny; mistyca; clarasuzanne; whoever; spookbrat...

The Yankee Flipper
My husband told me about this squirrel flipping bird feeder a few weeks ago, but it slipped my mind. I just found the web site and you guys gotta watch this video.

The ring is calibrated to a squirrel's weight and is motorized. So when a squirrel is on it, a motor turns the ring and flings the squirrel off. It's hilarious. I must have one of these!

426 posted on 05/13/2002 7:04:20 PM PDT by Jen
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To: SAMWolf
Sam I read this just now that you posted.....My Son, the child, the man, the Soldier......it is wonderful.Thank you so much.I saved it too!!!
427 posted on 05/13/2002 7:04:37 PM PDT by Snow Bunny
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To: redhead
This is really a neat site you posted about the star. It has all kinds of things there. Thank you so much, this is neat.
428 posted on 05/13/2002 7:06:36 PM PDT by Snow Bunny
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To: deadhead
Goodnight Deadhead, the butterflys look so cute with the car. hahaa love it.
429 posted on 05/13/2002 7:07:23 PM PDT by Snow Bunny
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To: SpookBrat
Sounds like you're keepin' busy there in Fla. Got some cut off to make it easy
on the Fla BREEZE, huh? And a tan to boot! Alright!
Ming is doing ok. She's been working the 7 days/week for a year now. I'll be
so glad when her sister gets here so she can help her out with her business.
She needs a break!
So good to hear from you! Hope everything is falling into place!......


430 posted on 05/13/2002 7:13:54 PM PDT by MeekOneGOP
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To: SpookBrat
Nice to "see" you again!
431 posted on 05/13/2002 7:19:02 PM PDT by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
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To: Snow Bunny


The 1000 Marbles

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings.

Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise,
or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work.

Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a
steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other.
What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those
lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham
radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net.

Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap,
with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind;
he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business.

He was telling whomever he was talking with something about
"a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to
what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job.
I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away
from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow
should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet.

Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital. He continued,
"Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me
keep a good perspective on my own priorities."

And that's when he began to explain his theory of
a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average
person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and
some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.

Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is
the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.

"No, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all
this in any detail"; he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over
twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be
seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.

"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had.
I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles.
I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic
container right here in the sack next to my gear.

Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focus more on the really
important things in life.

There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to
help get your priorities straight." "Now let me tell you one last thing
before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast.
This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container.
I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra
time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with
your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band.
75 year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off.
I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna
that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work
on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent
a Saturday together with the kids.

Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out?
I need to buy some marbles....

432 posted on 05/13/2002 7:21:16 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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To: SAMWolf
Mrs.Cogan's military wife letter is so beautifully written.
433 posted on 05/13/2002 7:21:54 PM PDT by Snow Bunny
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To: SpookBrat
That's awful about people digging your yard up. Some people never cease to amaze me.
We're going to the panhandle near Panama City to a beautiful place called Destin. I hope no one digs my yard up while I'm gone. hehe!
434 posted on 05/13/2002 7:22:52 PM PDT by Aquamarine
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To: Snow Bunny
This is the first time I've been here in a long time. I just love reading these letters from our military. It's good to hear from them, because that tells me they are alive. :) A typing, email sending soldier is a good sign. :)

To those lurking and especially, Mark A., James K.L., Stephen A., Tim B., Charlie....

I've been absent, but it's an excused absence...LOL (Doctors note and everything). I just read your notes and wrote down your names on a scratch sheet of paper. My son comes up and asks me who you are and why I wrote down your names (he is 6). I tell him you are soldiers protecting us, and you are sad, away from your families, and now I will tell you thank you, etc. He wants to know if you are out there because of those buildings that fell down???

He also wants to know if we will win the "war". I told him yes, because we are Americans and we always win. I told him God will take care of you all and no need to worry. I told him our soldiers are the best trained, strongest and bravest...and there is no way we can lose.

Thanks for signing your life away on that dotted line. I know you are tired, uncomfortable and miss home cooking. I know you want chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, sweet iced tea and some fresh green beans from the garden. I know you want some apple pie or chocolate chip cookies. I know you want to kiss your wife, husband or babies. I appreciate your commitment and dedication. Thanks for sacrificing an easy 9-5 job, with a nice cozy life in front of the TV (or computer), just to make sure we can keep our freedom and LIFE.

We love you! God bless you. You are in our thoughts and prayers every day and night. I always especially think about y'all on Sunday. Besides my family, my freedom to practice my religion and worship God is most precious to me. I would die for my freedom to keep my Bible and go worship the Lord. Thank you for protecting our freedom to worship

Mark, I would give anything to get a computer for your mom. If she lives close to Jacksonville FL, my husband could build her one. :)

435 posted on 05/13/2002 7:24:21 PM PDT by SpookBrat
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To: SpookBrat
Hi SpookBrat, wanted to share this picture with you. One of my favorite beaches, Robert Moses on L.I.
I love it! Being by the ocean always makes me Happy!


436 posted on 05/13/2002 7:26:25 PM PDT by deadhead
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To: Aquamarine
You have freepmail.
437 posted on 05/13/2002 7:26:46 PM PDT by Jen
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To: SpookBrat
Very well said!
438 posted on 05/13/2002 7:27:05 PM PDT by Aquamarine
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub
Hiya Tonk!!!! How ya doin? I really appreciate what you said in #4. Very diplomatically and lovingly put. :) Hugs to you my friend. I've missed your tenderness. You're such a nice, sweet man.
439 posted on 05/13/2002 7:27:58 PM PDT by SpookBrat
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To: SpookBrat
Your letter to the servicemen is so beautiful and reveals your tender heart. Jen
440 posted on 05/13/2002 7:28:32 PM PDT by Jen
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