[Snow Bunny]

Thank you all for your wonderful support of our troops and your gratitude for our Veterans.God Bless all of you and your families.

[SassyMom]

Good Morning, Bunny! WOO HOO, I think I might be the last post from yesterday antd the first post of today. Make a note of that folks, you probably won't ever see that again. LOL

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

Good morning Snow Bunny,
And thank you for all you do here at the FReeper USO Canteen.

[SpookBrat]

Good morning! I'm off to the vets office.

I'll read when I get back.

[sleavelessinseattle]

SB, You've gone HI Tech!!! Nice Lobby area...good bandwidth...I'll disregard the fact that you appear to have a MAC there...because I HATE WINDOWS!!!! TAKE ME WITH YOU!!! LOL....

[Bahbah]

Good morning, Snow Bunny and all. The Canteen is such an inspiring way to start the day. Thanks to our military for another day of freedom in this wonderful country. We never forget.

[Jen]

Good morning Bunny, another great thread. Wow, those pix of the Battleship Iowa firing its big guns and the missile launches are great! Boom! WooooooHoooooo!

SALUTE to all the gunnery mates out there!

[RaceBannon]

Look like Snow Bunny is selling Kisses!!

I've got a ten spot, will that give me at least a longing glance?...(sigh)...

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS DELAWARE (BB-28)

Delaware class
Lenght: 518'9"
Beam: 85'3"
Displacement: 20,380
Draft: 27'4"
Complement: 933
Armament: 10 12", 14 5", 2 21" torpedo tubes.
Commissioned on 4 April 1910
Sold for scrap on 5 February 1929

The USS Delaware (BB-28) was launched 6 February 1909 by Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs. A. P. Cahall, niece of the Governor of Delaware; and commissioned 4 April 1910, Captain C. A. Gove in command.

After visiting Wilmington, Del., from 3 to 9 October 1910, to receive a gift of a silver service from the state, Delaware sailed from Hampton Roads 1 November with the First Division, Atlantic Fleet, to visit Weymouth, England, and Cherbourg, France, and after battle practice at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returned to Norfolk 18 January 1911. She departed 31 January to carry the remains of Chilean Minister Cruz to Valparaiso, sailing by way of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Punta Arenas, Chile. Returning to New York 5 May, she sailed 4 June for Portsmouth, England, where from 19 to 28 June she took part in the fleet review accompanying the coronation of King George V.

In her operations with the Fleet from 1912 to 1917, Delaware joined in exercises, drills, and torpedo practice at Rockport and Provincetown, Mass.; engaged in special experimental firing and target practice at Lynnhaven Roads; trained in Cuban waters participating in fleet exercises; and provided summer training for midshipmen. She passed before President Taft and the Secretary of the Navy in the Naval Review of 14 October 1912 and the next year visited Villefranche, France, while on a cruise with battleships Wyoming (BB-32) and Utah (BB-31). In 1914 and again in 1916 she cruised off Vera Cruz to protect American lives and property during the political disturbances in Mexico.

With the outbreak of World War I in Europe, Delaware returned to Hampton Roads from winter maneuvers in the Caribbean to train armed guard crews and engineers, as well as join in exercises to ready the Fleet for war. On 25 November 1917 she sailed from Lynnhaven Roads with Division 9, bound for Scapa Flow, Scotland. After battling bad weather in the North Atlantic, she joined the 6th Battle Squadron, British Grand Fleet 14 December for exercises to coordinate the operations of the Allied force.

The 6th Battle Squadron got underway 6 February 1918 with an escort of eight British destroyers to convoy a large group of merchant ships to Norway. Cruising off Stavanger 2 days later, Delaware was attacked twice by a submarine, but each time skillful handling enabled the battleship to evade the torpedoes. The squadron returned to its home base at Scapa Flow, 10 February. Delaware participated in two more convoy voyages in March and April, then sailed with the Grand Fleet on 24 April to reinforce the 2d Battle Cruiser Squadron which was on convoy duty and expected contact with the enemy. Only the vessels of the advance screen made any contact, and the chance for action faded.

From 30 June to 2 July 1918 the 6th Battle Squadron, with a division of British destroyers as escort, went to sea to screen American ships laying the North Sea mine barrage. On 22 July George V. inspected the ships of the Grand Fleet at Rosyth, Scotland, and 8 days later, after being relieved by Arkansas (BB-33), Delaware sailed for Hampton Roads, arriving 12 August.

Delaware remained at York River until 12 November 1918, then sailed to Boston Navy Yard for an overhaul. On 11 March 1919 she joined the Fleet in Cuban waters for exercises. Returning to New York 14 April she continued to operate in division, squadron and fleet maneuvers, and participated in the Presidential Fleet Review at Hampton Roads 28 April 1921. She made two midshipmen practice cruises, one to Colon, Martinique, and other ports in the Caribbean, and to Halifax, Nova Scotia between 5 June and 31 August 1922; and a second to Europe, visiting Copenhagen, Greenock, Cadix, and Gibraltar between 9 July and 29 August 1928.

Delaware entered Norfolk Navy Yard 30 August 1928, and her crew was transferred to Colorado (BB-45), a newly commissioned battleship assigned to replace Delaware in the Fleet. Moving to Boston Navy Yard in September, she was stripped of warlike equipment and decommissioned 10 November 1928. Delaware was sold 5 February 1929 and scrapped in accordance with the Washington Treaty on the limitation of armaments.

[JustAmy]

Good morning, Snow Bunny
Looks like it is going to be another hot day here in the west. How about some flowers to go with your iced coffee this morning?

[blackie]

Gunnery Mates...Bump !!

Freedom Is Worth Fighting For !!

Molon Labe !!

[g'nad]

G'mornin' Snow Bunny! Hope your having a wonderful day! You deserve it! Thanks!

[Dubya]

Posted on Tue, Jun. 25, 2002



106-year-old veteran of World War I

The Associated Press





PLAINVIEW - Edward Mays Osborne, a World War I veteran who saw life in three centuries, has died. He was 106.


Mr. Osborne was born April 24, 1896, in the East Texas town of Pine Hill in Rusk County. He died Sunday at Covenant Hospital Plainview.


He joined the Army at age 21 and served in France in the 359th machine gun company, 90th division.


He spent 74 days on the front lines and was involved in the battles of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne, the Plainview Daily Herald reported. He slept in a muddy trench in France the night before the Armistice was signed, on Nov. 11, 1918.


Mr. Osborne attend East Texas Baptist University, Baylor University and the University of Texas before going to work for Higginbotham-Bartlett Lumber Co. in 1923 in Stanton.


He moved to Plainview in 1925 and worked for the lumber company for almost 60 years before retiring as chairman of the board in 1983.


Mr. Osborne served on the Plainview City Council for 17 years and on the Wayland Baptist University board of trustees for 32 years. Last year, he received special recognition for 80 years as a Mason and member of the American Legion.


His wife, Frances, died in July 2001.


Survivors include six children, 16 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.


Services were scheduled for today at First Baptist Church in Plainview.

[Victoria Delsoul]

To the Creator of FR USO Canteen

To Snow Bunny, our dear friend
The creator of FR USO Canteen
Imitated but never surpassed
With a heart of gold happy to lend.

Always, caring, sharing and loving,
This thread she created for our military
Not to stroke her ego with adulation flowing
But for a lasting honor not momentary

Posting daily beautiful threads
Winter, summer, spring or fall
She works hard, never complains
The world with her is no longer small.

The troops in their letters share their hearts,
And each Monday we read their mail
From far horizons and oceans blue,
Our Bunny's posts never fail.

One of Bunny's special gifts
Is to be a dear friend,
She lifts our sprits and makes us laugh
She is the one on whom we can depend.

There is magic in her friendship
This at the Canteen we know,
For in every Canteener's heart
Warm and honest feelings flow.

There is something-magical
That lights Bunny's way
And this lovely magic grows
Bigger each and every day.

In the Canteen you find a friend
Who's your friend right from the start
Bunny's sincerity is so strong
It really warms your heart.

Bunny, you are so dear to us
Beautiful and very special too,
We at the Canteen truly are thankful
That we found a real friend in you!

[Dubya]