USO Canteen FReeper Style....Themeless Thursday.... July 11,2002

SAMWolf

[Snow Bunny]

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Welcome to the USO Canteen FReeper Style

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Message from Snow Bunny to all those who visit the Canteen.

This is how I think of the USO Canteen Freeper Style.
It is like a cottage down a road,
a place where a weary veteran can spend the night.

Since it opened, it is magical how so many
Freepers who post here, feel it too.
It has been so dear how the Freepers
kept making it a cottage - a home-type of place
that had a huge living room
for them to visit in and a dance floor, a library, etc.

Many Veterans have written to me,
saying that the Canteen is like home
to them for the first time since they served.

This is your Canteen -
a respite from our busy
and sometimes troubling world.
Make yourself at home.

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Thank you SAMWolf for creating the Themeless Thursday.
Thank you Coteblanche for creating the intro with the Canteen Cottage.

"I'm in a Canteen state of mind"

[Valin]

Theme...theme? Now where did I leave that theme? Maybe in the back of the fridge? Huh, what's that, oh yuck...hey it's moving....AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH! Help, help he....

[SpookBrat]

Good morning our loyal Canadian friend.

<------click on the picture

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snow Bunny

Praying for a safe trip for you and Fallguy. Take Care and see you soon.

[SAMWolf]

Good article on Hamilton and Burr. Thanks.

[Bahbah]

Hi, SB. I'm always around. Lately my work has been interfering with my ability to FReep. LOL.

[Valin]

The Battle of Courtrai or the Battle of the Golden Spurs - July 11th 1302

The National Holiday of the Flemish Community in the European country known as Belgium is held every year on the 11th of July. Most of the people in our country hardly know why this particular day was chosen. When they were at school they might have learned about the Middle Ages and this one battle in which the Flemings once, long ago, won on the French. But it stops there most of the time. Very few people realise the importance of this battle, to which they owe the fact that they still talk Dutch and our country does not make part of France. That distant battle from long ago was the Battle of the Golden Spurs!

The Triumph gate of the Groeninge park in Courtrai, located on a part of the old battlefield. Early morning July 11th 1302, some 9.000 Flemish soldiers wait for the attack of a French army of knights. Most of these soldiers are simple commoners, workmen and farmers. France annexed Flanders two years before and tried to submit the Flemish towns. The Flemish people however, conscious of their own valour, resisted and stood up against the French aggressor. That struggle in 1302 is remarkable for two specific reasons: from a social and from a military point of view.

The uprising originated from the people themselves, without being provoked by a lord (the Flemish count and his most important lords were in French captivity). Only when the uprising became widespread, the count's relatives who still were free rushed in to aid. But in the first place this was a struggle of people against a lord (the French king), not the struggle between two lords.

The battle itself was extraordinary too. For the very first time in recorded history an army of footmen will beat an army of knights. The Flemings got a victory nobody would have dreamt of. Warfare would never be the same since that day.

Flanders? Flanders!

The army which got that splendid victory was mainly made up out of people from West and East Flanders. That's about the area of the present day Belgian provinces of the same name. This area, together with French Flanders formed the core of the historic county of Flanders.

The territory known today as the Flemish Region is much bigger. It also holds the provinces of Brabant, Antwerp and Limburg. So wouldn't it be a bit far sought to make July 11th the National Holiday of this region? What meaning has a battle fought in 1302 at Courtrai to a citizen of Hasselt in the province of Limburg? More than a common man would expect!

The present Region of Flanders is not quite comparable with the historic county. But that does not mean it has less reason to exist. Just like a human grows from child into adult, likewise changes a country and matures the people. The reason that the present day Dutch speaking community in Belgium is called Flanders has historical grounds. The county of Flanders went into the Burgundian Empire, together with Brabant and Limburg. This Burgundian episode will more or less forge the Dutch speaking areas of the Southern Netherlands together and form the foundations of present day Flanders. Later when the kingdom Belgium emerged in 1830, a horizontal line runs across the country which divides it into two halves: Dutch speaking North and French speaking South. The new Flanders is born together with the new state.

Everything you(or I) never knew about the Battle of Courtrai.

[SAMWolf]

Those big guns at night are impressive. Glad to see you posting these again.

[SassyMom]

Good Morning, Misty girl. Thank you for posting that article. WOW! I have tears right now. God Bless Our
Troops. We have so much to be thankful for because of our young men and women who are willing to fight for our freedoms and our safety.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Victoria!

You brought me a great big smile to start my day.
Looks like I'm gonna need it too. Be back when I can.

[SassyMom]

Good Morning,mini teacup. You have been in my thoughts and prayers. I hope that you can get some rest soon. (((HUG)))

[SpookBrat]

Thanks for that most excellent post COB. It makes me so angry.

We spent our 4th of July at a free Brad Paisley and Clint Black concert. I can't remember the exact quote but Brad Paisley said something about this crowd believes we are "One Nation Under God".....the crowd went crazy with screams. It was great and it gave me chills, almost tears. I never lose faith in the average American...now if we could just make all of them get out and vote. I really believe we are a conservative majority. (At least the rednecks are). LOL

[SassyMom]

Thanks for the info about John Finn. HE IS A HERO!!!!!

[SpookBrat]

I hate it when that happens. My job interfers with my ability to FReep too.....speaking of which........my employers are calling......gotta run.

[sleavelessinseattle]

Great Ollie North quote...Good morning all!

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Coteblanche. You're right I did get a good start with those Calvin and Hobbes pictures and the wonderful songs.

Looks like another busy day today, a stack of stuff sitting here when I came in, all of it needed "right now". So this is my last post for a while.

"1812 US invades Canada near Detroit"

Don't take it personally.

Everytime the U.S. got into a beef with England, the first thing we did was invade Canada.
Just our way of doing things I guess.

[SassyMom]

I agree with Freedom's Worth It. That article from Australia is a good one and it deserves it's own thread. We need to learn from this. Of course, we are kind of preaching to the choir here because we already know what happens when we take our guns away.

[SassyMom]

WOW! Great info, Linda!