USO Canteen FReeper Style ....High Flight .... October 30,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

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The USO Canteen FReeper Style
Delivering a Touch of Home

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A Touch of Home

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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.

Snow Bunny

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If you know a Veteran, someone in your family, 
friend of the family, neighbor, who served their  
country, take a brief moment of your day to thank 
them. 

Thank them for the sacrifice they made
for the better good of their country.

We at Free Republic, and the USO Canteen FReeper 
Style, are thankful for every service member 
in our military, who has served our great nation.

So, to the men and women who answered the call,
In both times of war and peace, thank you.

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Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. 

John McCrae 

High Flight

High Flight was composed by
Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr.,
an American serving with the
Royal Canadian Air Force.

He was born in Shanghai, China
in 1922, the son of missionary
parents, Reverend and Mrs. John
Gillespie Magee; his father was an
American and his mother was
originally a British citizen.

He came to the U.S. in 1939
and earned a scholarship to Yale,
but in September 1940 he enlisted
in the RCAF and was graduated as
a pilot. He was sent to England for
combat duty in July 1941.

In August or September 1941,
Pilot Officer Magee composed
High Flight

He then sent a copy to his parents.
Several months later, on
December 11, 1941 his Spitfire
collided with another plane over
England and Magee, only 19 years
of age, crashed to his death.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc

His remains are buried in the
churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire.

The poem, High Flight, has over
the years become a mantra to pilots.
It is a tribute to, and in memory of
pilots of all generations.

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high unsurpassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941

[tomkow6]

You mean it smells?!!!! ...

No, not to me, or my "kitty-katz". Why? Is that a problem??????

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hi Buppy, do I know you? Have I seen you here before? If not, welcome to the Canteen. Wanna go for a ride? My car should get us through some of the traffic.

[tomkow6]

I

HATE when that happens!

[tomkow6]

Wanna go for a ride?

[Kathy in Alaska]

It's true, ms feather, it's true. Linda got a picture.

[tomkow6]

Hey, MoJo!

WHERE are YOU?

[tomkow6]

That picture was chemically altered! That NEVER took place!
It's a pigment of someone's imagination!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Little Johnny was on a park bench stuffing all of his Halloween candy in his mouth. An old lady came over and said. "Son, don't you know that eating all of that candy will rot your teeth, give you acne, and make you sick?"

"My grandfather lived to be 105 years old!" replied Johnny.

"Did he eat five candy bars at a sitting?" the old lady retorted.

"No," said Johnny, "but he minded his own freakin' business."

[Soaring Feather]

Why? Is that a problem?

I just don't want this to happen to me!

this is a grave condition called crazy feet, I had it once and nearly lost my mind!

[larryjohnson]

Weather flight keeps 'em flying
by Staff Sgt. Bobby Yettman
455th Expeditionary Operations Group Public Affairs
10/30/02 - OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (AFPN) -- There may be rain today and heat tomorrow, or snow today and dusty winds tomorrow. These are some of the conditions the nine-member Air Force weather flight must contend with at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
Everyone needs to know what the weather is going to do, from the A-10 Thunderbolt II pilots who wonder if they will have enough visibility to see targets to the explosive ordnance disposal teams wondering when the season's first freeze will occur.
"We tell the people here what they can expect from the weather before it gets here," said Master Sgt. Mark Adams, the weather flight chief.
Any aircraft coming to, going from or flying near Bagram has communication with the weather flight to get constant updates on the weather. The weather flight monitors and briefs weather information for 11 different locations in the theater.
Monitoring such varying locations is not an easy task, Adams said. His job is part art and part science.
"The biggest challenge we face out here is probably the lack of records," he said. "For the last 30-plus years the Afghan people have been dealing with more important issues, like fighting wars, than the weather. That means we don't have the type of database we usually have to help us predict what the weather is going to do."
The time spent in one location can help forecasters predict the weather of that area, Adams said. With the nature of deployments, weather forecasters coming to this region do not have that type of first-hand knowledge available to them.
"About a month before I came here, I spent a lot of time preparing for this region, looking at the various weather patterns and such to give me a head start," Adams said.
Once on station, the new forecasters "soak up" as much information from their predecessors as possible about this challenging weather region.
"We're virtually in a bowl," Adams said. "We have mountains all around us, and we're sitting at the mouth of a valley. That, combined with our high elevation, can make predicting the weather very difficult."
Teamwork is one of the primary ways around some of the challenges the weather flight faces, Adams said.
"There are no single players in this flight," Adams said. "We operate in three different locations on Bagram, but we all meet twice a day to put our heads together and discuss the weather patterns."
People from the weather flight here communicate regularly with weather forecasters in the Central Air Forces' 28th Operational Weather Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and the Navy Meteorological Operation Center in the Southwest Asia area of operation.
Forecasters, such as Staff Sgt. Paul Walker, work an average of 13 hours a day briefing pilots, taking weather observations and issuing warnings and advisories for different weather conditions.
"I spend about the first two hours after shift-change going over what already happened the night before," Walker said. "After that, it's a constant onslaught of tasks for the rest of the day."
Forecasting the weather has always been important to Walker, but making forecasts that directly affect Operation Enduring Freedom help him feel like he is somehow making more of a difference.
"When all of this began, I told them if something comes up, just tell me when and where, and I'll go," he said. "Being able to tell the pilots that they will be able to see to put their bombs on target is all I need to know."
The challenges faced by the weather flight just make work that much more fun, Walker said.
"I love what I do," he said. "It's a challenge every day I come in to work. I like that."
Besides forecasting the weather, flight airmen also operate a flag-flying program. They have a flagpole outside their office where people can fly a flag and take it back with them as a souvenir.
"Anyone can take pictures of the base." Adams said. "But to have their own flag that has flown over Afghanistan is something they can take back with them, fly at their own house and be proud of." (Courtesy of Air Combat Command News Service)

[Soaring Feather]

Try some Rose oil after the bath, smells wonderful!

[Radix]

You can say that again!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Always good to see you, Severa. I hope your sinus problems are behind you. A thank you to Hostel for his service in the Navy. And thanks to you too as a Navy wife.

Hi JJ! .... Hi Robbie!

[MoJo2001]

Right here, Burka Man! Well, as long as FR is running smoothly. Very weird! Very very weird!! How cute are you in your Burka Man tank?? LOL! *HUGS*

[MoJo2001]

Thank you for sharing this story with us!! How awesome!!

[MoJo2001]

Good evening, Diva of the Troops! How are you today??

[MoJo2001]

God Bless Our Troops and Allies!!

[MoJo2001]

You are not old!! Old is a state of mind. You are not old!! Not even close!

[Radix]

"this is a grave condition called crazy feet, I had it once and nearly lost my mind!" You should have called a toe truck!

[BringingUpPatriots]

COOLBEANOS! Yes, I'll have a ride in your car! Then, I'll get a ride in the tank with Tomkow! How fast do tanks go anyway?