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

[Kathy in Alaska]

Bless This House hummed along with this morning, twice because I love this song for our USO Canteen, and Prayer of Protection said for all who enter the USO Canteen Freeper Style, including our troops, our veterans, their families and our allies. Welcome to all who come to honor our troops, for whom this USO Canteen was created.

A PRAYER OF PROTECTION

The light of God surround you

The love of God enfold you

The power of God protect you

The presence of God watch over you

Wherever you are, God is,

And all is well.

Amen.

Wherever you are, God is, And all is well.

ARGHHHHHHHH! Another quick mention for my sanity. It's taken me 90+ minutes to finally get into the Canteen and post. In the meantime, to preserve what little sanity I have left, I have hummed along with Bless This House about 20 times. Thank you cote for this song.

[Mr_Magoo]

ARGHHHHHHHH! Another quick mention for my sanity. It's taken me 90+ minutes to finally get into the Canteen and post.

TIP:
When FR is messed up, try HERE. Or add "beta." at the beginning of the address. IOW, This thread is

http://www.FreeRepublic.com/focus/news/778498/posts

The thread would become

http://beta.freerepublic.com/focus/news/778498/posts

Sometimes it helps. The beta site uses the same database, but will still work if the main forum software is crashing.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning Aeronaut and good morning Otto. Thanks fellas for the daily overflight of protection. We have sure needed it the last couple days.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Good morning!!! Eeeeeeeek!! What a great day!! Not a cloud in the sky, and photos of the Blue Angels!!!! (I am a big fan, in case you couldn't tell - never miss 'em when they're in town.)

[Kathy in Alaska]

"And while with silent humble stance, I've listened to the men who fly on high.

I've lowered my head and taken their abuse And somewhere God looked at me and smiled."

Thanks, leadpenny, for this Low Flight poem.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Hey, you made it! I was just about to ping you over here! (Yeah, fresh thread every day - these guys work VERY hard on the Canteen!) I'll bet you're loving these photos as much as I am. I can't get enough of this stuff. (Next time you're out here, I'll take you over to the Boeing Museum of Flight, if you want.)

I'm going to go work on your pajamas, but for now, here's an introduction to BeachBelle for all the troops and Canteeners:

[Kathy in Alaska]

Candles for Ted Maher and his family.

[Soaring Feather]

A PRAYER OF PROTECTION

Thank you for the prayer!

ARGHHHHHHHH!

Tell me about it, gee this is frustrating!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

If you guys would indulge me for a moment, I have a favorite story from WWII, and every time I see your posts, I think of it:

As the U.S. Army Rangers were approaching the POW camp at Cabanatuan in their quest to liberate the prisoners there (these guys had been starved and beaten severely for months on end - liberating the camp was very, very dangerous, and the Rangers who pulled it off were some of the most amazing men I've ever read about), they had no real geographical cover and were concerned about being seen by the Japanese. They put in a radio request for air cover to distract the guards, and they were sent a P-61 Black Widow nicknamed Hard to Get - with a very cool pilot (twenty-six year-old Kenneth Schrieber, of Rainier, Oregon). This is how the event is described in Hampton Sides' riveting book, Ghost Soldiers:

For the Rangers, pinned down on the rice paddies, Hard to Get's grand entrance inspired awe. The arrival couldn't have been more perfectly timed. The plane banked low over the camp and roared across the Pampanga River, circling back for another pass...

With their eyes fastened on the gloaming sky, they [the Rangers] grinned at each other and shook their heads with delighted admiration.

For good reason, the Japanese couldn't figure out what the P-61 was doing. Pilot Schrieber did his best to make Hard to Get behave as oddly as possible. Without firing a single shot, he performed a series of taunts and feints, wheeling and stalling and reversing directions. At one point, he killed an engine and let the plane falter, as though it was crippled. Feathering the "malfunctioning" engine to make it sound as though it were fatally wheezing, he aimed the plane for a ridge of foothills miles in the distance, trying to convey the impression he was about to crash. For a few moments, he vanished behind the hills. Then at the last possible second, he pulled out of it and turned back for another tease.

I love that story. It makes me smile every time I think of Schrieber, completely freaking the Japanese out (they were not accustomed to the appearance of the Black Widows, and Schrieber's performance made it especially unusual) and the distraction was very effective.

The Rangers successfully liberated the camp, in part, because of Schrieber and his Black Widow, Hard to Get.

Very cool.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Now this is something near and dear to my heart for us Girlz today. I've never driven a fire truck this old. Tonkin may be right, we might need Johnny Gage for driving lessons. Any of you girlz know how to drive? I can't wait. Duchess, if you go out today, be very careful with her, and you might want to take her chains off. No snow or ice yet.

[Soaring Feather]

Thanks Linda!

[Soaring Feather]

Kathy,

Does this FireTruck have an automatic transmission?

Hummmmmm, I don't do stick shift!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Happy Birthday, GooberDoll!

-.-. --- -. --. .-. .- - ..- .-.. .- - .. --- -. .../ ..-. .-.. .- --. -- .- -.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Don't you worry your pretty head, Little Momma - Duchess drives a stick, and she's GOOD at it! Vroom vroom!!! (Don't you worry, either, Miss Kathy - I am an excellent driver, as you know. Heheh..)

[tomkow6]

Hmm, let me see:
-.-. --- -. --. .-. .- - ..- .-.. .- - .. --- -. .../ ..-. .-.. .- --. -- .- -. translated is:
"CONGRATULATIONS FLAGMAN"?

[Kathy in Alaska]

The pictures of the crew of the USS Miami are terrific, aomagrat, as well as the history. Thanks for doing this every day.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Terrific pictures, once again, tom. Please God, let their loved ones see them protecting our freedoms.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good read about Chuck Yeager's last breaking of the sound barrier. Thanks, Valin.

[Soaring Feather]

Hi dear daughter,

I don't have the proper outfit for riding in a Fire Truck!

I can't wear my evening gowns, nor my lovely jammmies, just can't make the trip tonight. ;-(