Posted on 11/12/2002 6:31:56 AM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
Dear Military Lurkers
As you have now noticed there have been changes to the Canteen.
1st of all let me assure you that the Canteen is here to stay.
Due to circumstances beyond my control I have assumed the duty of running the Canteen.
I could not even begin to explain what happened on this or on any other thread.
HOWEVER feel free to e-mail me at seaside611@hotmail.com with any questions.
It is my intention to keep the original purpose of the Canteen on track.
That purpose is to show our support for the military, their families and veterans.
Please be assured that we stand firmly behind you.
May God Bless and Protect you, my Brothers and Sisters.
BTW, I was stationed at Elmendorf for a couple of years. I really enjoyed my time up there. I would love to make a return trip some day. Hope you all get some new oil real soon!
We can't thank you enough. May you have steel resolve and stout hearts, and may God bring you home to us safely.
So true, ZinGirl, and what a wonderful thing your kids did for a vet on Veterans Day.
A DAY AT THE BEACH — U.S. sailors assigned to Beach Master Unit 2 carry a 20-man tent during the initial set up phase of an exercise in the Central Command area of operations. The sailors are conducting exercises with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) during a six-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Michael Sandberg
Dagwood and Blondie Wish Service Members Good Cheer
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2002 – College students and members of Congress combined to send giant Thanksgiving greeting cards to deployed service members as part of Operation Grateful Nation.
Cartoon artists Dean Young and Denis Lebrun – who draw the Blondie cartoon strip – designed the card. Students at Boston College, Penn State University, the University of North Carolina- Wilmington and Princeton signed the 2' by 4' cards.
Senators and representatives also joined in thanking U.S. service members deployed overseas during Thanksgiving.
"We hope that this token of appreciation will show (deployed service members) they are remembered and will boost their morale," said Carmella LaSpada, executive director of the White House Commission on Remembrance.
The cards will go to deployed ships and to units overseas.
The commission works to encourage Americans to remember service members and to give back to the nation.
Some of the cards signed by Penn State students.
Penn State students presenting the cards to Brigadier General Rogert L. Decker, Commmander, U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center. From left to right are the Nittany Lion, Annette Fuller, Benjamin Hoslinger, an unidentified representative of Penn State ROTC, and Brigadier General Robert L. Decker.
Coach Joe Paterno signing a card. Flanking him are Penn State football players: Line Backer Dethrell Garcia (#58), Corner Back Eric Dare (#30), and Safety Paul Cronin (#29)
Dagwood and Blondie greeting card.
____________________________________________________________
In Honor of the fallen unknown:
There are soldiers in many places
For some, we're allowed to see their faces
For others, are required to stay hidden
and do the orders that they are bidden.
If a known, brave soul's life comes to pass
we're told who he is and that he's home at last
If a hidden one dies while he's doing the plan
he's known only to his family and not the average man.
He's on a covert mission, so we are told
He died a soldier's way, and his life was bold
He's a hero to us, in each and every way,
because he died protecting the U.S. of A.
By David K.
(aka Johnny Gage)
October 29th, 2002
By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2002 -- Clergymen from all services and several religions joined today in dedicating a chapel built at the site where American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
"It's a beautiful place, a quiet place," said Maj. Gen. Gaylord Gunhus, Army chief of chaplains. "A bit over a year ago it wasn't so. … It was a place of horror, pain, blood. It was a place of fire and broken stone walls. It was a place of death for so many. … It was a place where we prayed to God to take away the suffering and restore the peace."
During the ceremony, Gunhus lit the stained glass window at the front of the chapel and described its special significance. The window's designer, commercial artist Dennis Roberts, donated his time and materials. He brought the pieces of colored glass to a senior Army chaplains conference and enlisted the help of roughly 400 chaplains and chaplain assistants in assembling the window.
The five-sided window features an eagle, an image of the Pentagon, the American flag and an olive branch. Two crimson rings around the images are made of 184 pieces of red glass, one for each of the 184 victims killed here Sept. 11.
"Those broken shards were bound together then in a window that virtually jumps out at us with a message of hope and our nation's resolve," Gunhus said. "What once was a pile of broken glass is now a symbol of unity and of remembrance."
He mentioned that outside one of the chapel windows is a charred piece of stone that was blackened in the fire following the attack. It was laid in the rebuilt wall as a "reminder to us of how this wall came to be," Gunhus said.
"Today, we dedicate this Pentagon Memorial Chapel in memory of our friends and colleagues and comrades -- all faithful servants of their nation," he said. "This place created in their honor appropriately pays tribute to our God and to our country."
Maj. Gen. Lorraine K. Potter, chief of the Air Force Chaplain Service, lights a candle Nov. 12, 2002, during the dedication service for a memorial chapel built at the site where terrorists crashed hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon Sept. 11, 2001. Photo by Kathleen T. Rhem.
Tanks for your armor in 53--glad to catch the Abrams family on their way to the Open Spaces Program in Baghdad.
A retired Army colonel here shared stories spanning his career:
At the erection of the Wall being sent to see what nationality was driving the Russian tanks--Russian.
At the Golan Heights as an "observer", noting how hot the Israeli tankers' shooting was and how hot the barrels got.
In a rubber plantation in Viet Nam--don't go there--too lined up for cover.
Another Army veteran here, an engineer in the development of an Abrams precursor--such dedication and expertise in service to making the finest fighting force on earth.
Others we can't name who are providing the best for the best.
A shout-out to Green Beret veteran Ted Maher three-year prisoner of Monaco, and Ted's brother Mike, Army MP vet running that site.
Here we keep it going for Ted at the current Ted Maher thread.
We have a commander in chief with the greatest respect for our fighting men and women, and together they will make history.
God Speed to all you wonderful warriors in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Our flag, our thoughts and our prays are 24/7 for you.
God bless you and I hope you are feeling much better today. Take care.
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