aaarrgghh.. repost from 11/16...(see msg text)
I'm having some difficulty keeping up... is there a new canteen each am? And if so, when do we traditionally say Good Morning? I am a new FReeper and after I saw the canteen t'other day, I just want to scan, see what our services have to say, and toss in an irreverent comment or two. I appreciate the work you put into this post, since I see your moniker on so much of it and I have read how you moderate them all. If it helps for our folk in uniform out there, a whole lot of us day-to-day citizen types who look around and just say, "thank God for our guys and gals in uniform who do so much more than we can!"
Tom and Lily
I will never forget the day we hit the beach in the Shetland Islands in 78. We were onboard the LaMoure County, LST 1194.
We were inbad weather for the last 2 weeks, rockin and rolling all over the place, and we were so glad to get ashore!
Up at about 5 or so, embarked on a landing craft, a mid size one, we set out for the beach on the Ura Firth.
We set up on a mountain of peat, you cant see it from this pic, but we set up our radios and waited for the ships to give us control of the skies. (I was an Air Controller, MOS 7242, an Air Winger that went out in the field for EVERY grunt operation...but we slept in shelter halves or GP tents, not holes.)
So anways, after we set up our stuff, we were standing around waiting for the word to start operating, and we all were rocking back and forth just like we were on the boat!
No Kidding, all 8 or 9 of us standing there, swaying back and forth just like on the LST, as if the waves were rocking us, only we were on land!
It was late September or so, about 40°, raininng, and windy, about 10 - 20 MPH winds. Miserable weather.
We operated for about 18 hours, till midninght or so, when we got the word to break camp and head back to the ship. It was welcome news!
We broke camp, packed up, got on the landing craft, and then headed to the ship, to find out the waves were too big to let us marry up to the boat! In the landing craft, we were in swells that brought us higher than the deck of the LST at the crest of the wave!
The ship had to head into the inlet, the URa Firth, to let us marry up and get back on the ship.
I will never forget how we were so eager to get off the boat 24 hours before, and so eager and happy to get back on the boat again 24 hours later!
Those poles you see are frame sections for our frame tent that we humped up the hill to the top of the peat bog, about a 2.5 mile walk at most, full pack,no rifles!, just frame sections.
Hi, you two, welcome aboard! Tonk is probably at work now...I 'spect Kathy and bentfeather are 'moderating' the Canteen this time of day. All that really means is that they're the hostesses for visitors right now. If I don't hurry, they're going to have your question answered before I do!
We have a new thread daily; some are dedicated like the "Pray for President Bush" thread each Sunday and others are just going to open with whatever Tonkin feels like putting up. You'll notice today has military humor as a general theme.
Each day we take some time to pass on a message of support to our veterans, active duty personnel, and their families. Some of us spend hours on end in the Canteen, and others just post once. Whichever you do doesn't matter, it's getting the message out to those we support that matters!
Have fun, and we look forward to seeing more of you!
"is there a new canteen each am? And if so, when do we traditionally say Good Morning?"
Welcome to the USO Canteen!
Yes there is a new thread each day. It can be posted anytime between midnite and 6AM PST.
I've added you to my ping list so you'll know when it gets posted.
You really summed up why we gather here each day in your post below.
If it helps for our folk in uniform out there, a whole lot of us day-to-day citizen types who look around and just say, "thank God for our guys and gals in uniform who do so much more than we can!"