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My Morning Mantra

Posted on 02/16/2003 8:45:59 AM PST by Per-Ling

I am in the United States Navy, the greatest navy the world has ever seen, and serve my country with pride. I pass anti-war protestors who scream at my DOD sticker every morning. For 4 days of the workweek it doesn't affect me. But towards the end of the week, after 60 hours in a classroom, 30+ hours at home studying while neglecting my wife and 2 year old to learn a language most of those protestors have never heard of but have certainly heard of the atrocities of those who speak it, I can't help but be affected by those so unappreciative of this nation's caretakers.

Those of you in this Freeper community, who start my every with your analysis and humor, I salute you and the support you give our military. Let there be no doubt of this generation's willingness to stand for our peers who see fit to ignore their heritage. Instead of going to ladies nite at some hip downtown club, my classmates and I go to the Legion. It's great to be among those who get it. This site provides me the same fellowship.

But I serve those protestors as much as I serve my son. This oft-used poem in military ceremonies, helps keep my mind reminded of that.

God bless and hold you all..

My Name is Old Glory by Howard Schnauber

I am the flag of the United States of America. My name is Old Glory. I fly atop the world's tallest buildings. I stand watch in America's halls of justice. I fly majestically over great institutes of learning. I stand guard with the greatest military power in the world. Look up! And see me!

I stand for peace - honor - truth and justice. I stand for freedom I am confident - I am arrogant I am proud. When I am flown with my fellow banners My head is a little higher My colors a little truer. I bow to no one. I am recognized all over the world. I am worshipped - I am saluted - I am respected I am revered - I am loved, and I am feared.

I have fought every battle of every war for more than 200 years: Gettysburg, Shilo, Appomatox, San Juan Hill, the trenches of France, the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome, the beaches of Normandy, the deserts of Africa, the cane fields of the Philippines, the rice paddies and jungles of Guam, Okinawa, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Guadalcanal New Britain, Peleliu, and many more islands.

And a score of places long forgotten by all but those who were with me. I was there. I led my soldiers - I followed them. I watched over them. They loved me. I was on a small hill in Iwo Jima. I was dirty, battle-worn and tired, but my soldiers cheered me, and I was proud.

I have been soiled, burned, torn and trampled on the streets of countries I have helped set free. It does not hurt, for I am invincible. I have been soiled, burned, torn and trampled on the streets of my country, and when it is by those with whom I have served in battle - it hurts. But I shall overcome - for I am strong.

I have slipped the bonds of Earth and stand watch over the uncharted new frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon. I have been a silent witness to all of America's finest hours.

But my finest hour comes when I am torn into strips to be used for bandages for my wounded comrades on the field of battle, When I fly at half mast to honor my soldiers, And when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving mother at the graveside of her fallen son.

I am proud.

My name is Old Glory.

Dear God - Long may I wave.


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To: Per-Ling
I can't say "Thank you" enough for the freedoms you have preserved for myself and my family.
41 posted on 02/16/2003 12:59:29 PM PST by Caipirabob (Democrats.. Socialists..Commies..Traitors...Who can tell the difference?)
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To: Per-Ling
Thank you!
42 posted on 02/16/2003 2:53:10 PM PST by hoosiermama (Prayers for all)
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To: rintense; kayak
Please add Per-ling, his wife and son to the Dose prayer list.
43 posted on 02/16/2003 2:59:34 PM PST by hoosiermama (Prayers for all)
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To: Per-Ling
God Bless you and the rest of our servicemen and women. Thank you for your selfless devotion to our country and our safety. My heart and prayers go with you.

Thank You
44 posted on 02/16/2003 3:00:08 PM PST by baggadonuts
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To: Per-Ling; hoosiermama
Per-Ling ~~~ Thank you for your service to our country! There are millions who support our military but we don't get the publicity that the few morons do. Do not lose heart! You have our prayers, our best wishes, and our gratitude!


45 posted on 02/16/2003 3:12:39 PM PST by kayak (God bless President Bush, God bless our military, and God bless America!)
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To: Per-Ling
Thank you for your service to our country and for keeping my family safe and free.

My son was a week away from joining the military then he got into an accident and they told him to get better and wait 6 months! He was so bummed.
46 posted on 02/16/2003 3:18:05 PM PST by It's me
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To: MeeknMing; Balata
Thank you!!! I am posting from my Palm phone. So, not so many words. But really appreciate your vote of confidence and support. My wife and I just came from the SF FReep and boy did FReepers make a difference. More to follow!
47 posted on 02/16/2003 6:30:35 PM PST by HighRoadToChina (Never Again!)
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To: Per-Ling

What a great post. Thank you, Per-Ling! Don't ever doubt that most of America and the civilized world is praying for YOU.  Michelle says it best, imho:

Michelle Malkin ***


 

Dear American soldier


Dear American soldier,

You don't know me, but I know who you are and I will not forget.

You are deploying from Fort Carson and Fort Hood and Fort Bliss and Fort Stewart. You hail from Middletown and Middleboro and Greenville and Redding and Thousand Oaks and Maple Tree. You are white, black, brown, and yellow-but always Americans first.

You are with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and the 10th Combat Support Hospital and the 571st Air Ambulance Medical Evacuation Company. You are with the 1st Cavalry Division and the 3rd Infantry Division and the "Iron Horse" 4th Infantry Division. You are Black Knights with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment. You are engineers, drivers and medics in the 13th Corps Support Command.

Your motto is "We Will," "Steadfast and Loyal," "Swift and Deadly," "Always Prepared," "First to Fight," and "No Task Too Tough."

You will be joined overseas by thousands of sailors and Marines on the USS Boxer and USS Bonhomme Richard and USS Cleveland and USS Dubuque and USS Anchorage and USS Comstock and USS Pearl Harbor. You will get support in the Gulf from an airborne infantry brigade, a squadron of F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters, and two squadrons of F-16CJ radar-jamming fighters.

You have friends on the USS Constellation in the Persian Gulf, and the USS Harry S Truman in the Mediterranean Sea, and the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln stationed at Perth, Australia, and the USNS Yano en route to the Red Sea, and the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on its way to a training mission in the Pacific.

You have classmates and colleagues and cousins who died at the Pentagon and in the Twin Towers on September 11. You have buddies who took bullets over the past year in Afghanistan and Kuwait and the Philippines during Operation Enduring Freedom. You have uncles and brothers and fathers and grandfathers who sacrificed their lives in past wars.

Their deaths haunt you. Their heroism inspires you. Their footsteps beckon and you cannot resist.

You have wives who are tough as nails and husbands who are enormously proud. You have toddlers who know the colors of the American flag and grade-schoolers who have memorized Army verses like these:

The hardest job, the dirtiest job
Since ever war began
Is picking 'em up and laying 'em down
The job of an infantryman

No mission too difficult
No sacrifice too great
Our duty to the nation
Is the first we're here to state

Our doughboys come from Brooklyn
Our gunners from Vermont
Our signals from Fort Monmouth
Our engineers DuPont

Against the foes of freedom
We fight for liberty
We make no peace with tyrants
On land or on the sea

As you pack your green Army duffel bags, press your desert camouflage fatigues, polish your boots and kiss your families goodbye, please take these words with you:

Thank you. Thank you for answering the call to arms. Thank you for being fit and young and brave and willing. Thank you for loving freedom enough to put your own life on the line to defend it.

Pay no attention to Sean Penn and Sheryl Crow and Baghdad Babs. Tune out the half-naked loonies and Flower Power leftovers. Stand tall. Fight hard. And know that there are legions of Americans who are boundlessly grateful for what you have volunteered to do.

We know who you are. We will not forget. And we will pray every day for your safe return. Hoo-ah!

(The Department of Defense's online thank you note to the men and women of the U.S. military can be signed at http://www.defendamerica.mil/nmam.html.)


48 posted on 02/16/2003 6:37:10 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl (We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers. - GWB)
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub; tomkow6; radu; Radix; Kathy in Alaska; bentfeather; SAMWolf; AntiJen; ...
I am in the United States Navy, the greatest navy the world has ever seen, and serve my country with pride. I pass anti-war protestors who scream at my DOD sticker every morning. For 4 days of the workweek it doesn't affect me. But ...

Ping for the giving Canteen crew.

49 posted on 02/16/2003 6:39:49 PM PST by Ragtime Cowgirl ("The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity." -GWB)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl; Per-Ling
<===Mash This
50 posted on 02/16/2003 6:50:23 PM PST by SAMWolf (To look into the eyes of the wolf is to see your soul)
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To: Per-Ling
Thank You for your service to our country.

USO CANTEEN FREEPER STYLE MISSION STATEMENT
Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies military
and the family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

51 posted on 02/16/2003 6:54:32 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
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To: Per-Ling
Thank you very much for your service to our country. A few standing outside the gates may not appreciate you openly, but even they know that you make their freedom possible. I work in the refining and petrochemical industry. One thing that always encourages me is to visit plants or be in my own plant and see the flag flying from the railing at the top of the tallest column in the plant. We had a crane in the plant for many months last year, and the guys running the crane had Old Glory flying from the top. The people closest to the board of directors occasionally send an e-mail telling us to be careful that we don't offend someone with the flag, but those of us outside their circles love seeing it.

WFTR
Bill

52 posted on 02/16/2003 7:03:17 PM PST by WFTR
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To: Per-Ling
Thank you for serving in the Navy! Have you checked out the FReeper Foxhole? It's a daily thread frequented by others who "get it".
53 posted on 02/16/2003 7:10:44 PM PST by Jen (Still Aiming High)
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To: Per-Ling
You brought back some memories...

I learned another language (RU) there in '77. Most of the folks in the area at least tolerated us, they all enjoyed it when we spent our meager pay in their shops.

I'm glad to see the tradition being carried on. You do us proud...
54 posted on 02/16/2003 7:31:45 PM PST by HiJinx (SFC, USA (Ret))
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To: Per-Ling
Thank you, Per-Ling, for your service to our country.


55 posted on 02/16/2003 7:54:52 PM PST by Kathy in Alaska (God Bless America and Our Military Who Protect Her.)
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To: Per-Ling; martin_fierro

56 posted on 02/16/2003 8:36:42 PM PST by BraveMan
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To: Per-Ling

57 posted on 02/16/2003 8:44:50 PM PST by SAMWolf (To look into the eyes of the wolf is to see your soul)
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl; Per-Ling
Thanks for the ping, Ragtime!

And thank you so much, Per-Ling, for doing your part in protecting the USA. I'm so proud of our service men and women for answering the call to duty.


58 posted on 02/16/2003 9:05:31 PM PST by radu (God bless America and watch over our troops!)
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To: Seeking the truth
These license plate frames are great. Got two on the way, one for my hubby and one for myself. I can't wait to put them on the cars.
59 posted on 02/16/2003 9:07:55 PM PST by radu (God bless America and watch over our troops!)
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To: radu
Thank you very much!

I saw your order a few minutes ago.

They should be shipped this Friday/Saturday.
60 posted on 02/17/2003 5:53:03 AM PST by Seeking the truth (I'm going on the FRN Cruise - How about you? - Details at www.Freerepublic.net)
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