USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ Dear Soldier: You don't know me, but... ~ October 6 2003

Canteen Co-Captain LindaSOG and A Grateful American

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday...
Thank the Veterans who served in
The United States Armed Forces.

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Dear Soldier:

You don’t know me, but I know you.  You were the boy next door, the kid who delivered my paper, the skinny girl in my daughter’s gymnastics class.  You played ball with my son and worked summers at my favorite burger joint.  We have probably never met, but I know you.

	You are a brother, sister, favorite niece or nephew, and someone’s best friend.  You are the child of parents who love you more than they can explain, feel pride words can’t carry, and bear a weight of worry they never dreamed possible.

There are probably a thousand things you’d rather be doing than what is before you now or what may be asked of you soon.  Combat is always possible when one wears the uniform, yet you donned it with full knowledge of the risks.  Not everyone would do it; I, for instance, did not.  Perhaps I’d make a different choice today but this time the decision was yours.  You chose to serve.

The type of people we consider heroes is kind of odd when you think about it:  athletes chasing records, movie stars and musicians, some of whom likely adorn posters in your old room back home.  Yet these folks rarely sacrifice more than time and effort, pursuing ambitions that profit only themselves.    There’s nothing wrong with that in itself; it’s what most of us do in some form or another.  It’s just not the stuff of heroes.   You, on the other hand, hazard your life for a wage that has many military families on food stamps.  You wager it for an ideal and a way of life, not wealth or fame.  If the chips fall wrong, the price you pay is for others.

Who’s the hero?  We’ll probably never know your name; I suspect you don’t care.  My own children are just short of military age but I have raised them to do what is right because it is right, not for gain, glory, or even gratitude.  If these things come, so much the better.  If not, your success is no less because personal reward wasn’t the object in the first place.

	Despite a few noisy voices, history shows the price of freedom is nothing less than blood.  It is not bought so much as leased, a fact some have forgotten after years of relative peace and the increasingly unrestrained license that has come to pass for liberty.  I admit some of us thought your generation might be the first to lose sight of that altogether.  We were wrong, and I’m glad.

I’d have written sooner but I’ve been pretty busy. If that sounds shallow, I suppose it is.  At least it finally occurred to me I have the luxury of busyness with career and family because you and hundreds of thousands like you are willing suit up, ship out, and take your chances.  Seeing your young face on television, a face I have seen at the playground and on the high school volleyball team and in the grocery store, drives home how very much you have on the line.  The least I can do is drop a note to say thanks.

	I do know you, and I know your family.  I know how anxious they are and how much they want for your future.  I understand how tremendously proud they are.  The rest of us are too, even if we’re too wrapped up enjoying the freedoms you protect to remember to say it.

Please look after yourself and be as careful as you can.  I will be praying for you and your family.  We all want you home safe.    A Grateful American

 

[Kathy in Alaska]

Raspberry ice: To keep raspberries at Afton Apple in Afton, Minn., from being damaged by the first frost of the year, an alarm sounds when temperatures drop. The owners then irrigate the fields, coating the plants with a protective layer of ice.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Zorro's new cape: Zorro, a rutting bull elk at the Wildwood Park Zoo in Marshfield, Wis., signals to a cow as he drags about 50 feet of orange plastic snow fencing tangled in his antlers. Zoo workers and a veterinarian removed the fencing after shooting him with a tranquilizer dart.

[Soaring Feather]

Oh my Kathy, our favourite berries!!

Frozen on the vine!! Oh nooooooo!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

I thought they would freeze, but they just put "ice blankies" on them, on purpose!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Blue light special:The Hope Diamond, flanked by the Heart of Eternity diamond (left) and the Blue Heart diamond, is tested for its light-refracting quality at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum in Washington. Scientists are trying to determine what impurities give the Hope its blue color.

[fatima]

Used to have 2 rock gardens and grew from seed.No time now ,but will remember your blue roses.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Prayers every day for Karen and all of her unit. Thanks, Karen, for your service to our country. And thanks to all your family too, and your Gramma for sharing you with us.

[Kathy in Alaska]

It's probably too late, but you can save it for tomorrow, just in case I'm late again.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good Night Blessing for the Troops

Blessings on you this evening 
May the stars in heaven
light your way into the
Milky Way of dreams 

May your day tomorrow 
be filled with love 
laughter and joy... 

Taking away all heart ache 
left stinging... 
and unclouding your vision 
for clear sailing... 

bentfeather 

 

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hi CPT kj!! Hi Star!! Thank you for serving this great nation of ours. Prayers for your success and safety, kj.

[Kathy in Alaska]

To our Military -

Thank you for protecting US. Sleep well and safe. May you be protected. May your families' hearts be at ease.

Thank you to our Allies.

[Kathy in Alaska]

MSgt Dan is almost home!!

Hi MSgt Dan! Hi M0sby! Thank you for serving this great nation of ours.

Hi Matthew!! Hi Andrew!!

[fatima]

Kathy in Alaska,Got a letter from Jim today,he is getting ready for dinner and 1 dance with Mar Mar,I was glad to hear from him and he is on his new ship.He said it is great.

[HiJinx]

A friend of mine who claimed some connection to the Druids once told me that the blue rose was a symbol for forgetfulness, a la Faust.

[Wild Thing]

WoW I love that color blue, like a cobalt blue. I love it so much I did not even notice the diamonds. LMAO

Wild Thing

[Jeff Head]

Tonk and Red...howdy!

Hope you and yours are having a great time on your vacation Red and that you both are behaving yourselves.

Klamath days are not forgotten.

Best Fregards and God's best to you both

Jeff

[Kathy in Alaska]

How exciting to be on the USS Ronald Reagan, a brand new ship!! And now he's waiting for his dinner and dance. LOL!!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

I just got back home Jeff.
I'll be seeing redrock and his family again tomorrow.
What a great family he has!

[Kathy in Alaska]

That blue is just stunning. And I know what you mean about not noticing anything else in the picture.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."

hehehe