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.

Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom?
Support The United States Armed Forces Today!

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

 

[Fawnn]

...the blue rose was a symbol for forgetfulness....

That's fascinating! Before my illness(es), I practically had a photographic memory. Now I'm lucky if I remember my name. My obsession with blue roses occurred après my "retraining my brain" stuff. ;)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Mississippi blizzard: Pam Clayton drives a cotton picker through her family's fields outside Natchez, Miss. The crop is reflected in the machine's windshield.

This picture took me awhile.

[HiJinx]

No kiddin', really? Now, there's either a cosmic coincidence...or there really is something to the old Druid stuff.

Come to think of it, Ol' Jerry was rarely wrong in anything he said or did...

That's fascinating!

[Fawnn]

I've always been fascinated by the Hope diamond. (One of the things I made certain to "visit" when I was at the Smithsonian in 1987!)





PBS ... Hope Diamond

[Kathy in Alaska]

ZOW!! That is some rock!

[HiJinx]

Ok, it's time to call it a night.

Night!

[Soaring Feather]

Elk drapes, LOL.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good night and sleep well, HiJInx. Sweet dreams. Thank you for your service to this great country of ours and for helping honor our troops. ((HUGS))

[Soaring Feather]

Cute jammies and slippers, Jinx.

Sleep well and thank you for your service to our nation.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Nite Brother!

[Kathy in Alaska]

On my way home. Back shortly. What state areyou sleeping in tonight, ms feather? I'm way behind, in case you already said.

[Soaring Feather]

Good night TROOPS and CANTEEN CREW!
Sleep well everyone.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Be a Poet Today, there ain't no pay
That's what they say
But the rewards are rich
And it beats digging a ditch.

[SevenofNine]

OHH Linda I thought you won't be here during this time

Thanks for dropping by well tommorow Grey is out

We going elect Austria bodybuilder for our Governor in Sac-Town

Don't be suprise

Well Breaking news off Hareetz wire witnesses are claim that Lebanon just shot missile and IDF strick back on their Lebanon targets after getting smack chat earlier in the evening that any action Israel take on Syria or Them is act or war


So far 1 Hezollah soldier got whack on this missile attack



Also Interfax wire confirm that Kremlin appoint Chechen dude is now the new leader of Cheynea at this hour

NO KIDDING Since dude was only dude running

[SevenofNine]

Well Sac-Town Bee reporting that Tom McClintock claim that he saw Grey Davis lost his temper went F-bombs on him back in 1990s

Even Reagan former Governor didn't go f-bomb back in da day

For the record everybody know in Cali that Grey Davis is Ike Turner of Sac-Town DUH

Also name one state that elect

Angela Channing ex-husband for two terms in Sac-Town gig

CALI

[Soaring Feather]

Your midnight poetry slams are getting to be a habit, Tonk!!

Too, funny!!!

Beats digging a ditch rhymes
with .........

LOL

[Mr. Silverback]

The graduate with a Liberal Arts degree asks, "Do you want mustard with that?"

How do you get a guy with an Art History degree off your porch? Pay him for the pizza.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Hi!
See the Canteen does not discriminate.
Cheese Heads are always welcome. LOL

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Your midnight poetry slams are getting to be a habit, Tonk!!
When I post one I will honk!!
That way you can see
Another bad case of poetry!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good night and rest well, ms feather. God bless you good for helping honor our troops.