Veterans Day November 11th 2009

[jimmy six]

Today is a day of remembrance and giving thanks to all which have served our country. At the presant time we are loosing WWII veterans at the rate of 900 a day. Soon there be no one left of that war to thank.

Please take time everyday to remember those how have fought and are currently fighting to protect our way of life...................JD

[Glen]

Right on JD, we are having a parade today even in our small town. Support our troops.

[Dakzila]

Nice respectful thread JD.......Thanks for starting it.

[jimmy six]

Our son Patrick. my co-driver, is a veteran of Desert Storm. He was in the Marine Corps reserve/active for 12 years.

[DallasV]

Freedom Is Not Free

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Airman saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform,
So young, so tall, so proud;
With hair cut square and eyes alert,
He stood out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him,
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many fox holes were soldiers graves?
No freedom is not free.

I heard Taps sound one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugle play,
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times,
Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had covered a coffin,
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children
Of the mothers and the wives.
Of the fathers, sons, and husbands,
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard,
At the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves at Arlington.
No, Freedom Is Not Free!

- LCDR Kelly Strong, USCG

[landsendlynda]

Thanks, Dallas!

Lynda

[Scott]

I won the lottery in '72. US Army. Every one gets to win a lottery once in a life time, mine was the draft. No complaints.  SB

[55chevr]

     "If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.

     Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.

     And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind. "

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
Listed as KIA February 7, 1978

[Milwaukee Midget]

I'm reminded today of the quote from Kurt Vonnegut in his book, "Breakfast of Champions" -

"When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

"It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind."

With that, I'd like to send out my heartfelt thanks to Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last living American veteran of World War I.

[Stan Back]

Apparently he didn't speak to all of us.

[Frank06]

Armistice Day is what it's called in England, Canada, Europe, etc.  Today was the first time in Great Britain that there were no remaining WWI veterans left.  The last 3 died during the past 12 months.

[fastesthonda_jim]

Truly an amazing day, if you think at all about it.

And one of my favorite quotes From Ronald Wilson Reagan:

"Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."

[Bob Ellis]

Down Under,it is called Armistice Day,"The Day The Guns Fell Silent","On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM",
There are no living original ANZAC (Australia NewZealand Army Corp)soldiers left now.(The ANZAC legend was born on the beaches of Gallipoli in WW1),But at 11am on the 11th of Nov,a minutes silence is observed.We have a day called ANZAC Day down here to remember the fallen,it is 25th April,it marks the day of the landing at Gallipoli (Turkey),Dawn Parades are held in almost every city and town.It is a very emotional morning,lots of Vet's,family.friends,lookers etc.

Dallas V (& Admin), I hope you don't mind but i forwarded this link to some special people.

Jimmy 6 , Thankyou for this post.When i read that 900 vets are passing away each day (Please tell me that's a typo),It makes me sorta angry that the upcoming generations dont know/understand what their fore fathers went through (And still going through) for their freedom,

I'm a KIWI (NewZealander).Both my Grandads were in WW2,my #1 Uncle was in Korea (He's 80 this month),I/we owe them.

My #1 Uncle (Lyall) went on a trip some years ago,Pearl Harbour was one of the stops on that trip.This is what he told me..."When you are standing on that memorial,you realise how much we owe the Americans". So , Thankyou to your troops from me,I owe you too.

So to all,if it's Armistice Day or Remembrance Day,all those men and women gave what they had,so we can have what we've got.so please take the time to give thanks and remember them.