Veterans Day

Randy & Ida

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Nov 23, 2008
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C-248 C
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A heartfelt thank you to all my fellow veterans on this day, and to all the men and women who are in harms way. May God bless and keep you.
Randy Riffe
CSM, Ret.
 
Thanks Randy - I join you in honoring those who served and serve, and their families.

Bruce

RM2/SS USN Submarine Service '68-'71
 
Thanks Randy and Bruce. This is a day where all vets can stand up and be counted, and be proud doing it.

Rick, AOCS U.S. Navy/Retired
 
I echo your sentiments, and wish you all the same.

CW3, USA
 
Happy Veterans Day to all that have served.
Bob
 
A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check-paybable to the United States of America for an amount up to...and including their life. It's not a Holiday, but a day to get off work (if you are fortunate) and remember those who have served, and if you have served, celebrate that service!

Charlie, Capt USN (Ret) 1959-1991
 
Capt Charlie,
My words were poorly chosen. It is a time to remember those who have served and be thankful to them for our freedom. I too served during Vietnam, though, I was never there but I did loose many friends and fellow soldiers. God Bless all the vets.
Bob
 
Charlie,
I did not consider my service to be a blank check. I considered my service to be honor and duty, and I felt privileged to be able to serve. I too served in Viet Nam - three times aircrew in country and once aboard ship. I served on the flight deck of four aircraft carriers - at the time considered the second most dangerous job in the world. I served along side men and women of all the services, including the Coast Guard. Many of my friends and shipmates gave their ultimate sacrifice to serve our country, and I have pulled many a man from the jaws of death. None of us ever thought of death, even though we faced it daily. We were all proud to be Americans and proud to serve our country - even when our country was not proud of us. I endured crowds protesting us in Greece, and crowds throwing rocks at us in Egypt, and Americans spitting on us in San Francisco and Norfolk. I don't ask for a lot of thanks or praise, in fact it embarrasses me. I am just thankful Americans are no longer spitting upon the very people that ensure their freedom.

Please excuse my rant.
 
No rant Rick (that sounds strange... 🙂 ). It's just a widely quoted "saying", probably shouldn't have used it. I didn't even know what a "blank check" was on my 17th birthday when my Dad swore me in to the USNR. 32 years later when I retired, he was still there with me, stopped taking pictures when I made O-5, he was in the USNR as an O-4 (WWII). He's gone now.

Concur heartily with all your other thoughts, well said...

The Navy was good to me, I'm still giving back, working for a Defense Contractor running a company that is building LPD 17 class ships on the Gulf Coast. I'll probably keep doing that until it's not fun any more. I'm 68 now and probably good for a few more years.

Sorry I missed you at Langford this summer, c'mon down to the mouth of the Potomac, got lots of room, power and water at the pier and a great guest room!. I love your R21, I'll race you all the way to the fuel pier! :lol:

Charlie
 
While I have never served in the Armed Forces for the United States, I can tell you I deal with the effects of our military daily. I work for a government contractor that runs deli's and bakeries in the commissaries. It absolutely tears you apart when you are sitting in one of the fast food operators in the food court and a group of 19 old kids come in and sit down next to you. They start discussing the fact that they are headed off to war tomorrow or the next day. All the time you sit there looking at them thinking to yourself, some of you won't be coming back at all. Others will come back with pieces missing. This can be an arm, leg, hand, or their sanity. It is a cruel world. However, it is the price for freedom.

Today, I had the oportunity to be in Fort Lewis Army Base and McCord Air Base. I saw many veterans in with their families and love ones. We thanked each of them for their sevice to this great country of ours.

Thank you to all of you that have served our country. We truly appreciate the sacrifices you have made for the rest of us to live in a free world.
 
THANK YOU

Herb Stark
USMC 1961-1965
 
USAF 1955 to 1976.

Thanks, to all who served.

Gene
 
As I tell folks who thank me for my service, "It is my honor".

However, I couldn't help but notice several of the replies come from retirees, and to you fine gentlemen and ladies who have served before me, I say thank you for your service and paving the way for the rest of us. And if you happened to have serve in Viet-Nam, "Welcome Home".

Thank you everyone, who have served or are currently serving...to quote the bumper sticker "It's the land of the free, because of the brave".

Your obedient servant,
John Garcia
LTC, Texas Army National Guard
 
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