Thank you ! ! !

[Ben]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/563989_10151783085631915_1384939242_n.jpg

[Mk42gunner]

You are Welcome.

Robert

GM1 USN 1984-2004

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Ya know I meet more and more individuals who say " I wish I had given a couple years".
I certainly have no regrets but wish a few more could have come back home also.
They are the ones who need to be remembered and thanked by our dedication to getting our country back to the Constitution.
Mike in Peru

[Echo]

Plus 1, Mike...

[Hamish]

Mike said it. I don't feel especially comfortable being thanked for doing a hitch in peace time, but I dam* sure thank God for those that have put their lives on the line.

[Bad Water Bill]

Mike said it. I don't feel especially comfortable being thanked for doing a hitch in peace time, but I dam* sure thank God for those that have put their lives on the line.

I also feel uncomfortable because I served in "PEACE TIME".

However I have told my children the only reason they are not speaking Russian is because of the fact that you and I were in their face.

i WILL never FORGET the night the chaplain came on the 1MC and asked for a special prayer because our group was surrounded by 26 subs and NONE of them were ours.

PEACE TIME?

[1Shirt]

Appreciated Ben!
1Shirt!

[fishhawk]

Mike said it. I don't feel especially comfortable being thanked for doing a hitch in peace time, but I dam* sure thank God for those that have put their lives on the line.

Doesn't make much difference if we served peace time or war time we all put our name on the line up to and including our lives to defend our country. We went where and when we were sent knowing full well we were ready to do what it took. steve k

[DLCTEX]

I served in the National Guard from 1965-71. I don't really feel like a Veteran due to never having our unit called up as I expected it to be when I joined.

[shooter93]

Okay guys...and get this in your heads....Peace or War...ANY branch of service including Reserves or National Guard. (look at the numbers called up for our latest wars) Combat troop or clerk/typist. All SERVED....all took the chance.....every job is important. If paperwork gets messed up the troops in the fray lose out. Everyone signed up and has to do their job or we lose. We have never truly been at peace. Peace is that lull in human history when everyone is reloading. I was in for 6 years during the great turmoil of the 60's. I was out for 20 years before I ever heard a thank you.....I remember spit and the indecency of it......I only did what my Republic asked of me. nothing more....but a thank you every now and then doesn't hurt. Again...I don't care how or when you served....you went when called and I know even those of advancing age here would go again if asked. Do not hang your head because the wars missed you....they just as easily might not have. Soooo...Thanks to all of you.

[DIRT Farmer]

I was in Phenoix earlier this year for a shoot, at 0800 colors was sounded and like most I faced the flag and placed my hand over my heart. A member of our group turned to us and said, when I look at the age of those around me I know I am not the only one who served. It is time we got over hiding our service. The next morning at colors every man ond one woman came to and saluted the flag as is now the protacol. It felt good again.

[popper]

Some enlisted, some were drafted. We did what was needed. Never shot at, never had to shoot, fortunately. Results would not have been good.
MT/FT2. 61-65.

[starreloader]

Thank you Ben!!

My three brother and I all served, one for each branch of the military... Dad made sure of that, he did his time in the islands of the South Pacific and took a couple of those wooden bullets.. I don't ask anyone to say "THANK YOU" there is no need for that, the four us did only what was expected.. Dad always said regardless of what you may think sometimes "this country is the best on earth"..

[10x]

Good morning
Ya know I meet more and more individuals who say " I wish I had given a couple years".
I certainly have no regrets but wish a few more could have come back home also.
They are the ones who need to be remembered and thanked by our dedication to getting our country back to the Constitution.
Mike in Peru

I was born after WWII but I heard stories about the men who never came back.
I do remember the men who came back with broken souls - my dad said that they were not like that when they left in 1939.
Those men had memories that drove them to drink and eventually destroyed their families.
The memory is enough to make an old man cry.

[OeldeWolf]

As has been said, Everyone in the service, no matter the service, no matter when, or where, Thank you all. I am just a bit slow.

I had a good friend (dec), and knew from talking to him that he had been in Nam. First vet day after I found that out, I thanked him. He had never been thanked before. That a group of our veterans had been treated so badly, saddens me terribly. Thank you, one and all, for your service.

[Shuz]

I'm so old that when folks ask me what I did in the USAF, I tell 'em I was the crew chief on the Wright Brothers plane!
Truth is.....I was a "bubble chaser" on B-52G's and KC-135's in Northern Maine from 61-65........19 not 18!

[shdwlkr]

This last thursday on my way into Barnes and Nobel where a group of us here on castboolits gather each week. A korean war veteran was coming out and stopped and asked if I had been in the military, I said yes and he thanked me for stepping up and asked when I was in and I replied '69 to '77 and he looked and said I thought you looked like one of those guys. I asked him what he meant and he said you were never thanked for serving, never got the home coming those of today and his day got and most of all that I looked like I was much older than I am. He said he has seen it all to often in my era of veterans.

I explained that I was attempting to get a degree so I could be mental health counselor to our military past, current and future and he said that they needed folks like me that understand what it means to put on the uniform and do whatever your country asks of you and many times to not even be able to talk about what you did. The funny thing is in many respects that was me, my service record says one thing but in reality I did so many others that even those in my own unit never even knew I was doing or did. Must have been something interesting as the Government kept track of me for forty years after I walked away, so there must have been something that they wanted to know where I was at all times, danged if I can figure out what it was. I did go up in rank every year I was in after 7 years walked away as an SFC so I guess I did something the last two ranks I had to compete with all in whole Army for and there wasn't always a lot of slots open for advancement.

Do I regret serving nope, do I regret how much my parents thought negatively of me for enlisting yes, did my dad ever get to sort of understand some of the things I did yes and he even said he was amazed at how much I had changed over the years of being around the Army.

To all who have served, are serving and will serve I salute you for the integrity you have displayed in your time of being part of America's defenders.

May the good Lord always favor us who stood up when freedom called


Ps it took me over 20 years to admit I was a veteran and had some issues from being one. A friend that was also a vet got me into a good VA program and yes they found things more than I knew. I have shattered patellas which I knew about and the military only recognizes one of them that has gotten worse over the years. The funny thing is now it really doesn't matter as I understand just how being in the military affects us and how much we need to get out things. Yes I have talked to our current or recent veterans if you will and they have some pretty interesting stories, life experiences and also challenges. I have even run into some of our newest veterans the female combat veteran and you know I fail to see any difference in their stories, life experiences and also challenges in the military than the guys. Must be I have learned something that in WAR there are no easy places to be in a combat zone!

[Uncle Jim]

Thank You for your support!