Just wanted to say thanks to all who served! If you would, let us know when you served, and what branch of service. :-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), November 11, 1999

Answers

Thank you, veterans, and to your families, too.

-- Faith Weaver (suzsolutions@yahoo.com), November 11, 1999.

Thanks to all veterans and their families. We are in your debt.

-- Steve (hartsman@ticon.net), November 11, 1999.

I too wish to thank any servicemen/women who have served as well as their families. May those who never came back rest in peace.

-- Thank You (From@My.Heart), November 11, 1999.

Thank you to all veterans, especially the Viet Nam vets who were treated like dirt and forgotten for so many years. I had a chance to visit "the wall" last summer. It was one of the most gut-wrenching experiences of my life.

Peace on earth.

-- (Polly@lurker.com), November 11, 1999.

Just like to add my thanks also to all the men and women who have served. Thankyou from the bottom of my heart.

-- me (me@santacruz.com), November 11, 1999.

I wish to thank all who have faithfully and unselfishly served their country as well. As I have researched my family tree, I have found that I have had relatives serving in the American Revolutionary War and every war in between right up to today. My husband, while not in the military, serves with the military in a civilian capacity. He goes to sea with them and takes the same risks as them. I am very proud of him. He has received our nation's highest civilian commendation for his work.

To all of those who serve, have served, will serve, May God Bless YOu Richly. A nation thanks you from the bottom of its heart.

-- Ynott (Ynott@incorruptible.com), November 11, 1999.

I was in the USAF, early 1970s. Although it's true that Viet Nam era vets did get shortchanged in so many ways, I am glad that within recent years a lot more attention has been focused on WWII vets, of which my Dad was one (deceased). Even though their's was a Politically Correct war, they have had to deal with a lot of sugar coating of those events, which can hurt quite a bit, too.

50 days.

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.~net), November 11, 1999.

USMC=1956-1959; USAF=1959-1980.

-- Neil G.Lewis (pnglewis1@yahoo.com), November 11, 1999.

US Army Infantry - 1966 -1970 Vietnam - 1967 -1970 Airborne all the way, Rangers lead the way. That said, like most non-government employees, I'll be off to work. Michael

-- michael frazier (mfrazier@pacific.net), November 11, 1999.

My heart felt thanks to all of you who have "stepped into the breach". You have served to keep America strong.

It is not impossible that you may be the only hope for the future.

-Greybear

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), November 11, 1999.

U.S. Navy, Viet Nam - 1971-76. Now a veteran for the Kingdom of God. :-)

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), November 11, 1999.

USN...1959-1966 'To all of my mates that didn't make it back, I still think about you guys everyday. Be with your God as you are the real hero's.'

-- Truth (at@the.ready), November 11, 1999.

It's Remembrance Day in Canada: red poppies and two minutes' silence. We should never forget.

-- silver ion (ag3@interlog.com), November 11, 1999.

And a special thanks to those guys who came over to Britain in WWII and gave the kids the chewing gum and candy from their C-rations. A column of soldiers would rest outside the village and after they left there would be piles of goodies, plus some cigarettes and food for the parents. We still remember! (Dad says thanks for ALL the Spam, even though he hasn't eaten it since!) And my bones and teeth thank the US PTB for the powdered milk and eggs.

And thanks to Sweetie for serving in the Navy, so I could snap him up in New Orleans!

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), November 11, 1999.

USN 1966-1970(Vietnam 1968)

-- Bookworm (bookworm_2@hotmail.com), November 11, 1999.

I forgot to say thanks for the thanks! Bookworm

-- Bookworm (bookworm_2@hotmail.com), November 11, 1999.

Army, 1968-1971.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), November 11, 1999.

My mothers a WWII vet.

WASPs... Air Force Ferry pilot.

(Thanks mom for coming out alive when your plane cracked up, so I could eventually be born!)

To all the other Vets...

((( THANK YOU )))

We know it wasnt easy, and the worlds a better place due to your efforts.

Peace.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 11, 1999.

Bookworm...

Were you by chance involved in ASW duty in the 'Nam'? Just curious from a Neptune/Orion crew dog.

-- Truth (at@the.ready), November 11, 1999.

US Army 1968-1971. Vietnam 69-70, stationed at Ninh Hoa. Thanks to all who've expressed their thanks. All veterans I know appreciate the sentiment and acknowledgement of their efforts.

-- Ninh Hoa (tech@univ.now), November 11, 1999.

Having been a child during WWII, and seeing the heroic men and women who fought then, and a brother who served in the USN on a destroyer going up the rivers of Vietnam, all my life I have appreciated you brave souls who fought, and those who died, for our freedom. Never a year goes by but that I shed tears of gratitude and sorrow for your pain, and the loss of many families. I pray for you all to be blessed for your sacrifices and proudly hang out my flag.

If anyone here hasn't seen Private Ryan, today would be a good day to rent the movie. Be prepared to weep.

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), November 11, 1999.

USAF 1956 - 1976

275 B-52 combat sorties in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia 1968 - 1972.

Too many of the names on the WALL have faces with them for some of us.

There is another wall at Offutt AFB, Omaha Nebraska, home of the Strategic Air Command Museum, which lists 2637 names.

Far more of these names have faces too, as it lists all of the members of SAC, male and female, who paid the ultimate price in every point in the world where we made our presence felt, both in peace and in war, for the 46 years of history during which SAC kept the watch. I worked with and knew a lot of them. Far too many. Two of them were members of my crew.

Rest in Peace one and all.

To all of those Veterans that I have met and know, and to all of those of all ages, and from all wars, that I have never met, yet know as well, I say Thank You. Thank you for what you have done for all of us.

You have done all that could be asked of you.

S.O.B.

-- sweetolebob (buffgun@hotmail.com), November 11, 1999.

US AIR FORCE 1961 - 1965

My thanks go to my father, now deceased, who fought in WW!!. He was a tail gunner on a B-29. An ace with more than 20 enemy planes shot down and only shot out of the air twice. And to all other vets, Thank you.

Saw Prvt. Ryan, again, and watching that and thinking of what leads our country now.............I was crying to think we have given away what so many fought for.

-- Mr. Pinochle (pinochledd@aol.com), November 11, 1999.

God Bless the U.S.A.

by Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone
I'd worked for all my life,
And I had to start again
with just my children and my wife,
I'd thank my lucky stars
to be living here today,
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom
and they can't take that away.

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota
to the hills of Tennessee,
Across the plains of Texas
from sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston
and New York to L.A.,
There's pride in every American heart
and it's time we stand and say:

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

With deep gratitude,

-- winter wondering (winterwondering@yahoo.com), November 11, 1999.

Well, I fixed part of it... let's see if this does it. :-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), November 11, 1999.

Gayla, if I remember right, you started a similar thread one year ago. Thank you.

I am from a large family (the child of 12!).

During WWII we had a flag displayed in our window of our home, showing three blue stars and one gold. One brother did not come home, thankfully the other three did return safely.

Later, between 1955-60, three more brothers served in the military. I was one of the latter group to serve.

Glad to be back lurking in and out of this forum since relocating to a small, rural town in northern Arizona.

Peace to all.

AZ Joe

-- AZ Joe (Az.mountain@home.here), November 11, 1999.

I would just like to add my voice to the chorus and thank the vets as well. And I'd also like to make the observation that I hope we do not go to war again anytime soon: I can hardly imagine the current generation of MTV/Videogame/ProWrestling-brain-addled-borderline- sociopaths doing the job quite as well. Again, thanks!

-- Ludi (ludi@rollin.com), November 11, 1999.

Thank you vets for giving me this wonderful country. Thank you vets for protecting the freedoms that I enjoy. Thank you vets for all that you do for us each and every day. I know that if I were CINC, I would give each and every one of you a HUGE raise.

-- (cannotsay25@hotmail.com), November 11, 1999.

I almost forgot! I would like to thank my Uncle who died in 1943 aboard the USS Salmon-182. I still have your picture that your sister, my mother gave to me.

-- (Polly@lurker.com), November 11, 1999.

USAF 1973-1977

Thank You, Gayla for starting this thread. Thank all my fellow veterans.

-- Patrick (pmchenry@gradall.com), November 11, 1999.

I never served but I have the utmost respect for those who have and do. We owe everything we have today to their sacrifices. And remember folks, honor and integrity don't come from the uniform, they come from the heart.

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), November 11, 1999.

Lai Khe '69

-- Carlos (riffraff1@cybertime.net), November 11, 1999.

My Dad served in USN for 30 years. My grandmother was Rosy the Riveter. Many in our family have given their lives for this country through the years. I salute the Veterans of these United States. May your days be filled with the freedoms you have fought for. Best wishes to you and yours.

-- karla (karlacalif@aol.com), November 11, 1999.

Joseph B!!! Good to hear from you again! I love the new handle. :-) Glad you're all settled in your new place.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), November 11, 1999.

25th Armoured Regt.Canadian Army 1943 -46

-- Dave Walker (armour@war.com), November 11, 1999.

USN 80'-90' Corpsman (thus the nick name DOC) But some of you knew that already.

-- DOC (DOC@...), November 11, 1999.

36th Combat Engineer Group Korea, 195-53 Thanks, Gayla

-- de (delewis@XOUTinetone.net), November 11, 1999.

U.S. Army 1990 to 1999 Airborne til I die, then Forever more!!! Thanks for all who walked before me...RAKKASAN!!!

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan@Yahoo.com), November 11, 1999.

Thanks for starting the thread Gayla. I called our local VA hospital and found out they were having a Veterans Day program. I went. It was very nice.

-- quielty (quietly@preparing.com), November 11, 1999.

Thanks Gayla for making this day special!

Thanks all for the prayers and support for those who defend freedom.

God bless you all true Americans and God bless America.

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.ne), November 11, 1999.

WHAT IS A VET?

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a vet?

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say "Thank You." That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU"

-- just wanted to say (th@nk.you), November 11, 1999.

Thank you to my father and step-father, Koean war. Thank you to my brother who served 20 yrs. Navy. Thank you to my husband, full time National Guard.

-- Hatti (klavine@tco.com), November 11, 1999.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,

HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF

PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY

WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO

IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,

A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,

NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,

JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES

OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,

AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT

CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,

IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,

ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,

SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR

IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,

THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED

A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO

OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,

THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES

THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS

WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,

THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE

A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM

EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,

LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER

HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE

IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT

BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES

AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED

AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

"SANTA DON'T CRY,

THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,

I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD,

MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER

AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,

I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,

SO SILENT AND STILL

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED

FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE

ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR

SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,

IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,

AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

This poem was written by a Marine stationed in Okinawa Japan. The following is his request. I think it is reasonable..... PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

thanks to the vets again

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan@Yahoo.com), November 11, 1999.

Thanks Dad; I miss you. You were a good father.

-- (...@.......), November 11, 1999.

Hi, De!! Good to hear from you again, too! Glad you're still around! :-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), November 12, 1999.

I wanted to thank all of the veterans and people who sacrificed to help keep us free. Thank you so very, very much!

My grandparents served in WWII. My father served in Vietnam. My cousin served in Desert Storm. Thank you all, I love you very much!

Also, please note that Wal-Mart is collecting donations to help build the WWII memorial in Washington D.C. Please donate what you can...

Best wishes,

Deb M.

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), November 12, 1999.

Beautiful thread. May the US Military be restored to full glory under God, protecting our freedoms. Eternal thanks to all who paid in any way for the blessed freedoms we enjoy in this bountiful land.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), November 12, 1999.

Thank you for defending the honor and freedom of vacillating, ungrateful and generally worthless softies like me. I hope someday I will find a way to cure cancer (as I have long dreamed) and perhaps redeem myself in the eyes of those who've had to suffer through far greater sacrifices.

Thank you for the bravery and dedication, great soldiers. May your sacrifices go far to prevent the next war from boiling over as long as possible. (Not likely, though, given the bumbling leadership in the Executive Branch of the last 10 years...but nonetheless my wish is no less heartfelt...)

-- coprolith (coprolith@rocketship.com), November 12, 1999.