Good Tuesday Morning BT!! I want to begin today by saying THANK YOU to all the Veterans who have fought and lived and fought and died and worked behind the scenes and sacrificed for the freedom I enjoy today.....




My cold is still annoying me this morning, but I will trudge through my day....big, warm (germ free!) hugs to anyone who needs them!! Love you all!!!

donna
same here the veterans deserve thanks

belated birthday to ur mom and dad
was brought up near lodi,nj

hope ur cold is better
es

Thanks Elaine...today is my Dad's real birthday...we just celebrated on the weekend.

Where did you grow up?

My cold is a little better, annoying but could be ALOT worse..... I'm a thankful lady this morning...

Have a great day...
Poof...off to work...

Good Morning for us it's Rememberance Day - same thing. Time to remember (though it should be everyday) all those fallen, fought in past wars, current wars, those displaced and those forced into fighting, those who fought for our freedom, those who have lost loved ones in wars. Lest We Forget.

Other than that, will not be posting much, as all of our kids are sick and miserable. They all got a menthol bath at 5:30/6am this morning.

Hope everyone else is getting better! And to those who need them.

Sadly, it's just another day here. School is in session, everyone is off to work. It seems that only the government offices are closed.

So I thank all of our veterans that served. Have a good day.

John came home yesterday with a scratchy throat, and feeling like he was dragging butt, and I was ensconced on the couch with my cold. We both went to bed at 9 o'clock. I feel so much better today for having gotten so much rest. Maybe I'll even have chicken soup for breakfast! Enjoying a nice cup of tea right now!

Carry on. Enjoy if you have today off! Make the most of your day.

Good Morning Donna, Elaine, Eileen, Gail & All Others Joining In

I thank all our veterans for all they've done and for providing us with the freedom we have today and for all those who are still fighting to preserve our freedom




Hope everyone gets to feeling better soon!

Thank you all for your service, Veterans.
I got my Buddy Poppy Sunday.

Add another heartfelt thank you to the list. I have blocked off my calender to go to our Veterans Memorial dedication this morning at 11. We are dedicating a new veterans memorial and I have purchased a brick with my fathers name and what I knew - basically US Army WWII.

Thank you for helping us have the freedoms we have, the opportunities we have and the enjoyment of a free country,

ooops

(Message edited by vtscuba on November 11, 2008)

Thanks to all vets.

Folks, if you happen to go to cemeteries, I encourage you to check around for veteran markers and if the flags are missing or damaged replace them. In the past few years I have observed that the flags in the cemetery where my father rest are IMO not changed out as often as they should be. Might be because of budget cutbacks or lack of volunteers, whatever, they are not expensive to buy. You can sometimes get them from your local American Legion, flag shop (usually more expensive) or online at:
http://emblem.legion.org/AmericanLegn/assets/html/homepage.asp?URLCheck=1

THANK YOU!
REMEMBER...

Thank you, Thank you,THANK YOU!!

I did something with the kids at Quinn's school yesterday, we made poppies. Today we will watch something on the local station. I would have wanted to take them all to a memorial service at 11am but they are sick.

We've given thanks here.
I'll head over to the cemetary at 11 too.

May they always know how much we appreciate their sacrifice and bravery.

I went to our town's Veterans Day dedication. What a beautiful memorial that has been built. The ceremony was very nice and VERY well attended. I had purchased a paver for my father and it looks great. When the sky is brighter I will take a picture and take pictures of the memorial park itself. It was/is wonderful.

A veteran - whether Active Duty, Retired, National Guard or Reserve is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for the amount of "up to and including my life." This is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.---Author unknown



The Story behind the name

The Blue is Air Force Blue
The Harley is a sign of American Pride

Bury me where you wish I will not care...I ask only one thing::::"Play My Taps" "I Earned Them"

BH
***


To those who fought and died I Will Never Forget
To those that are here now I Thank You
To those who serve today I Will Stand Beside You



***********TAPS*************
Day is done ... Gone the sun

From the lakes ... From the hills ...
From the sky . All is well.

Safely rest .. God is nigh.

Fading light .. Dims the sight ..

And a star ... Gems the sky

Gleaming bright From afar ..

Drawing nigh . Falls the night.
Thanks and praise ... For our days .

Neath the sun ... Neath the stars...

Neath the sky . As we go
This we know .. God is nigh

The company I work for will recognize any and all groups regardless of race, religion, creed or sexual orientation, but will not recognize veterans because we are a "global" company.

Aquaman
U.S. Army 85-88

Thanks BH.
It was a lovely ceremony at the cemetary. They are having a bbq at the Veteran's Hall which I had to beg off.

Barry, that's just messed up, wrong thinking.
Our veteran's (and other country's) help in every corner of the world and should be recognized for it.

/link{http://www.hififusion.com/ecard/bigandrich/acm2007/1/ , Big and Rich}

oops, oh well, it works

(Message edited by barry_b on November 11, 2008)

I was looking at different organizations to give a donation to today in honor of Veterans.

I usually give to Wounded Warriors but just thought I'd check out what others are out there.

I found this one: Operation Gratitude that sends care packages to troops. They are in need of financial help to cover the shipping costs and say they don't take any salaries.

Do any of you have a favorite organization?

Boom....I think any of them you pick will make a difference.

I think that on Veteran's Day, veterans should get a special hat or something that would identify them and qualify them to go first at four way stops, get cuts in movie lines, and the like....wadday think? And the rest of us could smile and say, "You first!".

This used to be Armistice Day, remember? To commemorate the War to End All Wars....

"Armistice Day, Armistice Day. That's all I really wanted to say.".









"Armistice Day....." (Paul Simon)

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."

Remember November 11th is Veterans Day.
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."

Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

As a former Marine combat veteran, I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all the wonderful accolades that were given to our country's veterans. My school did an absolutely beautiful job yesterday honoring the veterans of our country with the school orchestra starting with our national anthem, followed by a number of patriotic songs dating back to the revolution.

It was then followed by a power point presentation of every war the United States has been involved, including "peacetime" pictures of the Cuban Missile Crisis etc. There were also some video feeds thrown in to the mix from Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Iraq. It was quite emotional for me when they showed a number of pictures of me then and now. The students gave me a standing ovation, and needless to say, some serious crocodile tears found their way down my face.

I shall not get into the whole thing of how Vietnam vets were treated upon return to the "World" but it was real. Yesterday helped to solidify some bad feelings I had during that ugly time into pride and joy.

As our love of Bonaire continues to flourish on this board, so does my love for many of you, for being so kind and thoughtful. Semper Fidelis is not a phrase, it is a way of life. Thank you.

HooRah!

can someone pass the kleenex.... Mr. McPeak you deserve every accolade and then some, as do your Brothers and Sisters in Arms.

My wish is that we treat our Veterans this way everyday.

Jim, I want to tell you that in those days, there were many of us who could indeed tell the difference between the warrior and the war, but our voices got lost in the shouting match.

I in no way want to diminish the validity of the hurt you felt at your treatment after Vietnam, but I for one hated that my government was sending soldiers to that conflict and still worried myself sick over my friends who served; sent care packages, greeted planes, and welcomed returnees.

I come from a military family, so even though I'm a civilian, I have some idea of the code which makes a soldier answer no matter what the order. I just wanted, and still want, the orders to be worthy of the soldiers....

I always want to say this when this subject comes up, but I'm afraid I'll offend someone. i hope this reads as I intend it to...