View Full Version : 11-11-2010
Q: (See attached pic.)
A: Never...as long as there are those who seek to maliciously harm others and there are those who are willing and able to stand for the principles upon which our nation strives to represent.
Remember what this day is about...
Richard :munchin
longrange1947
11-11-2010, 09:38
Richard - You are correct, as long as human nature is such, that there will be strong who will pray on the weak, then you will have the sheep dogs that protect those weak.
Due to this simple fact, conflict of this nature is inevitable.
The Reaper
11-11-2010, 10:00
Armistice Day. Eleventh Hour, of the Eleventh Day, of the Eleventh Month. End of the Great War to End all Wars. Changed to Veterans' Day after the Second World War and Korea.
Let us never forget that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and sacrifice.
Thanks, brothers, and special thanks to those who fell.
TR
LibraryLady
11-11-2010, 10:22
Thank you to all those who serve their fellow man on the pointy end of the spear. Your sacrifice is humbling.
LL
Happy Veterans Day to my heroes, one and all.
Gentlemen,
Happy Veteran's Day, and stay safe out there. To my cousin, who just touched down on his first deployment, we're proud. Keep 'em safe, Doc.
Thanks, guys. Enjoy your day.
TrapLine
11-11-2010, 11:19
Thank you to all who have volunteered or answered the call to protect freedom. To all the warriors currently taking the fight to the enemy, God speed. My prayers and thoughts are with you.
Thank you to all the men and women of the armed forces for your honorable service.
Thank you to all who served. A special thank you to all who Enlisted or were Commissioned after September 11, 2001...you knew damn well you were going to a fight.
Thank you, gentlemen for your service. It is both a privilege and an honor that you allow me to be a part of this forum. Have a good Veteran’s Day. To those that have died thank you, surely life would not be the same if it wasn’t for your sacrifice.
“Sacrifice still exists everywhere, and everywhere the elect of each generation suffers for the salvation of the rest.”
Henri Frederic
Red Flag 1
11-11-2010, 11:59
Well said Richard!!
Happy Veterans Day all!
RF 1
PedOncoDoc
11-11-2010, 12:03
My deepest gratitude to all who serve -- or have served -- in the defense of this great nation and for the rights of all people to live freely.
Dozer523
11-11-2010, 12:35
I know this is in here somewhere but I can't find it. i read this every year, and have posted it for my civilian friends elsewhere. For those of you who never had the opportunity to experience the wisdom (and wit) of COL Moroney, contemplate, learn and enjoy.
One veteran's perspective
November 11, 2007
By JACK MORONEY
Veteran's Day means a lot to some, a little to others, nothing to many, and is often confused with Memorial Day by most.
While it is a day to honor those men and women who served in this nation's military, it is how the veteran perceives this day that might surprise those who, for one reason or another, never wore their country's uniform.
There are two distinct groups of veterans: those who served a tour in the military and then left to pursue civilian life, and those who chose the military as a profession and remained until retirement.
While service to one's country can often be a life-altering event for either group, I have found that it is the military retiree whose metamorphosis is most complete.
Those who serve and elect to return to civilian life are still basically who they were before they entered military service. There are exceptions of course, but those who return to civilian pursuits are once again the teacher, the mechanic, the professional business person and easily integrated back into society as a member of a civilian community.
The person that retires from active duty has no such identity, very rarely has ties to any civilian community and has learned a hard lesson that you make but very few close friends in the military. He is best defined not by who he was as a civilian but what he did in the military. It is the common thread that binds us all into that band of brothers that have stood for and with each other through indescribable experiences that defy understanding by those who were not witness to those events.
The more elite and demanding the units in which the retiree served, the greater the loss of his connection to civilian identity because there is just no parallel personal or professional civilian category into which he easily fits.
Things change over time, but over decades nothing is recognizable to most returning veterans. Many retirees' chosen path is not akin to a job but rather an all-consuming profession requiring total commitment to each other, their unit and the mission incurring significant, and sometimes unimaginable, physiological, psychological and personal costs.
Despite the portrayals in movies, there are no motivational sound tracks in the background and no glorious visions of striving for the greater good of God and country, just plain gut-wrenching emotions, pain, effort and selflessness to help each other get through to the next event.
I find it amusing that many folks who wish to honor veteran's or "support the troops" do so in blissful ignorance thinking that those of us that chose to serve stood on freedom's frontier at the behest of some ignominious military leader when the truth is that the military is the last card played by the politicians when all other elements of national power have failed. Civilians do not seem to understand that they have been stakeholders all along in the events experienced by veterans because of the very politicians that they have voted in or out of office. I have always thought that the best way to honor a veteran would be to have the entire Congress mustered on the veranda of Lee's Mansion within Arlington National Cemetery. Standing there they can see Washington, D.C., but in the process they have to over look the headstones of thousands of veterans lying in mute testimony to the folly of bad political decisions, political bickering and personal agendas.
It is not the veteran who needs Veteran's Day. For many of us the pride, the shadows, the pain and the tattered memories are with us every day. Veteran's Day is really for everyone other than the veteran so they never forget that we are still walking among them trying to be part of their lives although we have all willingly spent a good portion of ours by taking up the torch for those who could not or would not serve.
Jack Moroney is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel who served in Vietnam. He was an Army service member from 1965 through 1993.
To add to COL Moroney's thoughts, the best definition of a veteran I've encountered:
"A Veteran is someone - active duty, discharged, retired or reserve - who wrote a blank check to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life."
Richard
spherojon
11-11-2010, 12:45
Happy Veterans day! I do not think that I can thank the veteran men and women of our armed services enough for all your sacrifices and selfless service.
Wow.. Hard to follow that one, Richard. All I can say is Thank You to our dear Vets. Past, Present or Future. You are not forgotten. Nor are you remembered only on this day.
And seeing some of the children in town today wearing their red poppies makes me want to re-read Flanders Field...
Thank You to all Vets past and present for your service to our beautiful free county.
Today I said a prayer and shed a tear, then smiled and drank a beer.
Happy Veterans Day.
Happy Veteran's Day from Iraq. Thank you to all those who served and a special thank you to all those who gave all.
Dozer, that was an excellent read. The view from the steps of Lee's mansion across ANC, to the National Mall and beyond is a deeply thought provoking scene. Thank you to the thousands of men and women who have sacrificed everything so that we can enjoy the sweet taste of freedom.
Richard - You are correct, as long as human nature is such, that there will be strong who will pray on the weak, then you will have the sheep dogs that protect those weak.
Due to this simple fact, conflict of this nature is inevitable.
Humble thanks to ALL Military who serve Our great Nation.
We know that Freedom is not free. :(
Holly
To those who stand today in harm's way to protect this great Nation and to those who have served with honor and courage in past, thank you. You are my heroes.
Susan
dr. mabuse
11-11-2010, 17:32
To add to COL Moroney's thoughts, the best definition of a veteran I've encountered:
"A Veteran is someone - active duty, discharged, retired or reserve - who wrote a blank check to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life."
Richard
Agreed. That one put a lump in my throat.
greenberetTFS
11-11-2010, 17:44
Excellent posts by all,but especially Dozer's and Richard's,they hit at the HEART.....:(:(:(
Big Teddy
My gratitude goes out to all those men and the women serving and who have served to preserve the high cost of freedom for all of us Americans. And to those who paid the price with their own lives, a special thanks is reserved for them.
Love re-reading the column by the Colonel.
To our Veterans everywhere, we owe you a great debt...especially those of you who gave all. Thank you and God Bless.
Happy Veteran's Day, Dad. I miss you.
My humblest thanks to all Vets, living and dead, and special thanks to those who support and love them. You have all sacrificed much of what many of us take for granted. You have my respect and highest regard.
We will always remember, we will always be proud, we will always be prepared, so we may be always free.
Ronald Reagan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgDZdFQY3iM&feature=related
BoyScout
11-11-2010, 19:28
I can never give enough thanks to those who were willing and able to put themselves in harms way for my freedoms and this nation but I will try. Thank you all.
Nightfall
11-11-2010, 19:33
I wish I had an eloquent way or fancy quote to express my gratitude. I don't - so in short, thanks for everything. You guys are my heroes. Happy Veterans Day.
regularamymedic
11-11-2010, 20:07
Just wanted to thank everyone who ever put on a uniform and served this great country of ours!
For our fallen Brothers, and Sisters who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Liberty and Freedom, there is a special place in heaven for those Warriors....and I look forward to seeing them again when it is my time...
Godspeed,
RAM
Thank you to all that have, are and will service this Great Country we live in.
Dozer thanks.. email out
John_Chrichton
11-11-2010, 21:10
On this Veteran's Day, I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to all of you who have served and are serving now.