| Author | Message | ||
| Dallas Farnworth (Dallas)
Registered Member Username: Dallas Post Number: 135 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 75.91.207.143  Rating: |
I want to take time to thank all the service men and women from each and every country around the world that is or has served to the credit of their beliefs. Yesterday morning, at 05:30 my youngest son took the soldiers oath and became a member of the United States Army. His MOS will be 88M. That's a truck driver. If you remember what recently happened on the Pakistani border, truck drivers are just another name for 'Target'. I am both very worried and very proud at this moment. For those of you who may want a refresher: "I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." Thanks for letting me share my worry and my pride. Dallas Farnworth. C co. 3/39 9th Inf Division. In the early 1970's. (Message edited by Dallas on November 11, 2010) | ||
| John & Barb Tesser (Bigrigger)
Registered Member Username: Bigrigger Post Number: 470 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 96.42.5.35  Rating: N/A |
Thank you Dallas and your son as well. He will be included in our prayers for all our young men serving this country "in harms way". There is nothing we can do that equals not only the lives that these young men and women willingly lay down, but the sacrifice of the mothers and fathers who have raised them to be what they are today. Godspeed to our troops wherever they serve. John and Barb | ||
| Bruce Henderson (Oonrahnjay)
Registered Member Username: Oonrahnjay Post Number: 619 Registered: 8-2004 Posted From: 70.60.102.61  Rating: N/A |
Everyone who serves (and served) made sacrifices and took a tremendous risk. All paid in some way, some paid in the biggest way. Never forget, and never fail to honor. | ||
| les marston (Les_marston)
Registered Member Username: Les_marston Post Number: 166 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 68.151.225.213 Rating: N/A |
something I would like to share with everyone on remembrance day. It is Canadian but I think applicable to every country who have sent soldiers into harms way. Have a listen Les http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/pittance_en_video.htm | ||
| tony denny (Papatony)
Registered Member Username: Papatony Post Number: 4 Registered: 10-2010 Posted From: 74.206.82.239 Rating: N/A |
As a parent of two kids carrier Army the son has been there three times the daughter one tour plus many fly-ins. She was accross the street when that large mess tent was hit by rockets. We put them in Gods hands He was there and in control.. Its not easy but the only way we delt with it. | ||
| R.C.Bishop (Chuckllb)
Registered Member Username: Chuckllb Post Number: 1426 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 70.218.198.123  Rating: N/A |
Thanx, for that, Dallas.....mid 50's, RCB | ||
| marvin pack (Gomer)
Registered Member Username: Gomer Post Number: 1069 Registered: 3-2007 Posted From: 71.55.1.12  Rating: N/A |
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HELP TO MAKE US A GREAT AND FREE NATION!!!! Gomer | ||
| Jack Fids (Jack_fids)
Registered Member Username: Jack_fids Post Number: 229 Registered: 1-2009 Posted From: 69.171.161.6  Rating: |
The Prom was everything we'd hoped it would be & the best part was that the music had been provided by guys in the class who had a band that was unbelievably good. They were class Heroes, respected for their characters & their abilities. Before they started playing that night they asked that everyone there please say a prayer for those guys who couldn't be there, the ones who had dropped out of H.S. to enlist & fight in a war to keep us free. Charlie was 17 when he went into the Marines, it was all he wanted to do and be, he skipped the Prom to enlist. He used to be the Grade school patrolman responsible for seeing that my brothers & I got home safely. He came home after boot camp for 2 days. 6 months later the telegram came & we could hear his Mother Lou screaming from half a block away. They sent what wasn't vaporized by the land mine, back to bury. 6 months later, Dutch, his father walked out into traffic, unable to cope with his grief. 8 kids grew up w/o their oldest brother or father, Lou was forced into welfare, her grief beyond consolation. Tom played Hockey & wanted to work in Medicine & at 17 was a classmate of Charlie. He had a sister Sue who was as fair as the girl on the Breck Shampoo bottle I dated her girlfriend. Tom looked every bit the surfer the perfect counterpart to his sister. Drafted into the Army he became a combat photog. He had been "in country" for less than 90 days when his gunship was shot down. He was the best guitar player in High School. The guitar he left under his bed is worth 4 times now, what his family received for his life, & his sister "emerged" from 15 years of weekly visits to the Psych. Neither of his parents ever remarried. Bill played the Bass in the band that Tom formed. He could never understand the attraction girls paid to someone who just plucked the same 4 strings on stage. He was the kind of guy you could have in every class & not realize it for months. He never had an enemy or a fight & was special to everyone who knew him, he was ALWAYS the happy guy, off in the corner smiling. Not a sports fan or participant his focus was music & learning it with Tom every spare minute. Bill became a common Rifleman in "Charlie Company" of the 1st Batt./20th Infantry Reg. of the "American Division"-US Army. He graduated with Tom & Charlie on June 9th, by Christmas he was in country, his 1st Christmas away from home. On Mar. 15th his company was on the march, told they were about to face the enemy in a town called Mi Lai, a few miles away, Bill was assigned the point. . . I'll let his buddies tell you the rest... "Tim O'Brien, Writer: The Quang Ngai area was called Pinkville because on the military maps it was shaded a bright kind of shimmering pink. The color pink took on associations for us that went way beyond anything you'll find on some color chart. It meant the prospect of death. Fred Widmer, Radio Operator: Weber was the first member that we lost. That had a real impact on the whole company, because we actually had somebody killed now. Thomas Turner, Team Leader: We were down by a river and walking on the rice paddies, and were we going down to this village that was kinda in the corner of the river and we started taking sniper fire. Lieutenant Calley wanted us to go across the river to where that sniper fire was coming from. Well, we hadn't hardly got started and there was a sniper round and it got Bill Weber. He pretty well died on the scene but not without a lot of anguish. Joe Grimes, Squad Leader: He was a good guy to everybody, you know, and when he got killed, it's just like part of your family; they destroyed part of your family. But that, I considered Charlie Company part of my family. Greg Olsen, Machine Gunner: It wasn't long after that we started taking more casualties." ( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/transcript/mylai-transcript/ ) . . . One reason the men who arrived in Mi Lai weren't thinking straight was that they had all just lost the one guy who everyone called a friend...except the Lt. I didn't know his family, he was an only child. When Veterans Day arrives, sorry if I ignore your greeting or appreciation....I'm preoccupied & only in public if I HAVE to be. Preoccupied with the memories of kids, their sisters & brothers & parents & the innocent driver of a car & a company of boys out of their minds with grief & a teacher who cried & one who didn't & burials & Taps & a Guitar, still under a bed,& a night it sang in the hands of a fair hair boy in front of a chubby smilin' face, & the face of their Drummer, who went to San Fransisco, joined the anti-war movement, resisted the draft, was arrested & spent time in a Federal Pen...& the other Tom who left his family in the night & arrived in Canada. where he still lives.....and a WHOLE Village of people, men , women children & babies & even the dogs. AND a company a boys who listened to Bill scream for almost an hour just 100 yards away who obeyed orders to stay low & in position by a Lt. who panicked. So preoccupied was I today..... I had to fill out some forms for the VA, so of course when I went to deliver them they were closed. It was only earlier this year we were told that " The USS Mattox really didn't receive any gunfire from any boat, it was a rookie Radar Operators mistake after all ! .... (like we hadn't read "The Pentagon Papers" 20 years ago) OOp's, the war was a mistake! ...they weren't going to come up the Mississippi in their San Pans after all! Maybe Ho Chi Minh adopting the U.S. Constitution verbatim on the day after Japan surrendered was a good thing after all...sorry! Maybe "evacuating" over 1 million Catholics at the Popes request, from the Tonkin Gulf & literally dumping them a thousand miles South w/o any food/water/ clothing/shelter on land belonging to other people, ( like it had for over 500 previous years) and causing those refugees to fend for themselves by stealing whatever they needed to keep them alive, maybe that wasn't needed either. The CIA called these people Viet Cong (Bandits) & said they had come from North Viet Nam, therefore they HAD to be Communists infiltrators. and maybe ask yourself this question... Why is it that Presidents who have never been in combat, find it so easy to send our children to fight the wars that HE involves us in, with countries who pose no imminent threat, that last longer than World War II did...? Tom, Charlie & Bill died so that Bell Helicopter & Grumman & Bechtel & Standard Oil could make BIGGER profits & Lyndon could get more votes.... the only winners in Viet Nam were Corporations & Ho Chi Minh ....and I guess I'm still damned mad. Today I'm reminded that I owe Charlie, Tom & Bill a debt....a big one. The only way I can repay them is with the biggest gift that I as an American gan give them now, the gift they died for ....the TRUTH. Usually I am a pretty easy goin guy who looks for the mirth in everything..... Mr. Funny Bone. Ha HA! I see "Support OUR Troops" stickers on SUV's and I want to Puke or drag'em our of their comfort & DEMAND HOW they "Support"..... besides taxes & a bumper sticker? That's how funny I am today. Today just ain't a day when I have much time for shallow jingoisms & casually delivered "appreciations". (not aimed at anyone who's expressed a sentiment above) We ALL ought to be standing at the grave sites of those boys who died in service....for the whole damnned day, giving thanks to their ffamilies, just like we do for the service member on Memorial day. But that's just one fool's opinion, one fool who served, survived & allows the suffering to surface one day a year or 2. If you feel like you should say something to me about any of the above...please don't and keep it to yourself.... I don't want or need to read it, it won't change anything or help in any way.....just swallow it. Treat me and this like you will treat the relatives who deserve your kindness...do nothing. Nothing but... remember those boys one day a year.... One hour Later: One thing bothered me after I made this post... I want you readers, my friends one and all, to clearly understand that I meant not ill will towards anyone or their heartfelt & honest expression of gratitude of and for those who didn't come home & those who did. ...and anyone with a conscience who did serve knows in their heart just who actually deserves ALL of the thanks, we know the shame of survival. (Message edited by Jack Fids on November 12, 2010) | ||
| Steven M. Toomey (Pabusnut)
Registered Member Username: Pabusnut Post Number: 16 Registered: 3-2005 Posted From: 174.55.65.46 Rating: N/A |
I too would like to thank all those who served, especially those who sacrificed all. Some didn't have a choice whether they would serve or not. Families are forced to accept their loved one's service. I too have voluntarily served my country overseas recently , and my son is currently serving. I do it because this is still the greatest country on the planet. I defend the freedeom that exists for people to protest my actions. I don't always agree with our leaders, but I vote regularly, and communicate frequently with my elected representatives. I am free to express my conscience, even though I am bound by an oath "that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States (and as a National Guardsman, the governor of my state)and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.," I especially believe in the last phrase. I am truly thankful every day to all the Veterans who have served, to the families that supported them, to the neighbors and friends who helped military families in their time of need, to people who sacrificed to support our war efforts. It may seem like a cliche', but "Freedom isn't Free, it comes with a very high price." Steve Toomey | ||
| Teresa (Happycamperbrat)
Registered Member Username: Happycamperbrat Post Number: 61 Registered: 5-2009 Posted From: 173.25.102.158 Rating: |
This is late in posting, I am truely sorry. I live in a military town and was busy here on Vetern's Day. I just want to thank you gentlemen for your service to help me and my family and my country; I also want to thank you for sharing your heart. | ||
| Roderick W. Chandler (Rod)
Registered Member Username: Rod Post Number: 61 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 173.184.52.227  Rating: N/A |
Jack I can't believe you would make a political rant out of Veterans day. A day to remember those we lost, You must be running for office somewhere. | ||
| Len Silva (Lsilva)
Registered Member Username: Lsilva Post Number: 422 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 72.187.35.208  Rating: |
I certainly do not want to turn this solemn thread into a fireball, but I saw no political rant in Jacks posting. I saw only profound grief and survivor's guilt. There is hardly a man alive today who does not agree that Vietnam was a huge mistake and that Charlie, Tom and Bill and 58,000 of their friends died for nothing. I am a Vietnam Era Veteran who lost several friend there, but I had the extreme good fortune to have spent my entire hitch in a clean stateside bunk. I understand about survivor's guilt. Bell Helicopter & Grumman & Bechtel & Standard Oil got theirs and now it's Halliburton's turn. Here we are, almost ten years, two wars, untold thousands dead on all sides, just to kill or capture one man who is laughing at us every day. And then I hear people wishing each other "Happy Veteran's Day". There is nothing happy about Veteran's Day. | ||
| Jack Fids (Jack_fids)
Registered Member Username: Jack_fids Post Number: 240 Registered: 1-2009 Posted From: 69.171.161.17 Rating: |
RWC, then don't believe it! There is a difference between politics & ranting and speaking truth in public fearlessly. Charlie , Tom & Web gave their lives for one of the above ideals while their President performed the other function. I am always happy to provide the answer to those seeking an honest one. Other than that you seem to have confused Memorial Day with Veterans Day, one is for the dead & the other embarrasses those who served, knowing full well in their conscience that it is those who died who REALLY deserve the attention. We served, got paid & survived, contract completed, went home....(misdirected wrath of idiots on the way aside) done deal. | ||
| Dallas Farnworth (Dallas)
Registered Member Username: Dallas Post Number: 142 Registered: 7-2004 Posted From: 75.91.207.168 Rating: |
Thanks Jack, and Thank you too Rod. Jack and I have spoken and I have to agree with his assessment, and I do believe that this wasn't a political rant at all. "Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. |
