Thank you, Veterans.

That is all.

Indeed. Thanks to all U.S. soldiers, past and present.

Veteran's benefits?

My friend's son was a bit of a punk and joined the Marines. The Recruiter went to the local County Courthouse and cleaned up the lad's infractions with 1/2 the cost you and I would pay, plus no tracable record of the events.

Where I work if there'a layoff, a Veteran with one week service stays and a non-veteran with 40+ years time gets the gate.

OoRah!

May I also say that talking about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier makes me cry?

My mother explained it to me when I was eight years old. They take one soldier from each war that is so badly injured that he is unrecognizable. He is laid to rest in the tomb of the Unknowns. As a Mother, you can rationalize that your son lost in war is the one resting comfotably and not lying in a forgotten potato field overseas.

Dan

Grandpa served in Korea, cousins-in-law in the middle east. They are all badasses.

Thanks guys!

Mine is the first generation in my family not to serve (high school sports injuries prevent it, and unfortunately the scars are not hideable, though of that). To say I'm proud of my family is an understatement. Thanks guys!

Thanks you to every man and woman that served our country!

Mad Props, yo!

Freedom is not free!

Thanks to all that are serving and have served. You are some of the best this country has!!!

Spinout007 wrote: Mine is the first generation in my family not to serve (high school sports injuries prevent it, and unfortunately the scars are not hideable, though of that). To say I'm proud of my family is an understatement. Thanks guys!

same here...its hard to pass off a 10" scar all the way across your abdomen as a birthmark...trust me I tried. The Marines are thorough They will find out you only have one kidney one way or another.

Thanks again to all who sacrifice for us. We can never repay you or say thank you enough!

God bless my brothers and sisters that are still in active duty.

Kinda wierd not seing Ignorant posting in this thread.

It's hell being 4F when all your buds are 1A and going overseas somewhere...not all of them went to Vietnam. A couple went to Korea, and one to W Germany. And I had to stay home because my damn kidneys weren't working right.

I had a sister in the Air Force in the late 60's; my dad was in the Corps of Engineers in '43-46, and his dad went to France in 1917. My future BIL had 2 helicopters shot out from under him and had to change into civilian clothes on the plane because of the demonstrations at the airports. And I got sent home from the AFES station in Butte. Called out at first, as it were...

It took a long time to be able to admit that Uncle didn't want me, though I wanted to be part of some of his stuff. My friend Dennis and his family thought HE would be the one sent home when we went to Butte, but not so. His flat feet and funky eyes were all right as far as Uncle was concerned. Although his dream sheet didn't mean any more than the Man in the moon's would've. Same as most vets, I understand...

So now when Veteran's Day comes around, I say a prayer for those of my friends who served and still serve, that they may be strengthened in their hour of need.

When I was a kid in Billings, there was a neighbor who had been stationed on the Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He'd had liberty that Sunday, and wasn't aboard when she went down, but afterward he had to walk past the hulks of ships that had been tied up side by each along the wharf, and listen to the tapped messages of sailors and Marines trapped in the hulks. They wanted out, and couldn't be gotten out without killing them, so they slowly suffocated. The salvage attempts on those wrecks waited until there were no more tapped messages. A couple more days to make sure...and then the torches were lit and the hulks cut apart. It's at this point that Ed breaks down, even now 70 years on. He can't continue, for the memory is still too pungent. That tale is what made me want to give something back to my country. That and tales told by my dad of his experiences in the Philipines and New Caledonia and Borneo. Tales of a 19 year old clerk being given power over combat pay or not, and deciding that anyone who came to his desk for cashing out would get combat pay regardless of WHERE on New Caledonia he'd been stationed, because the Japanese sure hadn't cared which end of the island they were on, or whether the war was actually over. Everybody had been shot at, and so by dad's reasoning, they all deserved the combat pay. so everybody he cashed out, got it.

And thus, now, I hold our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in the highest regard. If I could, I'd thank each personally for his service and sacrifice. May God grant them peace in their souls for the things they've had to endure.

^ very well put. A big thank you to my brothers that are in or on thier way to the Sandbox.

Anyone who has served thanks, and I has aber in memory of both of my Grandfathers, one landed at Normandy with the 4th ID and the other landed in North Africa, God bless you all.