Have a great Veteran's Day!

[darthrider]

From those of us whose return home was not quite so well received,

That was a damned national disgrace no matter what your politics.

It's a little late, but...

THANKS HARRY & WELCOME HOME!!!

[The Kurch Man]

There is only one problem with Veteran's Day - too many people only recognize the men and women of our Armed forces one day per year. Sure - many of us recognize the contributions every chance we get, but far to many don't. God Bless them all - past, present, and future.

[wncbmw]

Harry - here is another belated welcome home! I was going to mention that it is great to see the difference in the way vets are treated now by everyone, even the anti-war folks, instead of the horrible way they were treated in the 60s and 70s.

[DK]

Harry,

Just wanted to add my thanks along with the others. Thank you very much for your service to our great nation. Always be proud of your service to our country.

Dwayne
USAF vet

[Acacia]

Having been raised in another country - one at which 11/11 at 11am one stopped to remember, I asked a good 10 people what the day was and how they remembered it. Not one had, and when reminded, just had an, OH! What a disgrace!

I happened to be in a section of the plant at 11am. I stopped, asked the leaders and workers what the significance of the time at 11am was. There were at least 4 nationalities around me. We stood for a minute of silence.

Sadly, we fail to teach our communities history, the deep cost of sacrifice others make for us, and its terrible mistakes.

[darthrider]

A friend just sent me this.
Nice job Canada!



Canadian, but absolutely superb!
Follow the link at the bottom. (6-meg streaming video, WORTH THE WAIT!)

The Chronicle Herald:
"Those who didn't find their eyes wet with tears - or at least misty - at
the end of "Two Minutes of Silence: A Pittance of Time" at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on Tuesday night are likely made of stone."


http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/eng ... nglish.htm

[mnnden]

It's certainly reassuring to hear similar sentiments from all points on the political spectrum.

From those of us whose return home was not quite so well received,

Thank You

Harry Parker
U.S. Navy 1964 - 1968

I hear ya Harry!! It has been a hard pill to swallow, I would just like to say, as the proud father of a Ret. Marine, a son, soon to be retired, member of the Coast Guard, and a son who served 6 years in the Air Force, Two brothers and myself who are Vietnam vets, I am very proud of Women and men who serve, or have served this great country, and will never allow happen to them, what happen to us. I salute you, as I do all, who have, or are, serving this country. Den U.S. Army 1965-1967

[1MPH]

A friend just sent me this.
Nice job Canada.

http://www.terry-kelly.com/pittance/eng ... nglish.htm

Very well done. Thanks Dave.

Good luck and a heart felt thanks to all our VETS.

Jack

[CycleRob]

Yes, thanks. Let me put some meaning in that thanks for those that did not serve.

The time in the Service was something you can not experience any other way. Plugging in my experience, you get months of training so they can put you in seriously responsible jobs where you work on and fly in multi-million dollar aircraft (P3 Orion) that must never fail (especially when I flew in it). You'll live in the small roomed military barracks and eat the OK Military food in places like Iceland, Puerto Rico, Virgina and Maine all in the span of 4 years. You'll write more letters than you can imagine because the phone was so expensive on your salary (back then). I've seen the Northern Lights when I was 80 miles from the Artic Circle, horizontal snowstorms that put 5 inches of snow on the side of the building and none on the ground, a standing row of about 25 Russian Seamen all giving us the finger as we flew a tight circled, deeply banked full turn around their surfaced Submarine in International Waters. I've listened to 9 cylinder radial helicopter aircraft engines start up and idle a few minutes all hours of the day and nite while sounding like a fuel dragster- - I sometimes liked that a lot, sometimes NOT.

The one bad thing about the Military was the 4 year time period of your youth it takes away forever. You loose all your group of "friends" and by the time you get back you're a well adjusted, responsible adult that employers (thankfully) wanted more than anybody else did during the V-Nam war. Then you go back to college with G.I.Bill assistance so you can eventually work and save while looking for Miss Right.

I personally learned the immense value of women in general, good food, the freedom to go and do whatever/whenever you want. I learned the true meaning of responsibility, pride, danger, grief, loneliness, education, patriotism, love, trust, respect and family. That is why I am so intolerant of people that degrade most of those words.

The Military isn't about killing things like the Liberalized sterotype of "soldiers". It's about doing something really really important while getting training and life experiences that you can not get any other way . . . all while possibly getting yourself killed. It was a huge part in forming the adult male I am today. Huge. Anytime I see an American flag smoothly flying, especially a really big one, it's always something special that needs a couple extra seconds of my quiet admiration, no matter what I'm doing. Go figure.