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Kurt
Mohicanite
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]: September 27 2003
Status: offline
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Posted - November 11 2004 : 07:40:45 AM
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Thank a veteran today!
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Yr. obt. svt. Kurt |
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SgtMunro
Soldier of the King
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]: September 23 2002
Status: offline
Donating Member |
Posted - November 11 2004 : 2:32:51 PM
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I know that I posted this last year for Veteran's Day, but I feel that the following never looses its meaning. So to all my brother veterans, I will again post Father O'Brian's words:
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 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 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".
It's the soldier, not the reporter, Who gave us our freedom of the press. It's the soldier, not the poet, Who gave us our freedom of speech. It's the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who gave us our the freedom to demonstrate. It's the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves others with respect for the flag, And whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the protestor to burn the flag."
Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC
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Serjeant-Major Duncan Munro Capt. Thos. Graham's Coy. 42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foote (The Black Sheep of the Black Watch)
"Nemo Me Impune Lacessit" -Or- "Recruit locally, fight globally." |
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42ndNCO
Pioneer
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]: September 23 2002
Status: offline
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Posted - November 11 2004 : 3:35:56 PM
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THANK YOU VETERANS!
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Humbly &c., Ensign mcmillan 1/42nd Royal Highlanders (The Black Sheep of the Black Watch) "Nemo Me Impune Lacessit" |
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42ndOfficer
Pioneer
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]: August 29 2004
Status: offline
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Posted - November 12 2004 : 01:35:05 AM
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quote: Originally posted by 42ndNCO
THANK YOU VETERANS!
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lonewolf
Colonial Settler
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]: February 12 2004
Status: offline
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Posted - November 16 2004 : 10:54:08 PM
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I honor all vets, and my veteran family members, Indian and white who served in every war this country has been involved in. We fought each other in the French and Indian War, Pontiac's War, the American Revolution, the bloody 1790's, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. We have stood shoulder to shoulder in every war since. Many paid the ultimate price. They all fought for what they believed in. Freedom is not free. Some of my ancestors served with Washington at the Battle of Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, and many other places. I served in the Air Force in the U.S., England, France, Germany, and Lybia. Some of my friends never came back from Vietnam. Yes, thank a veteran. You may disagree with our politicians in Washington, D.C., but ALWAYS support our veterans. We Indians honor all veterans at all of our gatherings. Veterans are warriors and deserve the ultimate respect. I just returned home from a pow-wow that we held in Jacksonville, N.C. to honor the Marines at Camp Lajuene, at that location. I couldn't help thinking, as they came into the dance circle with us to be honored, that some may not return from Iraq and Afghanistan, alive. It is a sobering thought. |
Ken Lonewolf |
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SgtMunro
Soldier of the King
USA
Bumppo's Patron since [at least]: September 23 2002
Status: offline
Donating Member |
Posted - November 16 2004 : 11:31:16 PM
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quote: Lonewolf noted: We Indians honor all veterans at all of our gatherings. Veterans are warriors and deserve the ultimate respect.
I couldn't agree with you more, Brother Lonewolf. I remember when I came home from the First Gulf War, and people had already forgotten about it. (As a G.I., I was then relegated back to 'Second-Class' citizen status) I always envied the honor that Native American Nations have always shown for their warriors. African, Asian and other non-white cultures, also honor those members of their society who risk their lives to protect the greater good.
There was a time when Anglo-Saxon Culture also showed respect to those who 'stood the wall', but tragically that time has long passed. Now, as veterans, all we truly have is each other, and if that is the way it will be... so be it.
Your Most Humble Servant,
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Serjeant-Major Duncan Munro Capt. Thos. Graham's Coy. 42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foote (The Black Sheep of the Black Watch)
"Nemo Me Impune Lacessit" -Or- "Recruit locally, fight globally." |
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