Veterans Day
 

Off to SoDak tomorrow with friends and my son so I won't have time for the remainder of the week.

A thankful Veterans Day to all who served, regulars, Guard or reserves, all branches and all times. Thanks for your service and patriotism. Its the great formative experience of a lifetime for many. In this time when we are beset by those who seek to do us harm, both in the US and outside, your service is valued. Those of us who served for many years are thankful for the few years some were able to give.

Bruce, If I may, I'll add that today is the 234th birthday of the USMC; a Corps that has served this Country well over those years.

Semper FI

Fred;

I thought you would have forgot about the Marines by now as you were discharged/seperated from the Marines eons ago

Roger Coger

No such thing as a "Former Marine"
 

[QUOTE=C Roger Giles;6964]Fred;

I thought you would have forgot about the Marines by now as you were discharged/seperated from the Marines eons ago

Roger Coger- We are all Marines for life- whether we are a Lance Corporal, a Lieutenant Colonel. or a Lieutenant General- as was the rank of our beloved Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, the only Marine to ever receive five Navy Crosses. "Chesty" Puller, whose only son USMC First Lieutenant Lewis B. Puller Jr. served with valor in Vietnam and was severly wounded in 1967, later died Stateside after long bouts in Bethesda Naval Hospital- the book "Fortunate Son" was his biography, and his death devastated his father beyond words. General Puller once said four words that sum up the essence of leadership in our Beloved Corps- "Officers Always Eat Last".

Colonel Bruce Day (USAF) said it well in his previous post, it all bears repeating here, in light of the recent tragedy at Fort Hood- let us all never forget the sacrifices our Veterans have made for the Freedoms we sometimes take for granted here-and for those who are serving in Harm's Way, may they all: Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, both active and reserve- "walk in God's long shadow until they arrive safely back home"!! Semper Fi!!

Once a Marine, always a Marine. Semper Fi and a salute to the Corps.

Happy b-day Marines Semper Fi

The day, Veteran's Day, is dedicated to present and former members of our Armed Services but we should keep them in our hearts and thoughts and prayers every day. They are the reason we are Americans. A heartfelt "Thank You" to all veterans.

Dad was a Gunny...ya'll got it right...a Mighty Fine Day.

My father enlisted in the Marines in 1941 at 16 yrs old and served until 1945. He told his mother that if she didn't sign for him to enlist he would run away from home. She signed. I used to sit in the loft of our old shoddy barn and go through his trunk of stuff that he brought home. His dress blues were in there, letters to home, which I read every one of, and lots of pictures. Sadly, not a piece of that collection has survived. He looked like a kid in those pictures... which he was. 6ft tall and 135#. Came out at 6'2" and 160# and served all over the South Pacific. I've never been able to truly envision what it must have been like for a 16 yr old to go through boot camp and go overseas and fight a war. No Ipods, no computers, no boom boxes. 16yr olds today would seemingly be horrified at the existence, I think... sometimes I think that anyway..... other times I like to think that, if it came right down to it, if called for, our current 16 yr olds would buck up, line up, train, and do just as well as those who fought at that age in past wars...like the Civil War and WWII. I really like to think they could and would do that. I really do. I just can't see it being any other way in this country.

I've dug up the picture I found of my father in his uniform, likely just out of basic. Also have included a picture of my brother in Vietnam. After serving his 13months he returned to the US a troubled individual. Viet Nam seemed to have a way of doing that to some perfectly good people. He was never the same care free brother that left us and tragically committed suicide in 1986. The family hurt is indescribably deep to this day.

Rich, I sure hope so, but I hope we never see that day.