11/11/11 - Veterans Day...

[John Dunkle]

Thanks to all those veterans who have served our country - are serving today - and will serve tomorrow... Especially those who are PGCA Members...

And today, may we remember all who have paid the ultimate price so that we are able to continue to enjoy our many freedoms.

God Bless all Veterans, and thank you...

John D.

[Dennis V. Nix]

Thanks so much, John. The same right back at you and to all of the members from this part of the membership. Semper Fi to all those to whom it applies and happy belated birthday from yesterday. 236 years and getting stronger each day.

[charlie cleveland]

i too thank allfellow vets espically the fallen.... charlie cleveland

[Dave Suponski]

My thoughts exactly....Thank you for all you have and continue to do for this great country......:usa:

[Austin W Hogan]

I remember marching in Armistice Day parades as a Boy Scout when all the leaders were WW I vets - how quickly they go.

With a Salute, Austin

[Bill Murphy]

Forty years after the end of WW1, we had "advisors" in Viet Nam. I was released from Army service in November of 1969. That is forty two years ago this month. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Thanks for the thought from the past, Austin.

[Daryl Corona]

My 91 year father fought the Japs at Guadacanal, guarded the ship transporting the atomic bomb headed for Hiroshima and grew up and went to school in the small New Jersey town of Raritan with the Medal of Honor winner John Basilone USMC. My dove hunting buddy who is 93 served aboard a mine sweeper clearing the beaches at Normandy and Sword the night before the invasion. They really were the greatest generation. Listening to their stories and what they endured is humbling. God bless them and all who served from Lexington to Kabul.

[Linn Matthews]

My father-in-law did WW2, Korea and Viet Nam. Retired as a CSM (E9), lived a year and died. He was a real soldier

[John Dunkle]

So many thoughts.. I just read this - and thought I'd share... You see, the other day, I was honored to meet a WWII Vet. He is 92 years young. Fought in the Pacific Theater - was shot and wounded and his words to me were "I was one of the lucky guys. Most of my friends are still there".

So - when I read this - I thought of him. For me - I just shook his hand - and said "Thank You, Sir". This is what I was feeling:

It is the VETERAN,
Not the preacher,
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN,
Not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN,
Not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN,
Not the campus organizer,
Who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN,
Not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN,
Not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN
who Salutes the Flag.

It is the VETERAN
Who serves
Under the Flag.

We can be very proud of our young men and women in the service no matter when or where they serve.

[calvin humburg]

You betcha John. Thanks to all a day late (fell asleep in chair last night)

[Austin W Hogan]

I have a little different outlook on this; no one owes me anything for being in the Army, but I owe the Army my thanks for prerparing me for the rest of my life. People who did not serve missed a lot.

Best, Austin

[Mark Ouellette]

Austin,

I agree! Former Georgia Senator and Governor Zell Miller wrote the book, CORE VALUES, subtitled "Everything You Need to Know about Life I Learned in the Marines".

The lessons for life that my parents could not get me to learn the Corps beat into me! I became a little harder in spirit due to uncompromising integrity. Of the Marine Corps 14 leadership traits; Bearing, Courage, Dependability, Decisiveness, Enthusiasm, Endurance, Integrity, Initiative, Judgment, Justice, Knowledge, Loyalty, Tact, and Unselfishness, the trait of INTEGRITY is most valued. In the Corps if a Marine comprised their integrity they had screwed them self forever. Anything else might get a little slack but not a breach of integrity.

Today I judge others as a judge myself.

To all the veterans and those still serving, thank you!

PS: The Corps also taught me “Attention to Detail” which commanded me to drop the above into MS Word to correct the dozen misspelled words before presenting to distinguished readers such as those in the PGCA.

Mark
USMC, Retired

[Bruce Day]

Thanks for serving. I was in through Vietnam and post Gulf I into Northern Iraq and Somalia. We saw the Army and USMC go through some tough times post Vietnam, the Marines were the first to cut back quantity for quality and attention to their core values. Thanks to the core of all services for holding steady. None of us know the future but we do know that there are those who would destroy us and our military stands between us and them.

[Mark Ouellette]

Bruce,

I enlisted in 1977 when the Vietnam-era "Joined the Corps instead of going to jail" personnal were still being thinned out.

I do not think the Corps cut back on it's values after Vietnam but it did suffer in losing funding! Lacking a war and the ability of the Gunny to beat the heck out of a troublemaker legal discipline was ineffective. Times would however soon change!

Later in my career I served under Major General Leslie Palm, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_M._Palm General Palm told of interesting times in Vietnam and of the post-war period. The Officer Corps of the time decided enough was enough and the trash had to go. Over the decade of the 1980 the Corps tightened up and we all stood more proudly. Those pieces of shxx were flushed down the tiolet by General Palm and the officers of his era.

The Marines of today are much like fables of the knights of old. Firm, good mannered men and women who will cut out your tough if you speak ill of the Corps and fellow Marines. Kind of gives you a comforting feeling, doesn't it?

[Pete Lester]

This sums it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyXYot6wHuE