Don't forget ...
 

To take a minute today and remember the ones who gave it all,and those who are still doing so ,so we can sit at the computer and "play guns"

And thank those who came home for their service to our free countries.

I donated pictures of my brother in his uniform yesterday to the museum that has been put together in the old grist mill bldg in my home town, Ortonville, MI. He served in army intelligence in Viet Nam in 1969-70. They have a wonderful military display on the top floor that is very well stocked and organized by each war. My siblings and I feel honored to have his pictures on display. I have visited two WWII vets while here, one who is 92, doesn't look a day over 70 and has more energy than I and who flew 17 missions over Italy in B-24's. I drove 3 hrs to his house and spent and entire day with him and can't imagine a better day. He couldn't imagine why I wanted to spend a day with an "old fart" like him but there was no place I'd have rather been.

I can remember walking across campus at Rutgers 2 days following my separation from active duty and return from Viet Nam. I had no civilian clothes at the time and had to wear my dress blues. I was applying for re-admission and the Rutgers campus at that time was the equivalent of Berkley, a hot bed of student protest against the war. For sure I thought I would be spit on as I walked across the green to the Admissions Office where I was scheduled to meet with the Dean. Arrived safe and sound and was welcomed with open arms by the Dean and his staff. They were all WWII vets! My God, how wonderful that was for me looking back on that day in my life. If it weren't for those WWII vets who understood, don't know what my life would have been like. The Dean told me that he would admit me automatically and I could start in January, just 2 months away. He even called the Financial Office to set me up on a GI Bill payment schedule. The Financial Office rep I met with was also a WW II Vet. Seems like most of the admin staff were. They were absolutely wonderful. I am eternally grateful to those of the Greatest Generation who knew then what we now know and have come to appreciate.

yes a happy VETRANS DAY to all who served especially those who gave all...i m going to my gradsons school for a little program this morning.thanks fellows....charlie

Just a poem.......

We Shall Keep The Faith

November 1918


Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.


We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

Yesterday, I googled a friend from high school, college, hunting and drinking to see if he had retired from his USFS career. I haven't seen him or heard from him for probably forty years or more. We were in the USA at the same time, he dropping out of U of MD in 1966 to go to Ranger School. I dropped out exactly a year later in 1967 and volunteered for the draft. I couldn't "enlist" without giving them three years and I thought two was enough for a trial run. They told me that I would be shipped to VN immediately if I didn't sign up for the third year. They told me that I could pick my MOS and posting if I signed up for the third year. I told them I would take the war over a third year. Back to the story of my buddy. Rooting through google, I found the 75th Infantry Association and found the LRRP (long range recon) website. I googled my friend's name and found an account of one of the patrols he was on, written by a third party. It was the scariest story I have ever read. His little patrol was resting beside a trail when a major group of VC regulars appeared on the trail, progressing at a slow gait because of the wounded they were transporting. They watched as the VC passed them at arm's length, only being concealed by semi darkness and by the VC's refusal to look to the side. My friend was passing gas and gurgling from the stomach and wondering whether the VC could or would hear him. He was recovering from an earlier injury and voted against a retreat because he didn't think he could keep the speed up carrying all of his gear. They finally got some radio contact and were picked up successfully. I always wondered how a LRRP team worked, since they obviously can't engage the enemy. My friend is made of harder nails than I am, but we were a good team when we were young, never lost a battle in the bar wars. He was ejected from OCS at Fort Benning for taking some physical action against an NCO instructor. He completed his three year USA career as an enlisted man. He came home, completed his degrees at VPI, now known as Virginia Tech, and had a good career, married a smokejumper, and remains a true Westerner after making his life in Wyoming. Just a story to celebrate Veterans Day. I hope you enjoyed it.

Eric, is that another verse of...

In Flanders Fields where poppies grow,
between the crosses, row on row,
that mark our place, and in the sky
the larks, still bravely singing, fly
in Flanders Fields...

Is it?

I saw this elsewhere and had to share. They look like dough boys to me in the tradition of Armistice Day.

To be honest I am not sure, but sure sounds like it should be part of that poem.