A heartfelt thank you to all those who have served. (Page 1/1)
blackrams NOV 11, 07:12 AM
Have a wonderful Veteran's Day, I'll always be grateful for your service regardless of the branch you served in. This country has reached great heights because of the sacrifices you and your families have made. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Rams

------------------
Rams
Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. .
You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 11-11-2024).]

cliffw NOV 11, 08:04 AM
My heart felt thanks also. We should also think about the spouses and children of the vets.
blackrams NOV 11, 08:11 AM

quote
Originally posted by cliffw:

My heart felt thanks also. We should also think about the spouses and children of the vets.



Cliff, I always tell folks my wife deserves as much or more credit for "OUR" service when folks thank me for serving. While I was out doing the Army mission, she was at home holding down the fort, rearing our children and taking on every task I wasn't there to do. All the while she was supporting me, hoping I would come home whole and not crashing a helicopter, being a mission pilot and then as a test pilot. Yeah, she deserves more credit than I. I tell folks all of this even when she's standing beside me. She always blushes............. Yes, Veteran's spouses/families deserve a great deal of credit.
------------------
Rams
Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. .
You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 11-11-2024).]

cliffw NOV 11, 09:20 AM
Ron, spot on. However the children of veterans also... I can't say sacrifice, but the effects on their lives are great.
NewDustin NOV 11, 12:24 PM

quote
Originally posted by cliffw:
My heart felt thanks also. We should also think about the spouses and children of the vets....

Ron, spot on. However the children of veterans also... I can't say sacrifice, but the effects on their lives are great.


Thank you for saying that, and for the understanding of it.

I always have to fight the urge to apologize. I didn't have kids when I served, but I was with my wife and she certainly hadn't signed up with me. Yet I took something considerable from her when I deployed, and again when I returned and needed her support. Then I did it twice. I can't imagine the impact it would have had on children to be taxed the same way. "Thank you" seems the wrong thing to say, but "I'm sorry" doesn't cover it either.

I hope the veterans on this board get time with their families and/or loved ones today, and that they feel supported and understood. Thanks for contributing to that for me today Cliff.

[This message has been edited by NewDustin (edited 11-11-2024).]

maryjane NOV 11, 02:29 PM

Patrick NOV 11, 09:23 PM

My first job out of high school, was as an apprentice mechanic. This was in 1973. I had just turned 17 years of age, which is probably around the age that boys are often at odds with their own fathers. The head mechanic at the shop, John, was a WWII vet. I wasn't told a lot, but I learned that John had seen military action in Europe. He had a no-nonsense attitude, which probably served him well in that awful war.

I was warned by the other mechanics that he also had a volatile temper, but never was I ever on the receiving end of his temper. John was great to me, and due to my age, he was sort of like a second father.

I stayed at that shop for four years. I greatly admired and respected John, and I continued to occasionally visit him and the other mechanics at the shop. A year after I had quit (would've been 1978), I got a phone call from one of the other mechanics. At age 65, John had suddenly died of a heart attack. I was devastated. I still remember bawling my eyes out. I attended the funeral, and that was the last of my contact with anything to do with John. However, 46 years later...

After making This post yesterday, I was inspired to do a google search on John's full name. Lo and behold, a couple of hits emerged! To make a long story short, one of John's daughters, who must now be around 80 years of age, had recently posted a couple photos of her dad at a online military site.

At first I didn't think it was the same "John" that I had worked with fifty years ago, but I had to keep in mind that the photos she had uploaded of him were from the early 1940's, 30 years before I first met him. I discovered that he was in the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Canadian Hussars). That Wikipedia page is chuck full of information on the exploits of the 8 Recce.

So today, I find myself attempting to contact John's elderly daughter, as well as one of his grandsons, who is named after his grandfather! Seems so very appropriate, that after all these years, I've remade contact of sorts... on Remembrance Day.

This is John, photo taken in 1942. Thank-you for your service, sir. You will never be forgotten.
maryjane NOV 12, 09:11 AM




blackrams NOV 12, 09:31 AM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:







A wonderful tradition! Yeah, even though I served in both the Marines and the Army, I'm still a Marine in my heart and always will be. Semper FI my friend.

Rams
cliffw NOV 12, 03:16 PM
Would you like to hear from a WW II vets mouth ? Also went to Korea and became a POW. Still alive, in studio with my prefered local DJ. His show is three hours long (total playtime 170 minutes). Que in at the 54:00 mark.
It goes to 89:47, a little over 35 minutes.

I would have posted yesterday but it takes a day or so to podcast it.

[This message has been edited by cliffw (edited 11-12-2024).]