Veteran's Day--- Nov 11

[LennG]

Well, here it is again, another Veteran's Day and time for me to post my annual tribute to all Veterans.

As most know Veteran's Day was started to honor the end of WWI and the armistice that was signed on Nov 11, at 11 AM. (The 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th month).

Veterans Day originated as "Armistice Day" on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 making it an annual observance, and it became a national holiday in 1938. Sixteen years later, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name to Veterans Day to honor all those who served their country during war or peacetime. On this day, the nation honors military veterans -- living and dead -- with parades and other observances across the country and a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

As always, here are a few short videos that, to me, represent the true meaning of this day.

Please watch them and if, or when, you see a Veteran, thank them for their service (and not just on Veteran's Day)
I know these videos take some time to watch, but for all of us, is it too much to ask to spend a few extra minutes to watch and reflect?

https://youtu.be/AgYLr_LfhLo


https://youtu.be/2kX_3y3u5Uo


Veterans come from everywhere, from big cities to small towns and farms. Black, White whatever, we who served were and still are a special united brotherhood who all toiled under the same flag.


https://youtu.be/viHa7jzOUjM


And please listen to these words, spoken by then-President Ronald Reagan, maybe one of the best speeches I have ever heard honoring our Veterans.

https://youtu.be/PksSjMFA6N0

To all my brothers in arms, thank you for your service.

[Bob In PA]

https://youtu.be/AgYLr_LfhLo

Damn right.

[jimv]

I'm a Vet & I wish ALL Vets a wonderful day & thank them for their service!    

[MightyGiants]

[Alamo]

US MARINES...7/1960 to 7/1964..Joined right after high school.Thought it was my duty to uphold what my grandparents thought about the USA.A country to migrate to,and raise a family who are proud of the country they live in.Sure glad that my grandparents came to the USA from Italy as children,met and fell in love,and here I am 100 yrs later..
My best wishes to all Veteran's today & every day..

[kartanoman]

Fellow veterans, thank you very much for your service.

Please take a moment to reflect on the words of farewell by General Douglas MacArthur, given to the cadets at West Point in 1962, that truly embodies the words Duty, Honor, Country.

May the honor and glory be bestowed on our service members who made the greatest sacrifice of all, an act of no greater love, than to lay down their lives for our country and everyone of us. Lest we forget.

Peace!

[jimc]

We were proud to serve.

[Torus34]

2SEP53-2SEP57, USAF, SSgt.

My country repaid me in full, and then some, with the G.I. Bill of the time. It got me through undergrad and part way through grad school.

Thank you all.

Go, Big Blue!

[T200]

From one vet to all the others... THANK YOU AND MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU ALL!       

[Slugsy-Narrows]

Thank you all who have served for your service to this great nation!!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CVA14]

This what I wrote for Veterans Day 2019.

We went out to sea in our country's ships and did our duty.

Tomorrow, on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2019, I would like to recognize the officers and men that I served with in the United States Naval Reserve from 1965 to 1968—the height of the war in Vietnam. In particular, I would like to recognize my classmates and their peers who earned their commissions as Ensigns at the United States Naval Officer Candidates School, Newport, R.I. 

We were produced for the most part by the American public school system and matriculated to American colleges and universities. Much has been said maligning public education in the US, not that it cannot be improved, but public education enabled the United States to produce citizen soldiers that won WWI, that produced a victorious fighting force of 16 million men in WWII, and gave us the human resources to man a fleet of nearly six hundred ships serving around the world while fighting a war in Southeast Asia.

After four months of full-time study covering just about everything nautical and naval in a curriculum designed by Admiral Rickover—navigation, steam propulsion systems, naval justice, sonar, radar, electronic counter-measures, ASROC, torpedoes, gunnery, the rules of the road, screens, formations and tactics, damage control, underway replenishment systems, signaling and communications, etc.,—with orders in hand we proceeded to specialty schools aligned with those orders. NAVOCS produced about 4000 officers a year, roughly equivalent to what the Naval Academy produces in four years. Over half of the junior officer billets in the fleet were filled by OCS products. We manned the carriers, the cruisers and destroyers, the service ships, amphibs, and the muddy water SWIFT boats. Others served in explosive ordnance disposal, in the underwater demolition teams that were reforming as SEALS, and in diesel electric submarines. Many of these men came from the hinterland of our country and had never seen an ocean or tasted salt water. The navy had a general shortage of full lieutenants and first class petty officers. By our third year in the fleet many of us were performing well the duties in billets specified for full lieutenants with twice our experience. We took on these responsibilities eagerly and considered it an honor and a privilege to serve as officers in the United States Navy.

This country, when led by men and women with vision and virtue, can assemble extraordinary resources when challenged. I think of my classmates who stood watches on the seas around the world in the First, Second, Sixth and Seventh Fleets. I think of those colleagues on Yankee Station in the Combat Information Center of USS TICONDEROGA, Attack Carrier 14. One was a Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Washington. Another was accepted into the doctoral program at the Scripps Oceanographic Institute. Another was accepted at Yale Law School. Our civilian backgrounds from diversified and integrated universities gave many of us the background and experience to defuse tensions in the fleet and keep the ships on-mission when Martin Luther King was assassinated. 

NAVOCS Class 608 entered OCS in October 1965 and was commissioned in March 1966. John McCain's father, then Vice Admiral McCain, was our guest speaker. Later many of us would serve under him as CINCPAC. A small class reunion mustered in Newport last spring. Those who attended, about 25, from a class of 400 drawn from all 50 states, were not heroes, although we had a few genuine heroes. One I think of in particular, a Wesleyan graduate, was Assistant Damage Control Officer, and was the hero of the devastating FORRESTAL fire as he led the fire-fighting teams below decks. About 40% of our class, we reckon, are now deceased from natural causes. It's a shocking thought that so many failed to reach the average age of an American given that we were all once selected for being well-educated, well-adjusted, healthy young men. 

Like virtually all of this country's senior veterans, we appreciate the recognition of our fellow citizens for our service. But more than that, we have our campaign ribbons, our rich, extraordinary memories, and personal satisfaction and deep pride in a job well-done. Like the ancient warrior, Beowulf, who "girded his loins and lamented not his life," we kept faith, put down a partial payment against a debt to our forefathers, and went out to sea in our country's ships and did our duty.

[Painter]

I can never look at images like these and not see Vinnie Sheehan, Willy Rowland, Jack Robertson, John Bacany, Pedro Seaz, Jackie Holt, Teddy Brenner, and Lou (short for Lieutenant) Cirillo (long for Sir) https://www.defense.gov/Multimedia/Experience/Korean-War-Memorial   

[Philosophers]

My utmost thanks and respect to all here who served.

[LennG]

Hope all my fellow vets had a great day.


A good friend sent me this a little while ago and I thought I'd share it. We all know the song, and know the words, but just some added spice to have real soldiers, from all over the country join in.

https://youtu.be/gs0fxy8rHo8