FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Real Hollywood Heroes Part 2 ~ April 21, 2014

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | StarCMC

[ConorMacNessa]

A good Easter, thanks! We sojourned up to Bergen County, NJ yesterday for the 50th birthday of Mrs. MacNessa's cousin. An arduous trek - the two of us in the van - several stops - unloading two walkers, etc.

The NJ turnpike was difficult northbound - the extra lanes are being extended down from Exit 9 down to the PA turnpike. Very heavy traffic on the way up. We took the wrong exit off the turnpike and spent a solid hour wending our way through little New Jersey townships before finally arriving. A five-hour drive on the way up.

A good party - we abstained from alcohol since we had to drive home. Mrs. Mac Nessa and I had a chance to catch up with cousins we have not seen for many years - and their children.

I took a wrong turn out of the neighborhood and led us on an extended tour through Northern New Jersey. I was reduced to asking for directions to the Garden State Parkway. A compassionate lady directed me in the correct direction and we were off.

I expected to take the Garden State down to where it links with the NJ turnpike at exit 11. I was directed, however, to exit the GS at I-280 which led me into Newark. There I was confounded by inaccurate road signs and dithered through the bowels of Newark for a while. We finally made our way to the turnpike - two hours after we departed the party. We arrived home at 0100.

We finally made it to Mass today at 12:30 - a bilingual Mass with music that was not to my taste. I offered it up. Later in the afternoon, I ventured out and found a nice quartet of Rib-Eyes, which John-Man grilled to perfection.

Despite many distractions, we remain focused on this day and all that it means.

He is Risen, and His Rising is our Salvation!

America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi!

O stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that we lie here, obedient to their command.

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[SandRat]

Hi. Jathy...((HUGD))

[ConorMacNessa]

Welcome To All Who Enter This Canteen, To Our Serving Military, To Our Veterans, To All Military Families, To Our FRiends and To Our Allies!



Missing Man Setting

"The Empty Chair"

By Captain Carroll "Lex" Lefon, USN (RET), on December 21st, 2004

"In the wardroom onboard the aircraft carrier from which I recently debarked was a small, round table, with single chair. No one ever sat there, and the reasons, both for the table being there, and for the fact that the chair was always empty, will tell the reader a little bit about who we are as a culture. The wardroom, of course, is where the officers will dine; morning, noon and evening. It is not only a place to eat – it is also a kind of oasis from the sometimes dreary, often difficult exigencies of the service. A place of social discourse, of momentary relief from the burdens of the day. The only things explicitly forbidden by inviolable tradition in the wardroom are the wearing of a cover or sword by an officer not actually on watch, or conversation which touches upon politics or religion. But aboard ships which observe the custom, another implicit taboo concerns the empty chair: No matter how crowded the room, no matter who is waiting to be seated, that chair is never moved, never taken.

The table is by the main entrance to the wardroom. You will see it when you enter, and you will see it when you leave. It draws your eyes because it is meant to. And because it draws your eyes it draws your thoughts. And though it will be there every day for as long as you are at sea, you will look at it every time and your eyes will momentarily grow distant as you think for a moment. As you quietly give thanks.

AS YOU REMEMBER.

The small, round table is covered with a gold linen tablecloth. A single place setting rests there, of fine bone china. A wineglass stands upon the table, inverted, empty. On the dinner plate is a pinch of salt. On the bread plate is a slice of lemon. Besides the plate lies a bible. There is a small vase with a single red rose upon the table. Around the vase is wound a yellow ribbon. There is the empty chair.

We will remember because over the course of our careers, we will have had the opportunity to enjoy many a formal evening of dinner and dancing in the fine company of those with whom we have the honor to serve, and their lovely ladies. And as the night wears on, our faces will in time become flushed with pleasure of each other’s company, with the exertions on the dance floor, with the effects of our libations. But while the feast is still at its best, order will be called to the room – we will be asked to raise our glasses to the empty table, and we will be asked to remember:

The table is round to show our everlasting concern for those who are missing. The single setting reminds us that every one of them went to their fates alone, that every life was unique.

The tablecloth is gold symbolizing the purity of their motives when they answered the call to duty.

The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones who kept the faith.

The yellow ribbon around the vase symbolizes our continued determination to remember them.

The slice of lemon reminds us of the bitterness of their fate.
The salt symbolizes the tears shed by those who loved them.
The bible represents the faith that sustained them.
The glass is inverted — they cannot share in the toast.
The chair is empty — they are not here. They are missing.

And we will remember, and we will raise our glasses to those who went before us, and who gave all that they had for us. And a part of the flush in our faces will pale as we remember that nothing worth having ever came without a cost. We will remember that many of our brothers and sisters have paid that cost in blood. We will remember that the reckoning is not over.

We many of us will settle with our families into our holiday season, our Christmas season for those who celebrate it, content in our fortune and prosperity. We will meet old friends with smiles and laughter. We will meet our members of our family with hugs. We will eat well, and exchange gifts and raise our glasses to the year passed in gratitude, and to the year to come with hope. We will sleep the sleep of the protected, secure in our homes, secure in our homeland.

But for many families, there will be an empty chair at the table this year. A place that is not filled.

WE SHOULD REMEMBER."

Many Thanks To Alfa6 For Finding Capt. Lefon's Chronicle Of "The Empty Chair."

"Träumerei"
Robert Schumann
(Click)

Never Forget The Brave Men And Women Who Gave
Their Lives To Secure Our Freedom!!

"Riamh nár dhruid ó sbairn lann!"

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[Kathy in Alaska]

You are right, greene66! It seems there are at least 3 Robert Brubakers. I finally found the right one.

From Perry Mason, and...

from Gunsmoke. He was Floyd AND Jim Buck, stagecoach driver!I HAVE to find an old Gunsmoke to watch for him!

"Bob's hair is curly and that's all there is to it; they were never able to straighten it."....."Bob eventually returned to Hollywood in the early part of 1942, and subsequently volunteered for the US Army Air Force, was selected, went into the cadet program and became a pilot. He was an instructor and then became an aircraft commander in B-24's. His group was selected to go overseas two different times - They got as far as San Francisco and, both times, they canceled their orders and they ended the war at Gowen Field up in Boise, Idaho.

Bob was discharged from the service on December 15, 1945, and returned to Hollywood, and had to start all over again. When you're gone for any period of time, memory is very short in this town or in New York. He did some more radio work and performed on some of the major radio shows of that period. Then, Bob decided to return to New York, where he was a Hollywood actor in New York, and, at that time, they didn't have much use for Hollywood actors in New York, so he went to work in the men's section for Lord and Taylor Department Store to survive.

Then, Bob was recalled into the service. Anybody who was a pilot at the end of World War II and in physically good health was not discharged, just given separation papers from active duty but kept on active reserve. Bob was recalled to fly the Berlin Airlift in 1949 on what they called a contract and was supposed to be in the service for eighteen months. He was to serve six months on the airlift, and then spend a year in the training command as an instructor. Bob did his six months on the airlift, flying one hundred and thirty missions into Berlin.

When he returned home at the end of his six months, he was greeted by General Curtis LeMay, who was the Commanding General of the Strategic Air Command. General LeMay put out an emergency requisition letter saying that all four-engine pilots returning from the Berlin Airlift with bombardment experience would be assigned to the Strategic Air Command. So, instead of going into the training command for a year, Bob went into the Strategic Air Command and, instead of getting out in a year, he finally got out in February of 1954.

During his second tour in the Air Force, Bob flew B-29's and was involved in the Korean War. He flew almost one hundred missions over Korea during the nine months he was over there. When he got out of the service, he came back to Hollywood and started his career all over again."

[Kathy in Alaska]

Boy! That is an adventure you won’t soon forget...but all’s well that ends well.
And you had a lovely traveling companion.

[greene66]

Yep, that’s the dude! Seen him hundreds of times in those old tv-shows, it seems. Never really had very big parts, but he was all over the place on tv, back then.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, ML...((HUGS))...how did your Easter Service go? Did you have a tent?

[luvie]

Thanks, Galz, for another part to the Hollywood Heroes! It’s
fun to see which of our favorite stars were also American heroes! :)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, yarddog...watching the work.

[left that other site]

Not only a tent, but a new guitar player! hallelujah!

[yarddog]

Yes, I guess he is probably put there as a single sentry. I guess there could be others but he is looking over everything with a rifle in his hand.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

Ready for Monday?

[The Mayor]

Thank you for the thread Kathy!
As ready for Monday as is possible. :)

[Silentgypsy]

Thank you!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Another LONG bridge.

[Kathy in Alaska]

I’m thinking I need one more day....guess it won’t happen. LOL!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Welcome to the Canteen, jonascord...we seem to lose track of the older “stars”.

[The Mayor]

Same here!

[ConorMacNessa]

America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi!

O stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that we lie here, obedient to their command.

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Sand...((HUGS))...ready for Maddi Monday?

Will she be looking for more eggs? LOL!!