FReeper Canteen ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ 31 March 2016

Serving The Bestest Troops and Veterans In The World !! | The Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~

~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~

BATTLE COLORS CEREMONY

Marines perform during the Battle Colors Ceremony on Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, SC, March 23, 2015. The Battle Color Detachment is composed of three performing ceremonial units assigned to Marine Barracks, Washington, DC.

Canteen Mission Statement

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies' military
and family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

SUNSET DELIVERY

An MH-60S Seahawk helicopter delivers supplies to the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard during a replenishment in the East China Sea, March 24, 2015. The helicopter is assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25.

FIRING PROJECTILES

U.S. soldiers fire projectile 155-mm rounds during Foal Eagle 2015, a training exercise, on Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, South Korea, March 22, 2015. The soldiers are assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment. .

RUNNING DIVE

A soldier runs off the back of a CH-47F Chinook helicopter while conducting a simulated combat dive mission in the water off of Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo, Hawaii, March 16, 2015. The solder is assigned to 1st Special Forces Group, Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

BOOTS OFF

Marine Corps Sgt. Nicholas P. Slover removes his boot before inflating his pants during a swim qualification course on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NC, March 17, 2015. Marines must tread water for 10 minutes during the qualification to demonstrate they can properly use their uniform as a flotation device for survival in water.

ARTILLERY TRAINING

U.S. artillerymen conduct M777A2 howitzer training with precision-guided munitions on Operational Base Fenty, Afghanistan, March 19, 2015. The artillerymen are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

WASH DOWN

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Timothy Cotterall goes through a decontamination procedure after attempting to identify multiple biological contaminants in a simulated lab during a Global Dragon training event in Perry, GA, March 18, 2015. The training provides a refresher course for airmen, allowing them to identify live chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents and materials. Cotterall is assigned to the 137th Air Refueling Wing.

ST PATRICK'S HIGH-FIVE

Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Christian Detje gets a high-five from a boy during the 254th St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City, March 17, 2015. Detie is assigned to the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard.

LEADING EDGE

Army Maj. Stewart Brown jumps from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during airborne operations in Sylvania, GA, March 20, 2015. Brown is commander, of the 55th Signal Company based at Fort Meade, Md., and the helicopter crew is assigned to 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment.

RADIO CHECK

Paratroopers perform radio checks during a practice parachute assault on Malemute drop zone as part of a tactical field exercise on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, AK, March 18, 2015. The paratroopers are assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Alaska.

Please remember that The Canteen is here to support
and entertain our troops and veterans and their families,
and is family friendly.

[Kathy in Alaska]

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

Hope your week is going well.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, EX...((HUGS))...gonna grill this weekend?

[SkyDancer]

~ Good Evening ~

~ Welcome To My World ~

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,
THANK YOU
for your service!

[left that other site]

Oh Yeah...let me tell you about pub night.

A man showed up with a Dobro(slide steel guitar) and asked if he could sit in. It was wonderful! We were trading solos, and Jamming the roof off.

Then I found out he lives two houses down from the one I want to buy.

Coincidence? I think not.

[SandRat]

Good evening Kathy...(((HUGS)))...Things are back to normal.

We had Maddi all Day yesterday. She and Charlie chased each other all over the back yard.

[radu]

GOOD GOOGLY MOOGLY!!!!!!!!!
They seemed to take it in stride, even laughing, but I’d need to change my britches if I’d been there. LOL! I reckon they’re used to such things happening.

[ConorMacNessa]

As the train was pulling out from Union Station this evening some moron jumped on from a low platform. The stage blocking the stairs was already down and the door was closing. The train was stopped and after a tongue-lashing from the conductor, the man was allowed on.

My first thought was that it was the perfect way for a terrorist with no paperwork to get onto a commuter train.

"If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape
and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy."

[Kathy in Alaska]

Mac!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

ML!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Sand!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

YIKES!!! acad, stay safe!!!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Janey...((HUGS))...you still helping with the travel plans?

Nice weather? It’s trying to rain here.

[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."

"Traumerei"
Robert Schumann
(Click)

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

[Kathy in Alaska]

YIKES!!! Not a good thing. He should not have been allowed onto the train.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, radu...hope your day has been nice.

All went well getting checks printed today. I had the best Wednesday forever!!

I’m headed home....back in a bit.

[radu]

Howdy, Conor.
Glad your forehead is healing. Hey, you should move down here. We aren’t PC and you could get all kinds of friendly ribbing. :-)

[MoochPooch]

Evening, Kathy!

[ConorMacNessa]

The security on Washington METRO and the trains remains almost non-existent. Despite a policy begun March 1st that no one is allowed on the platform without having displayed a ticket, I have yet to be challenged for my ticket.

I guess it will take a mass casualty here in the U.S. before the problem is taken seriously.

"If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape
and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy."

[radu]

Moving away from you is GOOD! Glad y’all got lucky tonight.

We hope to be as lucky tomorrow when that system blows through TN. The weatherman says to be ready for tornados or at least damaging winds.

It’s Spring time!