[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Click on the pic and I'll guide you
to the start of today's thread by
LaDivaLoca



USO CANTEEN FREEPER STYLE MISSION STATEMENT
Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies military
and the family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

Please Thank someone in the military for ensuring our Freedom.
Take a moment and Thank a Service Man or Woman.
Just Click on the graphic to SEND a message to someone in the military.

[JohnHuang2]

G'morning, friend

[JohnHuang2]

What Our Fighting Men and 
Women Are Really All About
by JohnHuang2
April 2, 2003

For the New York Times, which has fed America a steady diet of defeatist news about the war, the news of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch's daring rescue from captivity was not exactly welcome news.

"Coalition forces have conducted a successful rescue mission," CENTCOM's Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks announced Tuesday night. "The soldier has been returned to a coalition-controlled area."

Heroism.

Our men and women in uniform embody it. Every one of them.

They're America's finest.

Mettle, courage, sacrifice -- for U.S. soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, these are defining traits, not just words.

They live by them. Defending freedom isn't just a job. It's who they are. Patriotism, loyalty, devotion -- these are things they personify.

In combat, through fire and water, they boldly march up and look death in the face defiantly, again and again.

Unflinching and dauntless, against even the terrible perils of battle, our fighting men and women selflessly risk all, a glaring reminder that freedom isn't free.

Many paid the ultimate sacrifice for liberties we enjoy.

On a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach, the tombs of 9,000 U.S. soldiers, killed during the D-Day Allied advance almost 50 years ago, is testament to the price of freedom, a cost real men were willing to pay.

Today, across Iraq, untold acts of valor and courage, too many to mention, help free millions from the clutches of brutal tyranny, Saddam Hussein's.

America's finest are at it again.

We hear and read a lot about the fearsome power of B-2 bombers rumbling in the skies over Baghdad, the technical marvel of M-1 Abrams tanks pounding Iraq's best fighters to pulp, the mind-numbing accuracy of precision-guided Tomahawk cruise missiles. But the deadliest, most lethal fighting force in history is more than just tanks and planes and missiles and bullets.

Our military might is about men, not metal. It's about people not plans.

Gallantry, spirit and valor -- not blueprints -- are what win wars in the real world.

Perseverance and fortitude -- not timetables and expectations -- decides success on the field of battle.

But our military is more than that.

Take this AP wire story by Chris Tomlinson about a 32-year-old Army Ranger and his men:

"'We've got to get her off that bridge,' he said. Capt. Chris Carter winced at the risks his men would have to take. Engaged in a lightning-fast raid for this Euphrates River town, they were battling for a bridge when -- through the smoke -- they saw the elderly woman.

"She had tried to race across the bridge when the Americans arrived, but was caught in the crossfire.

"At first, peering through their rifle scopes, they thought she was dead, like the man sprawled in the dust nearby. But then, during breaks in the gunfire that whizzed over her head, she sat up and waved for help.

"Carter...ordered his Bradley armored vehicle to pull forward while he and two men ran behind it. They took cover behind the bridge's iron beams.

"Carter tossed a smoke grenade for more cover and approached the woman, who was crying and pointing toward a wound on her hip. She wore the black chador, common among older women in the countryside. The blood soaked through the fabric, streaking the pavement around her.

"Medics placed the woman on a stretcher and into an ambulance; Carter stood by, providing cover with his M16A4 rifle. Then she was gone, and Monday's battle for this town of 80,000, 50 miles south of Baghdad, raged on."

Amazing, isn't it? Risking it all to save the life of an elderly woman the Captain and his men had never met, in the midst of battle, amid deadly danger.

But Capt. Carter's isn't just an isolated case.

The mercy and heroism, courage and compassion exemplified in his story is what our fighting and men and women are all about.

God bless our President, God bless our troops, God bless the United States of America!
My two cents...
"JohnHuang2" 
Copyright Enrique N. ©2003

[Valin]

From todays red Star Tribune.
School raises $1,091 for care packages

Published April 8, 2003


A small Catholic grade school south of the Twin Cities raised $1,091 in a "penny challenge" last week, with the money going for care packages to U.S. troops in Iraq.
"We were very, very surprised at how much money they raised," said Emily Casellius, a teacher at St. Mathias Catholic School in Hampton, in Dakota County southeast of Farmington.
The school has 57 students in kindergarten through fifth grades.

Each class in the school was given a pail, and children were encouraged to drop in pennies, but larger amounts were also accepted. Parents were very supportive, said Casellius, and the kindergarten class collected the most money.

The group that will receive the donation has not yet been selected, she said. The money will be used to prepare packages for the troops.
She said the teachers wanted to make students aware of the war and show them "there was something we something they could do to help."

[Kathy in Alaska]

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning Troops, families, veterans, Canadian, Israeli, Great Britain, Australian, Poland, New Zealand, and Taiwanese allies (and everybody else). Thank you for taking such good care of the USA.

Today in Anchorage, Alaska:

Sunrise 6:59am
Sunset 9:04pm

Hi 42F
Lo 28F

Mostly cloudy; a shower

Actual yesterday in Anchorage:

Hi 43F
Lo 25F

State Hi 49F Annette
State Lo -26F Deadhorse

[Kathy in Alaska]

Bless This House sung along with this morning,
twice because I love this song for our troops USO Canteen, and
Prayer of Protection said for all who enter the USO Canteen Freeper Style,
including our troops, our veterans, their families and our allies.
Welcome to all who come to honor our troops and veterans,
for whom this USO Canteen was created.

A PRAYER OF PROTECTION

The light of God surround you
The love of God enfold you
The power of God protect you
The presence of God watch over you
Wherever you are, God is,
And all is well.
Amen.

Wherever you are, God is, and all is well!

[Kathy in Alaska]

FRANKS IN IRAQ — Gen. Tommy Franks, U.S. Central Command, addresses the soldiers of 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, April 7, in An Najaf, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Joshua Hutcheson

LONG DAY -- U.S. Army Pfc. Spencer Franklin, a petroleum supply specialist with the 307th Engineer Battalion, looks at the sunset after a hot day in south-central Iraq April 3. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kyran V. Adams

[blackie]

Canteen Goes West ... Bump!

Let's Roll!

[Kathy in Alaska]

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW — Army Maj. Todd Mercer and Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Simms, 82nd Airborne Division look down on a village in central Iraq during a leaflet drop. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Eric Foltz

HUMANITARIAN MISSION — Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division break open boxes of humanitarian rations for distribution to residents of villages in central Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Eric Foltz

[Kathy in Alaska]

THUMBS UP — Children give the thumbs-up to paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division handing out humanitarian rations in central Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Eric Foltz

WIDE SMILE — An Iraqi boy in central Iraq smiles after receiving a Humanitarian Daily Ration from soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Eric Foltz

[Kathy in Alaska]

THIRST RELIEVED — Iraqi civilians in south-central Iraq unload water brought to the village by U.S. soldiers from the 402nd Civil Affairs Battalion April 7. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Teresa Coble

[Kathy in Alaska]

Oops, duplicate picture. Too bad; it's worth repeating.

TF 3-69 leads 3ID to outskirts of Baghdad

by Sgt. Craig Zentkovich

BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq (Army News Service, April 6, 2003) -- The 1st Brigade Combat Team, led by Task Force 3-69, traveled and fought for 70 kilometers to bring the 3rd Infantry Division (Mech.) to within 30 kilometers of Baghdad April 2.

The movement, which began at 2 a.m., took 1st BCT through the Karbala gap and across the Euphrates River to a position southwest of Baghdad.

"Any night attack with no illumination is going to be tough; tensions will run high," said Lt. Col. Ernest Marcone, TF 3-69 commander. "The troops were superb."

The first objective was the Karbala gap - an area of land 2 kilometers wide that stretches from the reservoir west of Karbala, east to the edge of the city. Shortly before first light, soldiers received small-arms fire from the northern side of the gap from numerous fighting positions.

"After artillery and close-air support eliminated (the Iraqi's) indirect fire capabilities and vehicles, we moved in with infantry dismounts to eliminate the threat," Marcone said. "The end result was 40 or so (enemy prisoners of war), one of them wounded."

The wounded, an Iraqi regular army soldier, was immediately treated by a TF 3-69 medic when the area was secure.

The brigade halted movement 25 kilometers past Karbala to refuel, refit and recon the next objective - a bridge crossing at the Euphrates River.

"The bridge being safe and intact was crucial to us accomplishing our mission," said Capt. Jared Robbins, C Company, 3rd Bn., 69th Armor commander. The last bridge 1st BCT had to secure at the Euphrates River, in Kifl, was rigged with explosives and partially damaged when Iraqi forces detonated it. This time around, a team from the 11th Engineer Battalion traveled by boat across the Euphrates, checking the underside of the bridge to ensure it wasn't laden with explosives.

"The teamwork by the engineers was outstanding," Robbins said. "Their speed and proficiency made it possible for us to cross the bridge in very little time - safely."

The engineers working under the bridge and the security force above were engaged by Iraqi forces on both the north and south sides of the east bank of the river.

"They hit us, all together, with about four or five squads of soldiers," Robbins said. "We took zero friendly casualties."

With the far side of the bridge secure, TF 3-69 was able to cross the bridge and establish an over watch position, with the remainder of 1st BCT not far behind.

"The soldiers have been incredible with either little or no sleep the past two days," Robbins said. "And all of our equipment made it to this point. It says a lot about our soldiers and maintenance crew that we are fully mission capable."

The attack on Karbala and the bridge at the Euphrates River came eight days after the 3rd Infantry Division made an unprecedented two-day movement taking them 300 kilometers into Iraq by March 24 - the fifth day of the ground war.

"This past week in the same location was a drain on the soldiers," said Staff Sgt. Nicholas H. King, C Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment squad leader, before the attack. "We're ready go north, get the job done and head home."

(Editor's note: Sgt. Craig Zentkovich is a member of the 50th PAD, traveling with 1st BCT, 3ID.)

[LaDivaLoca]

Howdy, Tonk! Yeeehaaaa!