USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ Dear Soldier: You don't know me, but... ~ October 6 2003

Canteen Co-Captain LindaSOG and A Grateful American

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday...
Thank the Veterans who served in
The United States Armed Forces.

Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom?
Support The United States Armed Forces Today!

Dear Soldier:

You don’t know me, but I know you.  You were the boy next door, the kid who delivered my paper, the skinny girl in my daughter’s gymnastics class.  You played ball with my son and worked summers at my favorite burger joint.  We have probably never met, but I know you.

	You are a brother, sister, favorite niece or nephew, and someone’s best friend.  You are the child of parents who love you more than they can explain, feel pride words can’t carry, and bear a weight of worry they never dreamed possible.

There are probably a thousand things you’d rather be doing than what is before you now or what may be asked of you soon.  Combat is always possible when one wears the uniform, yet you donned it with full knowledge of the risks.  Not everyone would do it; I, for instance, did not.  Perhaps I’d make a different choice today but this time the decision was yours.  You chose to serve.

The type of people we consider heroes is kind of odd when you think about it:  athletes chasing records, movie stars and musicians, some of whom likely adorn posters in your old room back home.  Yet these folks rarely sacrifice more than time and effort, pursuing ambitions that profit only themselves.    There’s nothing wrong with that in itself; it’s what most of us do in some form or another.  It’s just not the stuff of heroes.   You, on the other hand, hazard your life for a wage that has many military families on food stamps.  You wager it for an ideal and a way of life, not wealth or fame.  If the chips fall wrong, the price you pay is for others.

Who’s the hero?  We’ll probably never know your name; I suspect you don’t care.  My own children are just short of military age but I have raised them to do what is right because it is right, not for gain, glory, or even gratitude.  If these things come, so much the better.  If not, your success is no less because personal reward wasn’t the object in the first place.

	Despite a few noisy voices, history shows the price of freedom is nothing less than blood.  It is not bought so much as leased, a fact some have forgotten after years of relative peace and the increasingly unrestrained license that has come to pass for liberty.  I admit some of us thought your generation might be the first to lose sight of that altogether.  We were wrong, and I’m glad.

I’d have written sooner but I’ve been pretty busy. If that sounds shallow, I suppose it is.  At least it finally occurred to me I have the luxury of busyness with career and family because you and hundreds of thousands like you are willing suit up, ship out, and take your chances.  Seeing your young face on television, a face I have seen at the playground and on the high school volleyball team and in the grocery store, drives home how very much you have on the line.  The least I can do is drop a note to say thanks.

	I do know you, and I know your family.  I know how anxious they are and how much they want for your future.  I understand how tremendously proud they are.  The rest of us are too, even if we’re too wrapped up enjoying the freedoms you protect to remember to say it.

Please look after yourself and be as careful as you can.  I will be praying for you and your family.  We all want you home safe.    A Grateful American

 

[SevenofNine]

Breaking news off MSNBC site

Report that IDF soldier are firing into Lebanon southern border at this hour and Jets coming in and provide back up on Israel soldiers

ALRIGHT

RACKKKKKKKKKK IDF SMACKDOWN

RACK ITTTT

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Beautiful letter Tonk -- did you write it? Can I steal it and email it?"

You'll need to check with LindaSOG tomorrow.
I just posted the thread for her.

[Fawnn]

???

Your reply to the post that displayed my new "coloring" efforts had been: Very cool! :) (Thanks for that, btw!!!) ... In the post I'd asked for an opinion re Choice 1 or 2, so my "caffeine" reply to you was a failed attempt to be cute since you hadn't given a preference. Clear as mud now?

Maybe I should just go back to trying to slip cream and sugar or chocolate into your coffee. Then you'll know when I'm just being a brat. ;)

[blackie]

Thanks ~ I don't do two part questions. :-/

[Kathy in Alaska]

Go IDF!

[tomkow6]

I wrote a tutorial on how to make the fancier letters years ago

If you find it, could you send me a copy????

[fortaydoos]

You are welcome. It was my pleasure to serve my country honorably.

[Mr. Silverback]

Ahman Green got 118 yards and became Lambeaus Field's all-time greatest rusher.

PACKERS WIN!! PACKERS WIN!!

[Fawnn]

If you find it, could you send me a copy????

Did you take your bath yet? ;)

[Soaring Feather]

Today we entered friendly hope
we're laughing again...
Our desire found night filled with us,
Without a care...

bentfeather
a/k/a MLH
Copyright (c) 2003
All Rights Reserved

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Welcome to the Canteen
Thank You for your service to our country.

[M1911A1]

Kathy, and the entire Canteen,

Let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful support while I was deployed during OIF.

I want to make it very clear that I had a cushy job "in the rear with the gear". Other than a few convoys through Indian country, my stay in Kuwait/Iraq was all gravy. The men and women who really deserve the credit are all the incredibly young, and incredibly professional, grunts, MPs and support Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Coastguardsmen who had it a lot rougher than me. I am an old man by military standards, and watching those young servicemen do the outstanding job they did, and continue to do, makes me confident in the future of our nation. If you could see these steely eyed killers with hearts of gold in action, you would be as choked up as I am right now just thinking about them.

It is very humbling to acknowledge the kindness and gratitude of you and the rest of the folks in this great county. I want you to know that your efforts and kindness have had a very real and lasting effect on myself, my family and my fellow Marines. Ronald Reagan said that some people wonder if they have made a difference in life, but Marines don't have that problem. Believe me when I say the same about the FR Canteen.

God bless you for what you do. My thoughts as I make my way back to my family are with my brothers still deployed, and the folks like you who give meaning to what we in the service do. I am thrilled to back in the USA, but without folks like you it would be just another chunk of real estate. Thank you so much.

[Fawnn]

Let me thank you from the bottom of my heart....

Thank YOU!!!

Your entire post is beautifully said! ...although, I suspect you're a bit modest regarding your "contribution" to the efforts. (I'd ask your age, but I have a sneaking suspicion that your definition of "old timer" and mine differ by at least a month or two.)

(P.S. Your wife has a wonderful time planned for her soldier! 'nuff said. I don't want to spoil the secret.) ;)

[Radix]

 

A destroyed building is seen Monday, Oct. 6, 2003, after it was struck by Israeli warplanes that attacked a Palestinian camp in Ein Saheb, 22 Kilometers (14 miles) northwest of Damascus, Syria, on Sunday Oct. 5.

 

The popular  TV show "while you were out" has had large success in the Israeli television market.

 

 

U.S Army Sgt. Eduardo Hernandez gets help from Najee Farez from the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps in unrolling the American flag, Monday, Oct 6, 2003 before a graduation ceremony where 31 members of the corps graduated after completing a combat infantry training cource given by the U.S army 4th Infantry Division, 1st battalion, 22nd infantry regiment in Tikrit.

 

 

 

A U.S. soldier guards an Iraqi detainee on the outskirts of Tikrit, on September 25, 2003. U.S. troops rigorously interrogate Iraqi detainees in a process which takes several hours, sometimes days.

 

 

 

Sergeant Garza (R) a US soldier from the 1st battalion, 22nd infantry regiment, 4th ID helps an Iraqi cadet with his uniform before he and 30 others participated in their Iraqi Civil Defense Corps Combat Infantry Training Course graduation.

 

 

 

US soldiers direct former Iraqi servicemen awaiting back salaries and Iraqi youths during a brief protest in Baghdad.

 

 

 

A Iraqi man walks between two U.S. Army 4th Infantry Division tanks in downtown Baiji, some 250 kms (160 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 6, 2003.

[HiJinx]

I love our press corps, and their wonderful way with words. With reference to the last picture, isn't it amazing how every armored vehicle becomes a tank?

Thanks for the daily picture show, Radix. The pictures and your comments really make a difference, it brings the truth home to many people who would otherwise never get a chance to see it.

He He..."While you were out...Ka-boom!" the very latest in home redecorating services, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood demolition crew!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

M1911A1 : Welcome Back to the States!.
Thank You for your service to our country.
May you have a long, well deserved leave
with your FReeper wife M0sby and your 2 sons.

I'm re-posting your message so everyone can see the difference
that Supporting the Troops means.
Thank You

Kathy, and the entire Canteen,

Let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful support while I was deployed during OIF.

I want to make it very clear that I had a cushy job "in the rear with the gear". Other than a few convoys through Indian country, my stay in Kuwait/Iraq was all gravy. The men and women who really deserve the credit are all the incredibly young, and incredibly professional, grunts, MPs and support Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Coastguardsmen who had it a lot rougher than me. I am an old man by military standards, and watching those young servicemen do the outstanding job they did, and continue to do, makes me confident in the future of our nation. If you could see these steely eyed killers with hearts of gold in action, you would be as choked up as I am right now just thinking about them.

It is very humbling to acknowledge the kindness and gratitude of you and the rest of the folks in this great county. I want you to know that your efforts and kindness have had a very real and lasting effect on myself, my family and my fellow Marines. Ronald Reagan said that some people wonder if they have made a difference in life, but Marines don't have that problem. Believe me when I say the same about the FR Canteen.

God bless you for what you do. My thoughts as I make my way back to my family are with my brothers still deployed, and the folks like you who give meaning to what we in the service do. I am thrilled to back in the USA, but without folks like you it would be just another chunk of real estate. Thank you so much.

[blackie]

Bump!

[Fawnn]

It's so close, yet so far away!

[tomkow6]

WHAT????

[tomkow6]

WHAT????