FReeper Canteen ~ Remembering Our Troops! ~ 17 January 2019

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

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~

~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~

PERSIAN GULF LAUNCH

Sailors watch as an F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Persian Gulf, Feb. 5, 2018. The aircraft carrier is supporting maritime security operations to reassure allies and partners, and preserve the freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in the region. The Hornet is assigned to Strike Fighter Attack Squadron 113. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Spencer Roberts

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.

AFRICA OPERATIONS

Airmen conduct C-130J Super Hercules aircraft cargo operations in East Africa, Jan. 31, 2018. The airmen, assigned to the 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, support the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa mission to promote prosperity and security in East Africa. The airmen also are assisting partner nations with countering extremist organizations, fostering regional security cooperation and protecting U.S. personnel and facilities. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Gustavo Castillo

TABLE TALK

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; visits U.S. Marines deployed to Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin, Australia, Feb. 6, 2018. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Dominique A. Pineiro

DOG DEMO

Air Force Staff Sgt. Brian Loughmiller, a military working dog handler, participates in a demonstration with his dog during at MacDill Air Force Base, FL, Jan. 28, 2018, during the base’s Community Day. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Caleb Nunez

AL-TAQADDUM TRAINING

A Marine Corps explosive ordnance disposal technician supporting Operation Inherent Resolve talks to partnered forces during counter improvised explosive device training at Al-Taqaddum, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2018. Army photo by Spc. Shannon Westpfahl

BOOM VIEW An Indiana Air National Guard A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft receives fuel from the boom of an Air Force Reserve KC-135 Stratotanker during training over Avon Park, FL, Jan. 30, 2018. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Adam R. Shanks

LADDER LOOK

Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Nicholas Beemer climbs a ladder out of a magazine aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Persian Gulf, Feb. 3, 2018, as the aircraft carrier supports security efforts in the region. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Spencer Roberts

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

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

January 17

What Can’t You Give Up?

Bible in a Year: Genesis 41–42; Matthew 12:1–23

[Nothing] will be able to separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:39 Today's Scripture & Insight:

Hosea 11:8-11

“What’s one thing you can’t give up?” the radio host asked. Listeners called in with some interesting answers. Some mentioned their families, including a husband who shared memories of a deceased wife. Others shared they can’t give up on their dreams, such as making a living in music or becoming a mother. All of us have something we treasure dearly—a person, a passion, a possession—something we can’t give up.

In the book of Hosea, God tells us that He won’t give up on His chosen people Israel, His treasured possession. As Israel’s loving husband, God provided her with everything she needed: land, food, drink, clothing, and security. Yet like an adulterous spouse, Israel rejected God and sought her happiness and security elsewhere. The more God pursued her, the further she drifted away (Hosea 11:2). However, though she had hurt Him deeply, He would not give her up (v. 8). He would discipline Israel so as to redeem her; His desire was to re-establish His relationship with her (v. 11).

Today, all God’s children can have the same assurance: His love for us is a love that will never let us go (Romans 8:37–39). If we’ve wandered from Him, He yearns for us to return. When God disciplines us, we can be comforted that it’s a sign of His pursuit, not of His rejection. We are His treasure; He won’t give up on us.

By Poh Fang Chia

Today's Reflection

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love that never gives up on me. Help me to love You wholeheartedly.

[ConorMacNessa]

REQUEST PERMISSION TO COME ABOARD



CHARLESTOWN, Mass. (Jan. 14, 2008) The first major snowfall of the New Year blankets the USS Constitution. Despite the weather "Old Ironsides" remained open for free public tours. At 210 years-old, USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, manned by 67 active-duty United States Sailors and visited by nearly half a million visitors annually. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Eric Brown (Released)

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS AND OUR BELOVED NATION!!!





Boston, Oct. 21, 2009 - Boatswains Mate 2nd Class Philip Gagnon pipes as USS Constitution performs an underway demonstration in honor of the three-masted wooden frigate's 212th birthday. (U.S. Navy photo by Airman Mark Alexander/Released).



USS Constitution's 1812 Marine Guard fire vintage Springfield flintlock muskets during the ship's underway. "Old Ironsides" was underway for the "Constitution Day Cruise," which is conducted to thank the family and supporters of Constitution. U.S. Navy photo by Airman Nick Lyman (Released)

OUR TROOPS ROCK!!!!!!!

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

To all our military men and women, past and present,

THANK YOU
for your service!

[Kathy in Alaska]

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

Hump day is finally over! Well, almost for me. Payroll issues today and we are still getting checks printed.

Hope your week is going well.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Permission Granted!

[SkyDancer]

~ Good Evening ~

~ Just Hanging ~

~ Good Evening ~

~ Welcome To My World ~

I’m Down There Somewhere

[ConorMacNessa]

Thanks very much, Kathy!
***HUGS***



Striding up the gangplank as we speak,
rendering Hand Salutes to our National Colors
and to the Officer of the Deck!
Thank you very much for this evening's
"Remembering Our Troops" thread!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

LOL
Got your PING before I got Ma’s!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[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!!

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS AND OUR BELOVED NATION!



"The Star Spangled Banner"
Verse Four
(Click)

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Please let me know by Freepmail if you would like
to be admitted to or released from my music ping list.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mac...*HUGS*...are you having weather issues?

Lots of weird ups and downs this year.

[left that other site]

Hi Everybody!

((((HUGS))))

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

Ready to have Hump Day behind you? Been a crazy couple of days that I’d say you’re happy to be past!

[mountainlion]

I remember the Clinton shutdown. I had to work while many got extra uncharged vacation. The told me they would make it up but that never happened. I am still waiting. We had several threats of furlough and had to develop contingency plans just in case but they did not happen. I think this time Trump might start up the constitutional budget process again and get rid of shutdown threats. They can’t do that to me anymore anyway as I retired.

God is in charge and I think he is using Trump.

[radu]

She’s had her hands full at work so I had time to squeeze in first. LOL

[radu]

Howdy do, Conor! *HUGZ*

Everything going smoothly up your way these days? Well, besides the weather. You’re probably as tired of the screwy mess as we are .... and it ain’t over yet!

[ConorMacNessa]

Yes we are - had a foot of snow over the weekend. A little more coming tomorrow.

Monday morning the Prince George's County Public Schools, as most of the schools in Maryland, were closed. Normally, they make the call to close at 5:30 a.m. In this instance, they made the call Sunday afternoon. The roads weren't that bad and I continue to shake my head in bewilderment.

_

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, Radu!

*HUGS*

It is indeed not over - we haven't even gotten one-third of the way through Winter.

_