FReeper Canteen ~ D-DAY, June 6, 1944 ~ 06 June 2019

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

[mylife]

From the land of Audie Murphy... Hey man, I don’t know how to drive them, I just break them...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=-IatwoA00E0

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Pro, for helping to honor those men in the that greatest of endeavors.

[mylife]

I am Moriarity LOL

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, TADSLOS....indeed, the Day of Days!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Permission Granted!

[radu]

Howdy, PRO.

How’s it going out there these days? Has the heat moved in to stay. We’ve cooled off a little and are now hoping for the rain they SAY will move in.

[mylife]

Aussie Diggers?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, my...glad you are home. Get plenty of rest, and follow doctor's orders.

[TADSLOS]

That’s hallowed ground. Just incredible what went down there on that day. You can’t really appreciate it unless you walk the ground and contemplate how in the hell did anyone survive scaling those cliffs, then continue their mission to locate and destroy those guns.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, mountainlion...God Bless those that gave their all for their country.

[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!
Especially on this particular day – the 75th Anniversary of the day that the Crusade In Europe under Gen. Eisenhower came to fruition!

[mylife]

Marking maps.

[ConorMacNessa]

Real Men Stand for Our National Anthem!

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, ML...((HUGS))...an historic day in America’s history.

Did you and Penny get out?

[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!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Huffing and puffing your way through today?

For sure...and I think I'll take tonight off. Almost 3am before I finished last night, but very satisfied with the effort and outcome.

[radu]

Howdy do, Conor. *HUGZ*

Yes, they do! And that young Marine is a perfect example of a real man.

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT
OUR TROOPS AND
OUR BELOVED NATION!

"O God Our Help In Ages Past"
Chorus and Band of the Irish Guards
(Click)

[radu]

Ugh! That was a late night for you but it sounds like it paid off.

A night off and early-to-bed sounds like a great idea. Maybe a stop at DQ on the way home for a Blizzard to top it off. LOL

[PROCON]

Yo radu!

We have cooled down a bit too with a slight shower today, but it's June and things are going to be heating back up in a few days.

Hitting the sack soon for an early Thursday.