FReeper Canteen ~ Remembering Our Troops! ~ 05 November 2020

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

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~

~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~

CLOSE CLEANING

Navy Petty Officers 2nd Class Joseph Comparato, top, and Jocelyn Caro clean and maintain a close-in weapon system aboard the USS Porter in the Mediterranean Sea, March 26, 2016. The Porter is patrollingl in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility to support U.S. national security interests in Europe. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert S. Price

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.

FIREFIGHTING DRILL

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Parmeley battles a simulated fire during a general quarters drill aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Atlantic Ocean, March 21, 2016. The aircraft carrier is conducting a Composite Training Unit Exercise to prepare for a future deployment. Parmeley is a machinist's mate. Navy photo by Seaman Casey J. Hopkins

ASSAULT COURSE

Marines fire an M240 medium machine gun to provide supporting fires for Marines maneuvering through an assault course during Platinum Lynx 16-3 at Babadag Training Area, Romania, March 26, 2016. The exercise aims to build NATO allies’ capabilities, reinforce relationships in a combined-training environment and increase operational proficiencies among U.S., Romanian, Slovenian and Bulgarian forces. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tyler A. Andersen

ROPE TO GROUND

Marines conduct a fast-rope exercise out of a CH-53E Super Stallion in Yuma, AZ, April 1, 2016. The Marines are assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Artur Shvartsberg

BOAT BRIGADE

U.S. and South Korean Marines carry an inflatable boat into the water during training as a part of the Korea Marine Exchange Program in South Korea, April 4, 2016. The exchange is designed to increase interoperability and reinforce the alliance between the United States and South Korea. The U.S. Marines are assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. Marine Corps photos by Cpl. Erick Loarca

NIGHT SHOOT

Marines conduct a deck shoot at night during Western Pacific Deployment 16 aboard the USS New Orleans in the Pacific Ocean, April 1, 2016. The Marines are assigned to Maritime Raid Force, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Hector de Jesus

AIRCRAFT FIRE TRAINING

Airmen train to extinguish an aircraft fire at the 165th Airlift Wing's Regional Fire Training Facility in Savannah, GA, April 4, 2016. The airmen conducted a joint training exercise to maintain operational readiness. The firefighters are assigned to the Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont Air National Guards. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Andrew J. Merlock

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

[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!!!!!!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Permission Granted!

[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!

[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.

[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]

BAND OF BROTHERS

WORLD WAR II

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles"
June 7, 1944 at Ste. Marie du Mont, France

"THIS DAY IS CALL'D the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say, "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say, "These wounds I had on Crispin's day."

KOREA

Marines of the "Chosin Few", 1st Marine Division
Chosin Reservoir, Korea, December 1950

"OLD MEN FORGET; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford, and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered."

VIETNAM

FMF Corpsman D. R. Howe treats the wounds of Pfc. D. A. Crum, USMC
"H" Company, 2nd Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, during Operation Hue City.


"WE FEW, WE HAPPY FEW, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
(Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii)


AFGHANISTAN

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division in action, Afghanistan, 2011

OUR NATIONAL MEMORIALS
October 2013


"ONCE MORE unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let it pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as does a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean."(Henry V, Act III, Scene i)


THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TYRANNY GOES ON,
AS IT HAS FROM TIMES IMMEMORIAL.
THE BAND OF BROTHERS
STILL STANDS FAST IN THE BREACH!

THEY HAVE OUR SIX!

Honor Them For Their Service And Sacrifice!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Hello Veterans, wherever you are!!

[luvie]

🇺🇸 Till they all come home....🇺🇸

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, luvie!

*HJUGS*

It's great to see you this evening!

_

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ Remembering Our Troops! ~

FR CANTEEN 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.

CLICK HERE TO FIND LATEST THREADS

CLICK FOR Current local times around the world

CLICK FOR local times in Seoul, Baghdad, Kabul,
New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Anchorage

To every service man or woman reading this thread.
Thank You for your service to our country.
No matter where you are stationed,
No matter what your job description
Know that we are are proud of each and everyone of you.
To our military readers, we remain steadfast
in keeping the Canteen doors open.

The FR Canteen is Free Republic's longest running daily thread
specifically designed to provide entertainment and moral support for the military.
The doors have been open since Oct 7 2001,
the day of the start of the war in Afghanistan.

We are indebted to you for your sacrifices for our Freedom.

NOTE: CANTEEN MUSIC
Posted daily and on the Music Thread
for the enjoyment of our troops and visitors.

[ConorMacNessa]

Ladies, I hate to post and run but I was up until 4:00 in the morning and must rest. I hope to see you again soon.

_

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Mac, for the Missing Man Setting as we remember those who have given their all that we may gather safe and secure.

[Kathy in Alaska]

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

God Bless you good, Mac. *HUGS* Good night and rest well.
Thanks for helping honor our troops, past and present.
Thank you for your service to our country.

[luvie]

Remembering ALL our troops!

[luvie]

Good to see you! Have a wonderful day tomorrow! (((hugs)))

[The Mayor]

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

November 5

Destroy This House

Bible in a Year:

• Jeremiah 34–36
• Hebrews 2

Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.

John 2:19

In Pontiac, Michigan, a demolition company bulldozed the wrong building. Investigators believe that the owner of a house scheduled to be demolished nailed the numbers of his own address to a neighbor’s house to avoid demolition. 

Jesus did the opposite. He was on a mission to let his own “house” be torn down for the sake of others. Imagine the scene and how confused everyone must have been, including Jesus’ own disciples. Picture them eyeing one another as He challenged the religious leaders. “Destroy this temple,” Christ said, “and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). The leaders retorted indignantly, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” (v. 20). But Jesus knew He was referring to the temple of His own body (v. 21). They didn’t.

They didn’t understand He’d come to show that the harm we do to ourselves and to one another would ultimately fall on Him. He would atone for it.

God has always known our hearts far better than we do. So He didn’t entrust the fullness of His plans even to those who saw His miracles and believed in Him (vv. 23–25). Then as now He was slowly revealing the love and goodness in Jesus’ words that we couldn’t understand even if He told us.

By:  Mart DeHaan Reflect & Pray

What emotions do you usually associate with Jesus’ “cleansing of the temple”? How can you see something more merciful and compassionate now that you understand what Jesus meant?

Father in heaven, please help me to believe that You're always working in the background doing far more—and much better—than I know or understand.

[Kathy in Alaska]

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

We made it through hump day. Hope your week is going as planned.

[radu]

Greetings to all at the Canteen!

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

THANK YOU
for your service!

[radu]

Howdy, Kathy.

Hump Day! Any chance for a relaxing evening?