To thank those to whom we owe a great debt , including my father, father in law, 3 uncles, little brother, 2 brothers in law, 1 nephew and one niece. If it weren’t for veterans like them, our country would not be what it is now.
Thanks to all who served.
Thank you veterans!
Went by the National Cemetery on my way home today, I was going to clean and polish the brass plaques/markers on my parent’s graves.
Got there and found several local Boy Scout troops already at work, and they had both my parent’s markers shiny and all that, so I stuck around and helped them with a few others.
The VFW had already performed their Honor Ceremony, and it was still too early for Taps and Retiring the Colors, but all in all a pretty nice day.
During a few conversations with the Scouts, I asked them if any of their parents were service members, not in the least bit surprised when the answer was almost a universal yes, either one or both parents, often a brother or sister had served, and most of those had also been either Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
Guess either Service members raise a lot of Scouts, or Scouts make really good Service Members!
Like Norris, all my uncles served, all in WWII along with my father, who made a 30 year plus career out of the Navy.
A Coastie, Army Air Corp, US Army and US Navy…all four are first gen Americans, and the funny thing, all four never saw anything “special” in their service…for them, it was just “what you had to do, no one else was going to do it for us”
While I never served myself, I grew up a Navy brat, so I do have a deep appreciation and a deep understanding of why America needs a strong military force in all the branches of the services.
So, to all the vets, both here on the forum and elsewhere, you have my most sincere appreciation and gratitude for the sacrifices you have made so my kids and grandkids can live in the last truly free society in the world.
Living near a major military installation, it’s hard not to notice the vets.
I count among my family at least two Marines (one who served between Korea and 'Nam, the other served in 'Nam), four Air Force (including my son and myself), two Navy, (including my ex), three army (including my father, who served during WWII), and even a merchant marine. Reaching way back, we have at least one family member who served in the American Revolution. I think there’s a tie to the Civil War as well.
Still, there are those for whom it’s just an inconvenience because some places are closed.
Thanks to all who have served, and especially to those who have, and continue to support those who serve.
It was an honor and privilege to serve in the US Army. (Transportation Corps, of course) No one ever shot at me and I never had to shoot at anyone. I never left the continental United States.
I have never expected any recognition or honor for my service. As I said, it was an honor and privilege to serve.
My Driver made Sergeant in the Army during Viet Nam (two tours) and came home with a Purple Heart. I tell him every Veteran’s Day that he is my favorite veteran and when people ask me how long we have been married, I tell them “Not long enough”.
Thank you all, veterans. We owe you so much.
I want to thank Murphy Siding for starting this thread. It give me a chance once again to post a link for the benefit of the newer members of the forum, and for those that would like to read it again, to a booklet about the history of the CPR’s involvement in the war efforts of both Canada and the US. The link to the pdf file is at the top right hand side of the page:
http://www.cpr.ca/en/about-cp/our-past-present-and-future/Pages/our-history.aspx
As for myself, I never served and my parents were not quite of age to have served in WWII. My mother’s Dad served with the British Army in WWI. As for my father’s Dad, he had married just before WWI broke out and was given an exemption from serving, as he had already begun to operate his own farm in Saskatchewan, NE of Regina, and farmers were needed to supply food for the war effort.
My Dad’s two older brothers served in WWII, the oldest with the RCAF, who among his other duties was one of the earliest men to use Link Trainers to train other pilots. The other brother served with the Canadian Army.
Getting back to the exemption for men needed for agricultural work, both my Dad, and my Mom’s only brother, would not likely have been able to serve when they were old enough. Not realizing how long the war was going to last, Canada had enlisted too many men in the early years of the war and was beginning to experience critical shortages of men at home. Many women began working in factories and offices, but farming, along with mining and logging was a different matter. My Dad’s exe
I am not a vet. My dad once told me that a stint in the Army would “whip me into shape”, which was enough of a reason for me to not be anxious about the possibility (I would have been in the thick of things in Vietnam). I had a student deferment, which I gave up due to a high lottery number, and was 1A when CNW hired me. I eventually became 1Y.
Pat could join the DAR if she wished; I think her maternal grandmother was a member. She apparently had ancestors on both sides in the Civil War. Her dad was a Navy cook in the Pacific during World War II (his potato salad recipe is what we use whenever we make it–greatly subdivided, of course!).
My dad was in the Army, got as high in the ranks as Sergeant before being discharged at the end of World War II. He saw action in both the Pacific and European Theaters. My maternal grandfather was in the trenches in France during World War I.
So we remember all of our ancestors who served; and thank them, as well as all of my co-workers who had been in Korea, 'Nam, or the Persian Gulf. And my friends both at church and at work who were in various units of the National Guard or Army Reserves.
But yes, my dad was in the Army, and I was in the Boy Scouts (until I was old enough to join the railroad club!).