I celebrated the life of fallen friends on Sunday,which is our veterens day and still have the hangover to prove it :) .....God,its been a while since I've posted anything.

Yes it has been! Ya need to come around more often!

I most certainly will,Ive missed people!

I've told my kids...who SHOULD know, that it's not just a day off school, but a day of reflection. Thankfully, every member of my family who has served has returned from the battlefield. It has been my greatest honor and privelidge to have served my country and it's citizens in battle. I come to tears whenever i hear the anthem and salute our great flag.

If my children choose not to serve, i will be fine with that as i don't wish for them to see the horrors that i and my father and grandfathers faced. I will suffer from PTSD for the rest of my life, but i would not trade my time overseas for anything in the world.


Let me ask you all this......the last time i was at my daughters high school football game and they played the anthem, a woman in front of me kept talking and moving around recording the game. I told her sternly, but quietly to "STOP RECORDING AND FACE MY FLAG !!"

She did, but after the song she asked me who i thought i was and the nerve. I told her that i was a veteran and that the least she could do is respect the flag and the anthem. Some people clapped and agreed while others gave dirty looks. Which i could give a shit less about.

I love the fact Veterans Day is a national holiday,theres nothing like that here.

You all know how I feel about our veterans and men/women that are still serving our country. LH knows that one of my dear adopted sons is going into the Marines this summer. I'm scared to death for him

Wes - I see that ALL the time. Whether its a sports game or a school event.... people talking and most of them don't put their hand over their heart anymore. I don't get it! I, personally, was raised better than that! How disrespectful. But I guess thats the way America's headed. People forget where we came from. They try to change everything. And I won't even get started on our lovely new pres who can't even put his hand over his heart. I'm stopping now....

It's sad Jen and yes, it's all in the way a person is brought up. You should not have to have served your country to appreciate and respect that when you hear that song and see that flag that you lock it up and pay respect !

People in other countries kill for their countries. (Not that its right by any means!!!) Other countries have more patriotism than many of us do. Its pathetic. How come only America seems to rally around each other during a crisis? And we don't even have enough respect or love for our country to do the simple things? I don't get it.

But ya'll can ignore me. I'm going off my second finished pot of coffee. I didn't even get to bed last night. Was up all night. So, I'm a little wound up on coffee!

IT IS ABOUT THE WAY PEOPLE ARE RAISED! FOR THE MOST PART, WE AS A NATION DON'T REALLY WORRY ABOUT EACH OTHER ANYMORE, UNLESS IT'S IN A TIME OF CRISIS. WE'LL JOIN TOGETHER FOR SOMETHING LIKE 9/11 OR THE NATURAL DISASTERS, ( I LIVE 45 MILES FROM THE GULF) BUT AFTER AWHILE WE GO BACK TO OUR THINGS. TO MY LATE WIFE AND ME, IT WAS ALSO ABOUT THE OLD MAN THAT LIVES NEXT DOOR, (DOES HE GET ENOUGH TO EAT, LIVING ON SOCIAL SECURITY) OR THE SINGLE MOM DOWN THE STREET TRYING TO RAISE 5 KIDS BY HERSELF. WE'D BRING HIM A PLATE, OR WHEN THE KIDS OUTGREW THIER CLOTHES PASS THEM ON. I'LL GET OFF MY SOAPBOX.

CB--- I'VE HAD 2 BOYS GO TO IRAQ SINCE THIS WAR STARTED, THEY BOTH CAME HOME SAFE!!! ALL I COULD DO WAS SAY, "GOD PROTECT HIM", THROUGHOUT THE DAY. HOPE THAT HELPS!

Rip - you're exactly right about it being about little things. I think its wonderful you looked out for your neighbor. Thats what I'm talking about.

I'm so glad you posted this. My father fought in WWII. Yes, WWII, my parents were much older when I came around. I was raised with old fashioned values and I cannot tell you how thankful I am that I was. So many people are know are self-centered and worried about what they are going to get/have/want. They don't think about others and it shows. This gets passed onto children and seems to get worse with each generation. I hope the pendulum will start to swing the other way and people will realize that we all need to think about each other. We are a community and we need to act accordingly.

I was there when the war first started Jan 03' back when we had damn near no communication to home but mail which took 6 weeks. I know my mother and my BF mother would sit at one of our houses going nuts after we'd call them from Kuwit to tell them we would be up north for a week or so (up north meant Iraq, Baghdad or farther, no locations given on open lines).

Our phones were useless there and IF you got luckyby the time you pulled into a camp at night, ate chow, and MAYBE showered, you could find the computer tent on post, WALK there and then wait for up to three hours for 5 minutes on online time to send a quick mail to family to let them know you were ok. Sometimes it would be 5 or more days before we could contact them.

Our moms, when home, would keep the computers volume up SO high so that they could hear "you've got mail" from anywhere in the house ! lol SOMETIMES, we got lucky and got a fast reply. I remember being just south of Fallujah during some pretty good fighting and it must've been all over the news cause i got a response once that said "Oh thank GOD i heard from you Wes !! We were so worried to hear all of the fighting ! We know you can't say where you are, but please be safe honey ! Thank you for the email . Love, Mom."

We're trained for battle and prepared to die, but the hardest job in the military still goes to the military families that are back home waiting for and supporting us that don't know what's going on day to day. I slept thru mortar attacks, while my mom spent most nights up watching the news.

Here here Wes. I have much respect as well for the families.

I'm thankful for all the soldiers that have and continue to keep our freedom safe. Without them we wouldn't have all the wonderful rights that we do.