Gratitude

K

kjm

New member
Just sitting here thinking about the first Persian Gulf War and how relatively easy it was I came to a thought. We were there the longest (82nd) and we were home in 7 months. Yet in seven months, my family was in tatters, my finances destroyed and the only thing I had to show was and enhanced love of life that only those who've sacrificed can know.

Now I think about the guys there now. The types of deprivations they've endured, the length of deployments, the families that might never be the same even if they're intact after they get back. The finances will be be tough upon return. The funny thing is that you know these things sometime into your deployment and you somehow figure out how to ignore it.

God- I can't imagine the kind of stress that comes with facing IED's, clearing streets and houses and the kinds of brutality that comes with it. We never faced that. There wasn't a whole lot of it in Vietnam if I can read correctly. WWII might have come close, but for some reason this one is different.

I feel the most profound debt of gratitude to anybody over there doing what they do. Perhaps only those who've been to combat in lesser circumstances can possibly imagine how much these people are worth to us as a nation. What is even more amazing is that we continue to produce people like this in spite of the naysayers about this generation.

My hat is off to all of you who've been there, who are there and who will be going there. I might not gush often, but I suppose, as you walk through the airports or hit the commissary, there are those of us who don't wear a uniform anymore who think the world of you and are amazed at what America can do because of those like you. We may not come up to you and say it, but there are those who believe you are and will always be deserving of the highest respect.

Thank-you.
 
huge props to the men and women in our armed forces!!! lets just hope that when they return that they arent spit on and called "baby killers" like the troops who returned from vietnam, that was about the sorriest thing ive ever heard of in my life.
 
Presently, we are in mourning for a close friend and neighbor whose funeral was yesterday. He was a bomber point during WWII; flew over 30 missions over Germany and occupied France. Many of the people who came to honor his death were surprised; it was not something that he brought up often...he was much more likely to engage you in conversations about gardening or hunting.
I did not know him in his youth. But everytime I see a young person headed to or returning from the Mideast, I see him in that person.
In present "wars", the victory is sometimes muted; many of our actions are taken with long term goals, with the intent of avoiding another global World War on the scale of the first two. It is a noble cause, yet because of its very nature, the heroes that return from present wars are sometimes not given the salutation that they deserve.
Hats off to all of them.
 
I can't add anything as eloquent as KJM's moving tribute, but I have to add my "Thank You" to the list.

May God bless all of you for your service.

-Dave
 
Well said.........

Very well put and thanks for taking that time to do so....

My family has a close friend whom is a Marine Vietnam Veteran. Most of his time was spent loading armaments to aircraft. His base was often hit by attacks. He was a 190 pound athletic young man when he entered Vietnam. When he left he was 110 pounds after a serious illness with Malaria. When I see him I think of his sacrafice and now his health continues to fail rapidly. I just wanted to shout out a real THANK YOU to our veterans of the Vietnam War too. Our country seemed to put these guys and girls on a back shelf and to this day I don't think they get the respect they deserve.

Thanks again to those who serve ....... and our thoughts and prayers to those who gave ALL........... God Bless America :)
 
My time in the Gulf was >30 years ago - and air conditioned! (U.S. Navy, Bahrain) The skill, pride and grit of those there today is wonderful.

I'm profoundly thankful and proud of the people who have taken up the sword for us; and for the vast numbers of Americans "Back In The World" here who Get It and support them.

God Bless and Keep Safe.

Tara
 
My cousin's daughter is married to a helicopter pilot now pulling his second tour in Iraq. When I found this out, I asked for his email address and penned the following note of encouragement to him:

Jeff,

We have never met, but I am your mother-in-law's cousin, Perry. She sent along a newsletter your wife had sent out indicating your return to Iraq for a second tour of duty. She included your email address as well.

As a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran (2bn, 94th Arty, RVN 1969-70), I personally want to thank you and express my deep appreciation for your service and the sacrifices both you and your family are making on behalf of your (and my) country.

Know that in spite of the negativity we often are subjected to here from the liberal left wing press (I guess by now you've guessed I'm a fairly conservative guy), the American people are behind you and all our soldiers 100%. Freedom aint free, and the greatest gift one can bestow on another is the freedom they have never known. You are the giver of that gift and may God bless you for it.

Stay safe, young man, and know that free men sleep well at night because there are soldiers like you putting your life on the line to keep it that way.
 
KJM, that was a great way to put it, and i feel the same. The oppurtunities that we are giving to people who have never known freedom are incredible, and i respect the iraqi people for braving a war-torn country to continue their lives and to vote in those elections even though they knew that they may never make it back. I am not sure if americans would brave that danger, i hope that we would show that kind of resolve to stand up for what is right.

This is why i felt that i couldn't in good conscience stand by and not do something to help the people around the world that are oppressed and have never experienced freedom, while i take my life for granted. The fact that they would risk their lives to vote, and i would feel inconvienced by a line at the polls made me realize that the iraqi people know what it is like to have no rights, and that they understood the importance of freedom and would die for it.

I joined the Army on friday, so that i can help these people to achieve the freedom that they desire so much. I hope that I can make a difference in someone's life, give them the rights that all humans deserve, but are being denied around the world.

To anyone who has served our country, is serving, or will serve, my hat is off to you, you have made the world a better place. I only hope to do my part.

THANK YOU!!!
 
Swinger:
You will find the Army full of the most brilliant people you've ever met and some of the most profoundly stupid. Some aspects will thrill you if you thought the movies accurately portrayed military life. In many ways I found the Army to be almost Utopian. Everybody on post has a job, everybody can care for their families and they care for your family when you cannot. The Army is a family- although a slightly disfunctional one.

It is an amazing experience to see Iraq. I was there in 1991 and the people there greeted us as their saviors. We mainly stayed around Al Nassariya and stirred up rebellion. When the war was over, we then let those people be massacred by the thousands and I'll never forgive GHWB for that. It is one thing to understand WHY it was done, but an entirely different one to be on the ground and see it happen with all the power in the world to put a stop to it and yet not lifting a finger. It was easy to find the mass graves because we watched them getting filled. IMO this war was deserved and Saddam IS the weapon of mass destruction. It was a debt of honor and I am proud of you for redeeming this country's reputation in their eyes.

I don't know if the Shia still trust us or not. I think after seeing us bleed and take the casualties they are gaining back their immage of America as a noble country with noble ideas. I don't know if most understand the profound and amazing sight the elections were, but those elections were purchased at a high cost and I would hope that people never forget those who've suffered to get them. My brother-in-law is a CW-3 over there for a year, and I have a cousin there.

I wish you all the luck in the world and you have my respect for what you're about to do. Thanks.
 
I salute all Vets. From WWII (thanks Dad and Harold - FIL), to Korea, to Viet Nam (thanks Don - BIL, thanks Jimmy - Best Man), to Granada, to Desert Storm I and II (thanks Mark, thanks Chris) as well as all those who do contract support work (more now than there has ever been) and let's NOT FORGET all those who sit at home and PRAY for their loved one's safe return home.

I SALUTE YOU ALL. THANKS IS JUST NOT ENOUGH.
 
I have been getting some e-mails from a LTC who has been in Iraq. His comments about the men and women that serve us was that they are well trained, ready, commited and willing to do what it takes. Their major concern is that if they don't return, that their families are taken care of properly.

If any of you know of a soldier overseas, make sure you see to it that their families are spoken for; that is the overiding concern.
 
A message from Suburbia

I never served. There were no Wars or calls to arms during my years as a young man although the generation before and after saw it first hand. My Father was a Navy Radarman, my Uncle flew Jets in ‘nam, my Brother-in-law received a grand tour of Afghanistan while his triplets were born and my Cousin and best friend, Sean, is a Marine currently in Iraq. Sean’s job description is expediter … he schedules last minute meet-n-greets between terrorists and Allah, his joke.

I’m an average American Joe, Engineering degree, a loving wife, two spoiled kids, a mortgage, a dog. Wednesday night is Taco night at our house. I try to stay informed, watch the news, read the paper. I vote Republican, change my oil every 3k and bitch about the crabgrass encroaching on my Bermuda.

And I appreciate every day, as much as is humanly possible for a man that has never taken enemy fire, the sacrifices made by those that serve.

A day doesn’t pass that I don’t give thanks. A day doesn’t pass that I don’t pay homage to those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom I enjoy and the life I live. A day doesn’t pass that I don’t pray for peace in my son’s lifetime. And a day doesn’t pass that I don’t pray for the safe return of our brothers and sisters currently in harms way.

To those that will not be coming home … there are no words in the English language to express my sorrow and my gratitude. To you I owe a debt I can never begin to repay.
 
Cheers,

My father flew "bombardment" in WWII (B-25), I flew two tours, driving "gunships" in Nam - I WILL stand and salute these "brothers in arms" when they return. Alive or in a flag drapped coffin.

I OWE them - we ALL owe them - they are the ones that stand for defending freedom and dieing for it. "This" war started on 9/11 - and it won't end any time soon!

The sooner the "press" figures this out, and decides to tell the "liberal" people in this country to "think" that this is a "right" thought, then we'll be much closer to ending this "war" than we'll ever be!

To ALL my "brothers in arms" - from wars that were before my time - to "wars" I wasn't told about - THANK YOU!

Blue Max 68-P2
Nam: 67/68, 69/70

Gentle winds,
cr
 
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