Honoring All Who Served...Thank You

DoubleEgger

An early special anniversary thank you goes out the members of Seal Team 6 and all of the support staff who eradicated that worthless rat Bin Laden from this planet on May 2, 2011. #neverforget

SamIAm2

Thanks for sharing, nice to see Discovery again Have a great day @Focker.

Focker

SamIAm2 said:

Thanks for sharing, nice to see Discovery again Have a great day @Focker.

Thanks my friend.  Application is in for this year, and sweet talked the organizer.  Hoping to get on my third consecutive flight this October.  Figured the weather and time of year would be nice.  Truly an honor, to do this annually, as long as I can.  My Dad's flight in 2016 was the first all Vietnam flight.  Guy on the bottom far left fell on the bus, in the middle, at our first stop.  I carried him off of it and down the steps.  Lost my Smith sunglasses in the dust up.  We pressed on, using the wheelchair and wheelchair lift.  Someone found my glasses later in the day, and returned them intact.  

northGAcock

Appreciate and recognize the new banner for the Holiday.

While not in memorial....i attended a neighbors retirement ceremony from the Army and post celebration with about 60 other friends and soldiers earlier in the week. Had to say it was a moving experience and was amazed at the career and accomplishments of my friend. With the exception of his college affiliation (LSU) he is a fine human being.

Thanks to all who serve and have served....and especially those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.  

WyBBQer

I want to also thank the great men and women who has served and given me this opportunity to live in the greatest country.  Also all their families who also sacrificed a lot.

REB17

Can we stick a pin in this and save for veteran's day? This week-end should be about honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, at least as I understand and have always celebrated. 

vegas slim

THANK YOU to all who have served i appreciate you! every year we go to the boulder city nevada veterans cemetary to place flags on the graves of the fallen it is inspiring to see people of  all ages  paying respect to  the heros

Stubby

Happy Memorial day. THANK YOU to all that have served and are serving. Those who gave the biggest sacrifice for our freedom are heroes and a special thank you and our  prayers.. 

YukonRon

Let us not forget the families, and loved ones of the fallen heroes. They are the people, that remember every day, those that they have lost.
Hoping they will find peace, and they are true heroes, as well.
Thank you to the fallen, for paying the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Thank you family members and loved ones that continue to harbor the loss. We are free because of them.

THEBuckeye

One of the honors of my life was to attend my Uncle's funeral at Arlington National. He lived  a rich full life following his years of service flying fighter jets in Korea and Viet Nam and the Air National Guard. The 21 gun salute, I read today, is the highest military honor. 

If you ever have the opportunity to go, do not hesitate and travel costs be damned. 

The odd part is, based on backlog, the Arlington ceremony is likely  be scheduled a few months after the actual death. 

DWFII

With all due respect, thanks are fine, but anyone who really wants to honour those who have served, and are serving, might consider honouring the Constitution; honouring the Flag; honouring the Rule of Law; honouring the Sovereignty of the USA and,  above all, honouring the First Amendment and the right of others to speak their minds and express their opinions irrespective of how "deplorable" they might seem.

That's why these folks serve and what they fought and died for.

THEBuckeye

B I N G O 

#MAGA

GrillSgt

Really should try to keep politics out of this thread. 

GATraveller

Had the chance to take the kids to some places here in D.C. to give them a better idea about what it means to be free.

YukonRon

Let us also remember the loved ones of those departed. It is they who must live with the ultimate sacrifice, every second, of every day.
Such a heavy cost, shared by many.

JohnEggGio

@GATraveller. I visited Arlington 2 years ago with my daughter.  Very powerful.  Searched-out my grandfather’s grave.

DWFII

GrillSgt said:

Really should try to keep politics out of this thread. 

I agree with you.

That said, for some just the recognition that the country owes a debt to those who are willing, and have defended it, is in itself a political statement. And often a controversial one. 

And if I may, I would observe that for those who have served, these out-of-the-blue and pro-forma...almost obligatory...thanks, get tedious sometimes. 

Most just do / did their duty. Most were just "giving back" a small measure (and sometime a full measure) of what had been given to them.

Even if it makes the "thanker" feel good, it gets a little uncomfortable for the veteran at times. 

TEXASBGE2018

DWFII said:

GrillSgt said:

Really should try to keep politics out of this thread. 

I agree with you.

That said, for some just the recognition that the country owes a debt to those who are willing, and have defended it, is in itself a political statement. And often a controversial one. 

And if I may, I would observe that for those who have served, these out-of-the-blue and pro-forma...almost obligatory...thanks, get tedious sometimes. 

Most just do / did their duty. Most were just "giving back" a small measure (and sometime a full measure) of what had been given to them.

Even if it makes the "thanker" feel good, it gets a little uncomfortable for the veteran at times. 

Interesting, that is almost always the exact opposite reaction that I get when I thank someone for their service. Most are very humbled that I would acknowledge them for their service (usually the older vets). I thank veterans every time I can. Especially to the WWII vets because there are fewer and fewer of them each day. I usually try to talk to them for a bit about their experience so I can better understand what they went through. I can never fully relate but at least I can better understand them and appreciate the courage they had. For a lot of veterans, they may never get thanked and to be acknowledged may bring them to tears of joy and acceptance. If I can do that for someone I will. I will never stop thanking someone for bleeding or losing life or limb for my ability to live in this great country.

DWFII

TEXASBGE2018 said:

Interesting, that is almost always the exact opposite reaction that I get when I thank someone for their service. Most are very humbled that I would acknowledge them for their service (usually the older vets). I thank veterans every time I can. Especially to the WWII vets because there are fewer and fewer of them each day. I usually try to talk to them for a bit about their experience so I can better understand what they went through. I can never fully relate but at least I can better understand them and appreciate the courage they had. For a lot of veterans, they may never get thanked and to be acknowledged may bring them to tears of joy and acceptance. If I can do that for someone I will. I will never stop thanking someone for bleeding or losing life or limb for my ability to live in this great country.

Well, first, I know I am not alone in feeling this way, although most vets are invariably polite and appreciative when it happens.  Maybe you just have to be a certain age and hang around with a certain crowd.

And maybe authentic gratitude  (by way of thanks) is different from pro forma gratitude. And not so commonplace as to lose meaning.

But, that said, if you know vets who are grateful for the recognition, by all means and good on you for your outreach. I'd like, and have done, to buy a beer for a vet every Veteran's Day. Even had one or two bought for me.

Don't stop what you're doing.

On another note...and just for clarity...i think topics such as this one are fine. And I am not criticizing the OP or anyone who has posted here.

What is not said in all I have posted here is that thanks (and words) are cheap. Actions speak louder than words--burning the flag, vandalizing monuments--it's all around us and increasing.

Finally, at the risk of injecting a smidgen of unwanted "politics"--policemen are soldiers in defense of their country, too.  

GrillSgt

This is not the thread to tell people how to think or act. 

GATraveller

GrillSgt said:

This is not the thread to tell people how to think or act. 

Everyone be cool. The hall monitor is back. 

GATraveller

Legume

Just don’t criticize the OP, he can be a real animal sometimes.

GrillSgt

Blart’s the name. 

DWFII

GrillSgt said:

This is not the thread to tell people how to think or act. 

I understand. I agree.

I wonder, however,  if this is a thread where a veteran can offer insights and a perspective that might be objectively germane?  Maybe a bit  "off the grid"...and not what those who take it for granted, expect.

GrillSgt

Sure. But that doesn’t mean other people are wrong. I’ve never felt anything other than appreciation for my thanks. 

DWFII

Read it again...I don't think anyone can make the case that I said people were wrong to feel appreciation or that people were wrong to thank veterans for their service.

Not everyone...not every veteran...feels as you do however, and by your own logic, it doesn't make them wrong. Either.

Say "barbecue" out loud 30 times. By the end it will be just meaningless noise. That's a real, observed phenomenon.

Same with thanks, same with anything said or done without context. It tends to become meaningless.

DoubleEgger

Please take this conversation elsewhere. This thread should not be an indictment of anyone or anything. 

DWFII

Fine with me...and I agree.

But let me leave you with one question:

"Isn't that what you've just done?"

DoubleEgger

DWFII said:

Fine with me...and I agree.

But let me leave you with one question:

"Isn't that what you've just done?"

Let it go man.