My thanks to all who have or are currently serving to give me the right to post this message.

My heartfelt thanks to those who have given their all and didn't make it back.

I miss you Dad.

Thanks to all who serve or have served.

My Dad. USS Brownson. Forged his birth certificate and enlisted at age 14. Thanks to all who keep us safe and those who gave their lives for ours.

Thank you great men and women of the Armed Services for giving your all so that the United States Of America can be strong and free. The only thing I apologize for is that you couldn't enjoy a full wonderful life with your loved ones. I regret that some people got wealthy because of war and others lost everything.

My Dad passed away 27 years ago. Shot down over the Med. with the 376th bomb group. They were bombing the Italian fleet. He swam in the Med. for 3 hours before being picked up by an Italian freighter. Turned over to German forces and spent 34 months as a POW. He was the ONLY one of the crew that made it out alive. He survived all that and them died of a heart attack at age 67 after 35 years of un-filtered Camels. What do you think killed him? (Any smokers reading this?) I miss him every day.

I would like to thank all those who have served and are serving. Thank you for defending my right to agree or disagree!

My buddy was in the Marines and has had a sticker on his car since he returned from Iraq and Afghanistan that reads:

All gave some, but some gave ALL.

I think that says it better than I will ever be able to. Godspeed and thank you for your sacrifice that I may be free.

Jim

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My thanks to all that have or are serving. Not just today but everyday !

Here's to those who sacrificed so much. Our freedom has never been free.

Remembering all those who gave for our freedoms and for God and Country.

My father included.....

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Cheers patriots!

Both my parents served in Desert Storm around the same time.. My mom actually had me and then got deployed a week or so later! Pretty crazy haha. Idk how many of you have been to the cemetery in Normandy but wow! It's surprising how many casualties a single war can put out..

To all who have and all who still protect our country and our rights!

This is one of those days that I hate.
My paternal grandfather was mustard gassed in WW1. He died from the effects when I was 2 years old. Never got to know him.
My father, a railroad Dick, was exempt from the draft but transported the A-bomg for Nagasaki. Mt father-in-law ran a munitions plant in Ohio during WW2. My stepfather-in-law landed on Normandy & wouldn't ever say anything other than being shot SEVEN times in one day!
My bother was drafted at the start of the first TET (Vietnam)(1966). Wound up serving as a copuer programmer at Edgewood Arsenal for 2 years.
I was drafted at the start of the second TET(1968). I spent the next 20 months in Kansas, while 38 of my basic training compatriates were killed, 43 wounded, 16 MIA's.
Three generations of my family were involved. None were killed. Thankfully.

Back then(my day, and they may still do it today) you were given a sort of class yearbook when you were deemed capable of killing. I have kept mine for 42 years, and that is why I hate this day.

I and many of my high school buddies, were inducted the same day. We thought it was great & worked hard to be a team. Then, I was split frpm them. I was one of only 3 from the unit that did not go for AIT. None of them got leave before being shipped to Vietnam. I was given 2 weeks & told to report to Ft. Riley Kansas to train National Guard troops (gas chamber). It was sweet duty.

Then I started following the Army Times, which listed KIA's. Ronnie Niewahner, Gary Yeager, Aaaron Brown, Hoke Cato, Glen Coxwell, Joel Chwsson, John Fox, Johnnie Hudson, Jimmy Licree, Seve Marsh, Jim Richardson, Alan Reddy, and others that I knew only slightly. On this day, I always feel guilty that I wasn't there to help them. Many other days too. I'm tearing as I write this.

Godspeed my heroes. Thank you, thank you for being my friends and making the ultimate sacrifice for this wonderful country. I'm blessed by your friendship & still stressed at missing you. We were just kids!
Pat

Aftetrthought. I have no children, but I do have a number of nephews & nieces that are living nice lives & have no idea why we are fighting in Adganistan & Iraq. Wish a couple of them would become involved.