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Our Daily Thread 11-11-13

Good Morning!

And Happy Veterans’ Day to all who have served.

Thank you. 🙂

On this day in 1918 World War I came to an end when the Allies and Germany signed an armistice. This day came to be recognized as Veteran’s Day in the United States.

Also on this day in 1918, Poland was reestablished shortly after the surrender of Germany.

In 1921 The Tomb of the Unknowns was dedicated at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia by U.S. President Harding.

In 1938 Kate Smith first sang Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” on network radio.

In 1972 the U.S. Army turned over its base at Long Bihn to the South Vietnamese army. The event symbolized the end of direct involvement in the Vietnam War by the U.S. military.

In 1981 the U.S.S. Ohio was commissioned at the Electric Boat Division in Groton, CT. It was the first Trident class submarine.

And in 1984 President Ronald Reagan accepted the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a gift to the nation from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

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Quotes of the Day, since it’s also his birthday…

“Better to fight for something than live for nothing.”

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“Always do everything you ask of those you command.”

George S. Patton

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Since it’s Veterans’ Day, I’m going with some military bands.

Since the Marines had a birthday yesterday, we’ll start with the US Marine Corps Marching Band.

Then it’s the Untited States Military Academy Band. Go ARMY!

Next we have the US Air Force Band of Flight.

And last, but certainly not least, the US Navy Fleet Forces Band.

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QoD?

Who is your favorite veteran?

33 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 11-11-13”

  5. I have to name my deceased father as my favorite vet. Next to him I will say the Unknown Vet, which is a composite of all those, although strangers to me, gave their lives so that people like me can know freedom.

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  7. Good Morning Everyone. Happy Veteran’s Day Chas and A.J. The real heroes amongst our ranks are our brothers and sisters in arms who never came home. A lot of Liberal thinking folks seem to consider military people as “war mongers” Nothing could be further from the truth. No one wants peace and a cessation from hostilities more than those who have to go into harms way. Freedom is never free. Just as our Savior paid for our freedom with his blood so do the veterans who secure our freedoms with their blood.

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  8. And a Happy Veterans Day to one and all.

    A “funny” thing about education. Some institutions honor the veterans by taking the day off, such as the high school where I teach. Some do not, such as the community college where I teach a night class. So, I am off for the day but have to go in tonight. Well, someone didn’t read the calender and put on the syllabus that there is no class tonight. That same someone emailed his students last week with an apology and a note saying there is class. We’ll see how many show up. You’d think with all the vets attending the six campuses that the community college would be the one with the day off. But it is in Missouri and the high school is in Illinois. Guess in which state the unions are stronger?

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  9. Who is my favorite Veteran? My Dad of course. He was too young for the actual war but he served in the clean up in Germany in the late 40’s. He was also in the Navel reserve during in the late 50’s and early 60’s.

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  10. No fair asking who our favorite Veteran is. That is like asking a mother which one of her children are her favorite!
    The obvious choice for me is my husband. Paul served in the Air Force right out of high school. He was out for several years, went back in the Navy Reserves, then back to full active duty in the Navy.

    Then there would be my dad. He was in the Navyfrom 1957 to 1962. Those were more peaceful years. He didn’t talk about it much. In unpacking this past week I have come across some photos my grandmother must have had that Daddy never got the chance to unpack and I haven’t until now.

    Then, there would be each of my uncles. One served in the Navy with my father and went on to retire from the Coast Guard. The uncle who died this Summer served in the Navy on a aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War. The fourth uncle? The baby? He was a Marine.

    Here is the secret, my favorite Veteran is Mr. George W. Brown. He was a young man in Rocky Mount, NC before World War II. He joined the Navy and served twenty years. He went on to retire from Civil Service, then travelled the country as Fleet Reserve President. This past year has brough him ill health and several surgeries. He is a tough old thing and everyime my phone rigns and it’s his son, I hold my breath. I know death is coming for all of us, but his will be one more of our Greatest Generation lost and somehow that chokes me up this morning.

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  11. Second favorite was my Uncle Andy, my father’s middle brother. He saw serious action in WWII. At one time he was thought dead. They even send my grandmother a letter on condolence. He died a few weeks before my son was born and we named him after him.

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  12. It’s Remembrance Day up here in Canada. Wearing my poppy and remembering the sacrifices of our veterans.

    It’s long underwear day today. -11F. Hubby has to march in the Remembrance Day walk to the Cenotaph wearing his dress uniform. I guess he’ll be pretty cold, but it will be nothing like what our veterans dealt with.

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  13. I served and my grandfather was a drill sergeant during WW I. My favorite was my 5 greats grandfather. He served for 3 days in the militia in Falmouth, Maine during the Revolutionary War.

    the real AJ I read your respect for Coach K yesterday. The best coach of the Modern Era. I don’t feel the love! So now, John Wooden is one of those Old Guys? I was in high school, college and the Army when he was winning NCAA Championships.

    “John Wooden
    Basketball Player
    John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the “Wizard of Westwood”, he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period—seven in a row—as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Wikipedia”

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  14. Wooden filled in the missing UCLA years for our family. Wooden’s first year was my dad and mom’s senior year. My freshman year was Wooden’s last year. It’s almost the best we can come up with for a family legacy. 🙂

    My favorite veteran just got out of bed and into the shower. He’s followed by my dad (Navy; 1952-1954; finished as a reservist LCDR by the skin on his teeth. Or, as my husband used to say after hearing some of his wild stories, “if your father had been one of my JOs, I would have fired him long ago.”).

    Then there’s the doughboy, my grandfather the immigrant private who, as I’ve told you before, got spinal meningitis while marching in the Louisiana swamps and went to the hospital rather than “over there.” He survived, his Army troopmates did not. 😦

    Fascinating thoughts from Eric Metaxas this morning, about the movie Gravity and spiritual separation from God: http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/23791

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  16. Favorite vet: My dad, who served in the Navy in WWII. He was in the Pacific on the cruiser USS Chicago, but never talked a lot about it. One of his first tours was the cleanup of Pearl Harbor which he said was just filled with oil.

    2nd favorite vet would have to be my Uncle Bill. He was a Pearl Harbor survivor (USS Nevada) and was initially reported dead. But, in face, he finally learned to swim that day as he was one of those who leaped overboard and swam for their lives.

    He’s quoted (“Seaman William Hickey”) in this online profile of his buddy who died that day:

    http://mva.sd.gov/sdwwiimemorial/SubPages/profiles/Display.asp?P=672

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  18. So this explains what happened to me Sunday while I was talking outside with a neighbor after church and the postal truck stopped to hand me a package — a book — I’d ordered from Amazon. On a Sunday?? my neighbor and I both asked.

    “The cash-short United States Postal Service, which has failed to win congressional approval to stop delivering mail on Saturdays to save money, has struck a deal with the online retailer Amazon.com to deliver the company’s packages on Sundays — a first for both, with obvious advantages for each. … “

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  20. Good Morning and thank you all here who have served in our military…
    Paul would be my favorite resident vet…he served 4 years in the Air Force…
    My Daddy served in the Naval Air Reserves. But, my favorite vet would have to be Mr. Richard Bartel….my very first boss. He owned the corner drug store and was a pharmacist. He fought at Iwo Jima and he had two dimpled scars on his bald spot where shrapnel was removed from his head. In a little jar on the counter, was a container of sand…a bullet buried in the middle. His war buddies would come into the pharmacy and exchange story after story….and this 16 year old girl was blessed upon the hearing of the remembrances of these war heros….those men have forever impacted my life…I am thankful….

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  22. Around here the schools have class today. But our local veteran and war monuments are located between the elementary school and high school, and the children come out for the ceremony every year. My daughter has the day off. We’ll be heading over in a few minutes to watch the ceremony.

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  24. Good Afternoon, Y’all!

    My dad, my Uncle Fred, My Uncle Stan, Cousins a’ plenty and my old friend W. C. Wilson (deceased). He was an example to everyone of an officer and a gentleman. He flew Corsairs in WWII, survived the Forestall fire and flew missions with Greg Boyington.

    God Bless all who serve!

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  25. My favorite veteran would be my husband.

    I have an uncle who has served many years and retired from the military. There is a photo with him, his three sons and his grandson all in uniform. His daughter-in-law has also served. His sons and daughter-in-law all /serve/served on the same base. His brother was in two different branches of the military. One of his other brothers was a POW in Korea. His mother was told he was dead, a claim she never believed and was proven right on.

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  26. My children do not relate to “seen but not heard”. None of them. Well, the third son fits but that is it.

    Meanwhile, they were mostly off to the VFW chili feed, where they hang out with veterans of various wars, engaging in conversation and good food. We have a lot of veterans in our lives. Several world war II, Korean, Vietnam, more recent. Lots of good people with interesting stories and a lot of damage. War is ugly. Those who participate in them tend to not want them.

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  27. My favorite vet would be my dad. He was a doctor and a member of the 101st parachute troops that jumped in before D-day. He made it to his 50th D-day reunion and then died a week later.
    My grandfather on my mom’s side served as an ambulance driver during WWI. He was awarded special medals for valor from the government of France.

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  28. My favorite veteran?
    Well, there was my grandfather, who drove a tank in the second phase of the liberation of the Netherlands and then chauffeured a colonel in the final phase of the war. He never talked much about it, but I remember him saying simply, as we watched a documentary of the fall of Germany, “I was there, but the Lord was with me and I had a good wife and I made it.”

    Then there was my great-grandfather. I never met him, but he left behind some good stories. He ran away at seventeen to join up to fight in World War I (British Army). He was wounded in battle and captured by the Germans. He spent the rest of the war interned in a POW camp.

    The one who never made it back was my great uncle (son of the above). He was part of the First Special Service Forces, known as the Devil’s Brigade, a joint Canadian-American operation. He served first in the Aleutians, then they were sent to Italy, in the Anzio offensive. That is where he was killed while on patrol. His body was not discovered until years later, by a farmer plowing his field. He left a fiancé behind.

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  29. My veteran and I sneaked off to see a movie today. We saw Last Vegas. Not for everyone…it does have a PG-13 warning and probably needed and R but I did laugh my way through it. It was funny on the surface and serious below that. Robert DeNiro’s character was married to the love of his life for 40 years and wouldn’t let Michael Douglas’ character settle for anything less. Kevin Kline’s character had the opportunity to cheat on his wife and chose not to…which leads to the last scene in the movie that makes you scratch your head a for a moment. Morgan Freedman? Well in my book all he has to do is show up but his character was just as good as the rest. It was worth the price of admission.

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  31. We had a veteran tells us Sunday at church, that he had contacted the VA to see if they had information and/or maps on his unit during WW2. He remembers seeing Mussolini being hanged in the streets. They not only sent him the information he wanted, but a bronze star also. He was very moved by it. He is now quite fearful for the direction our own country is taking.

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  32. WOW is right Michelle. In so many ways it was such a more innocent time. For example the soldier lounging in the field with the flowers. In so many other ways it was not as innocent as we somehow are now. For example the naked French corpse. In my mind anything before 1950 or 1960 is Black and While. If I see something from before in color it doesn’t ring true. I will have to go back and look at these photos and see what I missed.

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