Veterans Day

Nice touch....I lived on a Naval Air Base in the summer of 1968..The Base Commander and the Chaplain would pull up in that offical car to get my "aunt" as her husband was the Company Air Commander. The kids and I knew what was going on...The one bright spot was that sometimes they had been shot down and were M.I.A. When the prisoners were released I saw my on-base friend's father in the group! Thanks to all who have served!!!!   Cathy

Well I got to give you all a story too....... On Dec. 6th 1941, my Uncle Manuel and Aunt Tina were married, my uncle was stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time. He was in the Navy and the ship he was stationed on was one of the ships that was sunk during the attack on Dec 7th.  My Aunt told me the story how, she didnt see him for a week after the attack. My grandfather Diego was a civilian carpenter who worked on the base, wasnt seen for nearly a month after the bombing. The most harrowing was the story my mother told me. She was dressed and getting ready to go to church. The Japanese planes flew directly over their home and she could see the rising sun on the side of the planes, said they were flying so low, she ran out to see why these planes were buzzing their house so early on a Sunday. I told these stories to a tour guide when we went to the Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor for our 25th anniv. a few years back. He asked me to share them with our group and Deb and I did, it was a little emotional, as my mother had just recently passed on.

God bless all our soldiers.....Dave

My father and father-in-law are both WWII vets.  Our kids had to do these ancestor reports in 5th grade...they all picked different people, but covered both grandfathers.  It was absolutely amazing to hear "the stuff" that they both talked about, really incredible.  Keep in mind, over 50 years later, both dad's for the first time were letting this stuff out.  My father-in-law was in Europe with his 2 brothers all separated...by total coincidence he ran into his brother in France...that was one of the happy stories.  (can you imagine his parents w/3 kids over there?? they changed the rules for that)  As the war was winding down, he was stationed in one of the concentration camps, when some of the German prisoners of war were placed there.  My dad has some guilt about some of the innocent people killed, which he just mentioned when he was watching the PBS series.  He has some fascinating stories and really had a dangerous position related to being an excellent map reader and having an excellent sense of direction.

Really brave guys....all the vets!!!  During the Eagles game on Sunday in Washington, DC they were showing scenes at the Vietnam Wall Memorial...its hard to describe how impressive that wall is until you stand in front of it...its simply overwhelming.  All of my household donations go to the Vietnam Vets...they come to your house, so its really convienent.  The phone # is 1-800-775-VETS

Shred- my father-in-law was also a civilian carpenter, worked at McGuire Air Force base most of his adult life...lost most of his hearing from the planes.

I just got an e-mail about putting this on a Christmas Card list (Holidays).  As well as adults, this is also always a good assignment for children of all ages through teachers, parents...

          A Recovering American Soldier
          c/o Walter Reed Army Medical  Center
          6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
          Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

Hi Stu,
Thanks for the info.  I learn something new every day...I never heard of snopes...does it function like a filter for rumors or to check to see if something is legit?  Do I interpret this right...it was a good intentions idea that won't work for security reasons, which I can now see (ironic too) or a spoof, like someone was using sick humor in reference to Vets?  I'll let the person know who sent it to me.  Thanks again.

And Stu, what a nice story about your son's homecoming!!!  I like to believe the majority of people in the world are good, it just doesn't always make for a good story the way the media is, etc.  One day when I was getting my hair cut by a young woman, she told me about her dad's homecoming from Vietnam and how Americans were spitting at him when he returned to the states.  It was really a sad story, but several years later, her dad went back to Vietnam (the details escape me) and when he came home the family had a very special welcome home party.