11/11/11 Veterans day

[The G.O.A.T]

Thanks Vets...

[tbonetas]

US Navy, Ret. To my brothers and sisters in arms, don't believe it when they tell you NAVY stands for Never Again Volunteer Yourself. Giving...is a damn good thing. Be proud, and carry on.

[Sami]

[sensualsanaa]

Happy Veterans Day gents!

[john353]

ACO. 2/505 82ND ABN DIV 1984-1987

[IIFFOFRDB]

Thank you all for your service! My son will be back from his second tour in a month or so,.... YAHOOOO!

[ninjaturtle]

Soulmanike - amen. Thanks to all our men and women from my Dad's "Greatest Generation" to Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afganistan. As much as we in the USA beat ourselves up at times about not being "good enough", we are still the best that the world to date has seen.

[punisher]

Originally Posted by Wakeuр

Man...9:30...I've been waiting for this thread all morning...you're slacking...

It's been a ride fellas, but I'm hanging it up. 9 years, Staff Sergeant, two tours in Iraq, I'm done in December. Now everyone go get your free meal somewhere today, we've sure as hell earned it.

Thank you for your service. I am both Air Force (Air Cop, Medic, Military Public Health Inspector) and Army (MP, Combat Medic, Recruiter) vet and hung up my Air Force uniform 12/31/2009 after 25 years of service. I served in Panama '89, Desert Shield/Storm, ONE and OIF, Operation Site 51 (TDY to Israel for joint training), plenty of TDY and FTX's, been to and traveled numerous countries and good 'ole USA. I joined in 1982 at age 19, got out for a few and went back in.

Currently attending junior college and knocking out my pre-requisites for nursing and recently took my placement test to attend a private college for my BSN (been accepted and will start 02/2012) thanks to Post 9-11 GI Bill. I already have a degree so this will be my second one. Again, thanks for your service and to others that have served and serving and those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Good luck in the civilian world 'cause I still miss the camaraderie that I still can't find out here in the civilian world. Nice fruit salad on your chest, looks almost like mine. Just sayin'.

[Gator42]

Originally Posted by punisher

Thank you for your service. I am both Air Force (Air Cop, Medic, Military Public Health Inspector) and Army (MP, Combat Medic, Recruiter) vet and hung up my Air Force uniform 12/31/2009 after 25 years of service. I served in Panama '89, Desert Shield/Storm

We served in some of the same Op's. Well AO's anyway.
That "Just Cause" Op was F'ed up wasn't it?

[Wakeup]

Originally Posted by punisher

Nice fruit salad on your chest, looks almost like mine. Just sayin'.

Went to Chili's for my first free meal yesterday and an old woman wanted to know if her husband could look at my uniform. I said sure and she led me over to a guy in a wheelchair with a hat on and he admired my ribbons and said how good a soldier I must have been to have acquired so many in only nine years (he could read the stripes and bars on my uniform and knew how much time I had spent in as well as how much time overseas.

He said he had been in but his medals weren't nearly as impressive as mine and he lifted up the lapel of his jacket and he was wearing mini medals from his years in. (1) Distinguished Service Cross, (1) Silver Star, (2) Bronze Stars, (2) Purple Hearts and a European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four campaign stars on it. His hat read "Argonne Forest, Battle of the Bulge". Nine ribbons, I have nineteen.

I kneeled down, touched his hand and told him that I was GIVEN mine...but he EARNED every one of his. He and I spent the lunch talking about his experiences in St. Vith with the 106th Division. I've never been ashamed of my service, I've put my life into being the best soldier I could be, but this humble man with his nine medals made me, a hard staff sergeant in uniform, cry.

[punisher]

Originally Posted by Gator42

We served in some of the same Op's. Well AO's anyway.
That "Just Cause" Op was F'ed up wasn't it?

Yeah, that's because the Panamanian legislature declared knucklehead Noriega its Presidente and then ended up shooting and killing a Marine. Bush Sr. got pissed off and sent about 27,000 of us U.S. troops against the PDF. We unleashed a lot of firepower and one city was burnt to the ground and practically nothing was left standing. Awful...saw too many death and destruction not to mention several "friendly fire". Noriega became their president 12/15/1989 and we invaded on 12/20/1989 and after that his presidency didn't last long 'cause he ended up in the U.S. under arrest by the U.S. Marshall agency.

[punisher]

Originally Posted by Wakeuр

Went to Chili's for my first free meal yesterday and an old woman wanted to know if her husband could look at my uniform. I said sure and she led me over to a guy in a wheelchair with a hat on and he admired my ribbons and said how good a soldier I must have been to have acquired so many in only nine years (he could read the stripes and bars on my uniform and knew how much time I had spent in as well as how much time overseas.

He said he had been in but his medals weren't nearly as impressive as mine and he lifted up the lapel of his jacket and he was wearing mini medals from his years in. (1) Distinguished Service Cross, (1) Silver Star, (2) Bronze Stars, (2) Purple Hearts and a European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four campaign stars on it. His hat read "Argonne Forest, Battle of the Bulge". Nine ribbons, I have nineteen.

I kneeled down, touched his hand and told him that I was GIVEN mine...but he EARNED every one of his. He and I spent the lunch talking about his experiences in St. Vith with the 106th Division. I've never been ashamed of my service, I've put my life into being the best soldier I could be, but this humble man with his nine medals made me, a hard staff sergeant in uniform, cry.

I love these WWII vets and whenever I get the chance I would converse with them and learned a lot from them. When I was a medic working in base hospital in California, I have seen many of my WWII vet patients passed away. It is sad that these brave men passed away but very thankful to them that we are not speaking German full-time.

To be honest with you, I didn't even take advantage of that free meal yesterday and haven't been for the past 3 years. I believe, if I am not mistaken, Golden Corral will have their free meal this Monday.

[Guest040616]

Originally Posted by john353

ACO. 2/505 82ND ABN DIV 1984-1987

+1

Ahhhh, the memories. Airborne!

[punisher]

Originally Posted by bigtex

+1

Ahhhh, the memories. Airborne!

When I was an Army Recruiter, I worked side by side with a bunch of crazy, I mean crazy, 82nd "All American" Airborne recruiters. They hated it because they were all DA select and didn't want to be there. I remember this one Jump Master, he would talk to his applicants like they were crap...either you tell him you will join or get the f**k out of his face and office. Needless to say, they got rid of him and he went back to his unit. He was "sad" to go back. Lol

[Jackie S]

I am a part of a breed that is slowly, (LITERALLY), dying off. Drafted in 1967, they took me kicking and screaming.

But I went. And to this day I am proud of that "US" that was in front of my service number.