Large Scale Central

VETERANs Day

General Discussion
#1

It is the VETERAN, not the not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of press.

It is the VETERAN, not the not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the not the politician,
who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN, who salutes the Flag.

It is the VETERAN who serves under the flag !

Thank you to all the men and women of LSC,
who have served our country over the years.

JimC.

#2

It is a good day to remember who gave of their time and life and be thankful for what we have because of those that have served.

#3

To all of those that didn’t get to come home , never forget .

#4

When I was a kid, I was in Boy Scouts. One evening, one of the dad’s and I were sitting around the campfire by ourselves. The rest of the adults/kids were off doing something. We got to talking about hobbies (I was a prolific model builder) and I told him I had just finished a model of a B17G, put it on a diorama, and it was sitting in the window of one of the local hobby shops. He said that he had been a waist gunner on a B17 in WWII. Over the next hour or so, he started talking about different things he had seen (planes cut in half, standing knee deep in shell casings, bullet holes in the floor all around him, etc).

Over the next several years, until I went off to college, he would sometimes call and ask that I come down so he could talk about what he had done, what he had seen. To a young kid, this was great. I wish I had taped it all, I’d have a thousand stories.

When he died in the mid 1980s, at his wake, his wife took me aside and told me that he had never spoken of what had happened to him during WWII, not even to her. (they married after he came back from his tour) I was the only person he ever spoke to about it. She said he liked talking to me about it, and it gave him peace.

Godspeed, Airman James Short, 8th AF

#5
Bob McCown said:
Godspeed, Airman James Short, 8th AF
Please, in your charity, and on this special day, add to him - Airman 1st Class Thomas A. Foley of Oregon, lost over the Atlantic in 1942, and remembered on the Wall of Remembrance at the United States Military Cemetery, Madingley, near Cambridge, England.

tac

#6

When I was growing up, one of the old guys in our parish was an Ace from World War 1. He was an advisor to the acolytes. He told me that he had 6 confirmed and four probables. Like Bob, he would tell me stories of his exploits in France during the War to End All Wars. He seemed older than G-d, but was probably in his late 60’s-early 70’s when I knew him in the early 1960’s. Most of his stories were about chasing the young ladies (cleaned up for 14 year old ears), but occasionally, he would tell me about dogfights with the Bosche.

Once, I asked him if he still had nightmares about the fighting. He said that he did, sometimes. I asked when was the last one.

He said, “Last night.”

Rest in Peace, my Hero.