BCAInfoSys From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (7 years 12 months 16 hours ago) and read 839 times:
While I'm sure many of our more skeptical users would view this as just PR material, I found Boeing's new Memorial Day ad/spot very moving. I got goosebumps and a shiver down my spine watching it; it made me so proud to say that I work for Boeing.
In case any of you were interested, here are a couple of links you can use to view the 30-sec spot. (Note: For whatever reason, these links [external] weren't working for me; but give them a shot, hopefully they should work for you.)
So to all Veteran's worldwide, regardless of origin, a big Thank You for your service to your respective countries. You are truly role models. In thanks and to your memory, we honor you on Memorial Day, Anzac Day, Remembrance Day, V-Day, and many others.
So, to all those that gave their lives serving their country and to all those who are, gratefully, still with us, We Remember Them, Always.
Thank you too. Even though my grandpa died when I was 8, at least I had him around for a little bit. Alot of people who landed on Omaha Beach with him never came back. I'm very grateful for the sacrifices they made. Anyone else with a "war hero" of your own?
TriStarEnvy From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 2265 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (7 years 12 months 16 hours ago) and read 823 times:
I have saved this bit from an e-mail I got over seven years ago, and send it out every year, at this time to my friends.
WHAT IS A VET?
Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing
limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence
inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in
the leg- or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in
the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and
women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking.
What is a vet?
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia
sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers
didn't run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose
overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the
cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.
She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or
didn't come back AT ALL.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but
has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and
gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.
He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and
medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose
presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the
memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with
them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now
and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who
wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when
the nightmares come.
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person
who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his
country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and
he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the
finest, greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country,
just lean over and say "Thank You." That's all most people need, and
in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been
awarded or were awarded.
Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".
And I get a lump in my throat, just reading this....
If you don't stand for SOMETHING, you'll fall for ANYTHING.
BCAInfoSys From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 4, posted (7 years 12 months 16 hours ago) and read 817 times:
Another literary piece you might all appreciate:
Farewell to a Fallen Comrade
"I carry you now in death,
for all the times you carried me.
I find myself again in battle,
where life is the irony.
Our country lives because you died.
It is my heart that's under siege,
from the memories of that night.
We fought together through it all,
but you were gone with morning's light.
Your journey now ends where heroes lie.
We fold the flag o'er where you lie,
and turn to face your grieving bride.
Twenty-one shots ring out their farewell,
as she watches in tearful pride.
You answered a higher call.
My dear friend I wish you well,
as we commit you to the ground.
You gave all so we could live free,
this is the glory that you found.
We will always remember you.
Four somber jets fly overhead,
carrying your soul up to the sky.
I wait for peace and take my leave,
One last salute is my goodbye.
Enjoy your hard-earned warrior's rest."
57AZ From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 2550 posts, RR: 2 Reply 5, posted (7 years 11 months 4 weeks 1 day 1 hour ago) and read 791 times:
I would have to say that both my grandfathers and my great-uncle are my war heros. Grandfather Martin was a mess officer in the US Army and died in '43 before shipping out due to pneumonia before my mother was born. Grandfather Walker flew with the US Navy both stateside and off carriers in the Pacific. He was one of the pilots selected for STAG operations-his unit was STAG ONE. The activities of the STAG operation groups would remain classified until the late 1960s. They experimented with radio controlled drone aircraft which are the forerunners of the modern cruise missiles. One restored drone sits on display at NAS Pensecola in the US Navy Museum there. He also served as an instructor pilot during his time as a pilot. After the war, he flew very little but the few times he flew my parent's Cessna 414-a higher performance airplane than anything he ever flew-his skill was quite evident. Last but certainly not least is my Great-Uncle Ambrose. He spent the war in England with the Army Air Force as a mechanic working on the B-17s of the Eighth Air Force. Having the finest planes and pilots means nothing if you don't have the best support crews to keep them flying. He was one of them and one of the relative few that kept working on airplanes after the war, hiring on with Trans World Airlines. He spent his entire career with them as an A&P mechanic.
Memorial Day got it's start following the US Civil War as a day of remembrance for the war dead of the Confederate States of America. In May of 1868, it became an official day of remembrance for all war dead of the United States of America and the Confederate States of America. The official proclaimation was issued on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (a veteran's association for those who served in the US Army during the Civil War) in General Order No. 11. That order designated May 30, 1868 as the official day of remembrance. By 1890, May 30th was officially recognized by all northern states as Decoration Day though most of the southern states established their own dates for Decoration Day in resistance-some specifically setting their Decoration Day on Jefferson Davis's birthday. Decoration Day/Memorial Day did not become a day of remembrance of all United States war dead until after World War One.
[Edited 2005-05-28 10:39:02]
"When a man runs on railroads over half of his lifetime he is fit for nothing else-and at times he don't know that."
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