10 NOV. USMC Birthday | 11 NOV. Veterans Day 🇺🇸

Happy 248th USMC Birthday

10 November 2023 – The United States Marine Corps’ 248th Birthday

Prior to 1921, Marines celebrated the recreation of the Corps on 11 July with little pomp or pageantry.  On 21 October 1921, Major Edwin North McClellan, in charge of the Corps’s fledgling historical section, sent a memorandum to Commandant John A. Lejeune, suggesting the Marines’ original birthday of 10 November be declared a Marine Corps holiday to be celebrated throughout the Corps. Lejeune so ordered in Marine Corps Order 47.

   

11 November 2023 – U.S. Veterans Day

On November 11th, we pause to reflect on the history of this great Nation and honor all those who fought to defend it. Originally titled “Armistice Day” and intended to celebrate the end of World War I, “the war to end all wars,” Veterans Day allows us to give thanks to veterans past and present, men and women from all walks of life and all ethnicities, who stood up and said, “Send me.” We recognize your sacrifices, your sense of duty and your love for this country.

Remembrance Day around the world!

Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations member states since the end of WWI, to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V, in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries.  Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November in most countries to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month”, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente.

Poppy from MaryLou in the Netherlands

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Military Humor – 

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Farewell Salutes – 

John H. Amter – Brooklyn, NY; US Navy, WWII, ETO, Pharmacist’s Mate 2nd Class

Thank you – To ALL our veterans!

Felix A. Berrios – Houston, TX; US Army, Qatar, SSgt., 25/160th Signal Brigade, KWS

Billy A. DeBord (18) – Miamisburg, OH; US Army, Korea, Pfc., F Co/2/5/1st Calvary Division, KIA (Yongdong, SK)

James B. Delaney (102) – Sharon, MA; US Navy, WWII, PTO

Troy Fields Jr. – Knott Co, KY; Civilian, Newport News Shipyard welder / US Navy, WWII, gunner

Gene Jutlander – Monroe, UT; US Navy, WWII, gunner

Bobbie Knight – Orrville, OH; US Army, West Point “Black Knights” coach  /  College basketball coach, “The General”

Robert Larson – Cheyenne, WY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 15th Air Force tail gunner

Thomas Ken Mattingly – Hialeah, FL; US Navy, test pilot / NASA astronaut, RAdmiral (Ret. 27 y.)

Sarah M. Osofsky – Warwick, RI; US Army WAC, WWII

Arthur B. Smith (104) – Ontario, CAN; RC Army, WWII, Captain, 4th Field Reg/2nd Division

Bert Winzer (101) – Macungie, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 501/101st Airborne “Devil’s Brigade”, Bronze Star, Purple Heart

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THEY SERVE TOO!!

Michael’s tree, with my deepest thanks to Lavinia & Rick Ross @ Salmon Brook Farm

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USMC Birthday / Veterans Day 2022

The Marine Corps birthday has been commemorating on November 10 every year since 1775,  the year of establishment of Continental Marines. Every year the cake cutting ceremony with the conventional ball follows.

Saluting the U.S. Marine Corps

Marine Corps Birthday Cake

Sketch of the original Tun Tavern

 

 

 

 

 

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Veterans Day

On November 11th, we pause to reflect on the history of this great Nation and honor all those who fought to defend it. Originally titled “Armistice Day” and intended to celebrate the end of World War I, “the war to end all wars,” Veterans Day allows us to give thanks to veterans past and present, men and women from all walks of life and all ethnicities, who stood up and said, “Send me.” We recognize your sacrifices, your sense of duty and your love for this country.

Thank you – To ALL our veterans!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 11th Airborne Division jumps again!

PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.

 

For many other countries who remain free thanks to their veterans, this day is called Remembrance Day.  I thank you!!

 

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Military Humor – 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Lawrence “Junior” Anderson – Blanchard, MI; USMC, WWII, CBI, scout observer

Catherine Batoff – Cedar Lake, IN; US Army WAC, WWII

Jesse G. Bell – Roopsville, GA; US Navy, WWII, USS Case DD-370

Leo E. Cummings – Jackson, MI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division

Ralph Fiorio – Peekskill, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO, 8th Armored Division

David E. Holeman – Le Harpe, KS; US Air Force, WWII, PTO, # 646029, 17/24th Pursuit Group, POW, KWC (Cabanatuan Camp, P.I.)

Merle L. Pickup – Provo, UT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, Cpl. # 39832953, 393 BS/308 BG, KIA (India)

Paul J. Simons Jr. (102) – Wyoming, MO; US Army, WWII

James M. Triplett – King County, WA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, TSgt # 39202130, B-24 radio operator, 700BS/445 BG/2/8th Air Force

Allen H. Tuttle – King County, WA; US Army, Korea, Sgt. # 19261249, field artillery cannoneer, C Batt/38/2nd Infantry Division, POW, KWC (NK Camp # 5)

Larry A. Zich – Lincoln, NE; US Army, Vietnam, Chief Warrant Officer # 508603819, HQ/37/1st Signal Brigade, KIA

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Why is the only one standing the man with a wheelchair?

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USMC Birthday | Veterans Day

US Marine Corps Birthday

10 November 2021 – The United States Marine Corps’ 246th Birthday

Prior to 1921, Marines celebrated the recreation of the Corps on 11 July with little pomp or pageantry.  On 21 October 1921, Major Edwin North McClellan, in charge of the Corps’s fledgling historical section, sent a memorandum to Commandant John A. Lejeune, suggesting the Marines’ original birthday of 10 November be declared a Marine Corps holiday to be celebrated throughout the Corps. Lejeune so ordered in Marine Corps Order 47:

Sketch of the original Tun Tavern

 

11 November 2021 – U.S. Veterans Day

On November 11th, we pause to reflect on the history of this great Nation and honor all those who fought to defend it. Originally titled “Armistice Day” and intended to celebrate the end of World War I, “the war to end all wars,” Veterans Day allows us to give thanks to veterans past and present, men and women from all walks of life and all ethnicities, who stood up and said, “Send me.” We recognize your sacrifices, your sense of duty and your love for this country.

 

Poppy from MaryLou

Remembrance Day around the world!

Remembrance Day (sometimes known informally as Poppy Day) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations member states since the end of WWI, to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V, in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries.  Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November in most countries to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month”, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente.

Click on still pictures to enlarge.

 

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Military Humor –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

George Ankomeus – Ft. Atkinson, WI; US Army, Korea, Co. A/187th RCT

Santina Breen – Elizabeth, NJ; US Navy WAVES, WWII

Eric David – brn: Koln, GER; US Navy, WWII,  electrician’s mate

Edward Fay Jr. – Bradenton, FL; US Army, 11th Airborne Division

Robert J. Herynk – Hanover, KS; US Army, WWII, PTO, Pvt., Co K/3/126/32nd Infantry Division, KIA (Soputa-Sanananda Track, NG)

Allan F. Hicks – MO; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, SSgt. # 19145765, 319th Bomber Group/440th B Squadron, KIA (Italy)

Harold W. Lindsey – San Antonio, TX; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)

Stephen C. Mason – Jersey City, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Pvt. # 12165894, HQ Co/505/82nd Airborne Division, Bronze Star, Silver Star, KIA (Beek, NETH)

James McDonald – Leveland, TX; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Fireman 1st Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)

Walter C. Stein – Cheyenne, WY; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Seaman 1st Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)

Michaux Turbeville – Dillon, NC; US Army, Korea, Pfc., HQ Co/3/31/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin Reservoir)

Leon S. Wheeler – Conklin, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. E/188/11th Airborne Division

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Why is the only person standing, the one in the wheelchair?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Veterans Day 2020 Remembrance and Gratitude

My post for this Veterans Day is dedicated to Sgt. Walter Morgan Bryant Jr., USMC; R.I.P my dear friend!

… there is an old Marine poem… it says: ‘When I get to heaven, To St. Peter I will tell, Another Marine reporting sir, I’ve served my time in hell.”         ______ Eugene Sledge, USMC veteran of Peleliu & Okinawa

For the U.S. Marine Birthday, 10 November – CLICK HERE!!

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young Marine saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.

I thought, how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?

How many Pilots’ planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, Freedom is not free.

I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant “Amen”
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
at the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, Freedom isn’t free!!

by: Kelly Strong, posted at vietvet.org

For Remembrance of the Pacific War, from: “The Voice of the Angels” newspaper of the 11th Airborne Association

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For All Those In Free Countries Celebrating Remembrance 0r Poppy Day

Poem from another Vietnam veteran…

Remember Us

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For The Military Today – 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Robert Avrutik – Yonkers, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, radioman

Grover “Spook” Browning – Newdale, ID; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart

Anthony Colavito – West Calwell, NJ; US Army, WWII, PTO, demolition

James Dunn – Lubbock, TX; US Navy, WWII, Purser, USS Franklin

Morris Horton – Sidney, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. F/187/11th Airborne Division

Adrian Miller – Winamac, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 101st Airborne Division

Albert Sakey – Boston, MA; US Navy, WWII, ATO & PTO, PT-boat radioman

Ottis Stout (101) – TX & CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, B-17 tail gunner

James Thomas – Dry Ridge, KY; US Army, 188/11th Airborne Division

Paul W. Wilkins – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., B Co./1/21/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Choch’iwan, SK)

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I have a list of parades and celebrations, if anyone is interested, tell me where you’ll be 11 November 2020 and I will see if I can locate one near you!!

 

No Veteran Should Be Without a Place to Call Home

Free Help for Homeless Veterans Dial 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838) for 24/7 access to VA services for homeless and at-risk Veterans

Homeless Veteran Chat Confidential, 24/7 online support for homeless Veterans and friends

https://www.va.gov/homeless for more information

Are You a Veteran in Crisis or Concerned About One? 

Did you know that VA offers same day services in Primary Care and Mental Health at 172 VA Medical Centers across the country? Make the Connection Resource Locator

Contact the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and press 1, Chat, or Text 838255.)

Don’t know what number to call?

1-800-MyVA411 (800-698-2411) is never the wrong number

Have a concern, compliment, or recommendation for VA?

Call the White House VA Hotline at 1-855-948-2311

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Veterans Day 2019

For each and every veteran – Thank You!!

For All Our Todays and Yesterdays

Armistice Day Becomes Veterans Day

World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany, however, had ended seven months earlier with the armistice, which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.  Armistice Day, as November 11 became known, officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and a national holiday 12 years later. On June 1, 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans.

For their loyalty…

War Dog Memorial on Guam.

 

US Military dog insignia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Things That Make a Soldier Great

The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,

To face the flaming cannon’s mouth, nor ever question why,

Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,

The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,

The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall:

‘Tis these that make a soldier great. He’s fighting for them all.

‘Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;

‘Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;

For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam

As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.

Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run–

You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.

 

What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?

The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,

The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,

Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.

The golden thread of courage isn’t linked to castle dome

But to the spot, where’er it be–the humble spot called home.

 

And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there,

And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;

The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,

And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.

He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,

And only death can stop him now–he’s fighting for them all.

by: Edgar A, Guest

For All Those In Free Countries Celebrating Remembrance 0r Poppy Day

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Current News – 

In honor the Veterans who are in hospice, there is a drive for Christmas cards, and if possible, small gifts for those who are about to go on their final mission.  Please do your best for them – they did it for you!

Reblog from National Anthem Girl: Send Christmas Cards to Lonely Vets in Hospice Care

Veteran’s Last Patrol; attn: Holiday Drive, P.O. Box 6111, Spartanburg, SC 29304

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Military Humor – 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Willard R. Best – Staunton, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, SSgt., 40th/1st Air Div./8th Air Force, gunner, KIA (Germany)

Leon E. Clevenger – Durham, NC; US Army, Korea, Cpl., Co. K/3/21/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Kalgo-ri, South Korea)

Harry Dexter – Davenport, IA; US Army, MSgt., 11th Airborne Division

Herbert B. Jacobson – Chicago, IL; US Navy, WWII, Pearl Harbor, KIA, USS Oklahoma

Servando Lopez – Alice, TX; US Army, WWII, ETO, Bronze Star, Silver Star, Purple Heart

Ralph Nichols – Dawson, GA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, 551/82nd Airborne Division

Robert Register – Jacksonville, FL; US Navy, WWII, PTO, minesweeper USS Notable # 267

William Timpner – Stamps, AR; US Army, WWII

Frank Wills – Columbus, OH; US Navy, WWII, PTO, submarine service

Peter Zemanick – Pittsburgh, PA; US Army, 504/82nd Airborne Division

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Veterans Day 2018

 

 

A MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES….

https://mailchi.mp/nara/0rjknzxchj-763401?e=2018eed2da

NO MATTER WHAT COUNTRY YOU LIVE IN – IF YOU ARE LIVING FREE – THANK A VETERAN !!!

 

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Here We Go……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Daniel Buchta – Far Rockaway, NY; US Navy, USS Nimitz

Jean Danniels – ENG; WRENS, WWII

Waverly Ellsworth Jr. – Buffalo, NY; US Navy, Korea, medic

Virgil; Johnston – Grove, OK; USMC, WWII

Alma (Smith) Knesel – Lebanon, PA; Manhattan Project (TN), WWII

Samuel Mastrogiacomo – Sewell, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, MSgt., B-24 tail gunner, 2nd Air Div./8th A.F. (Ret. 33 y.)

Willis Sears Nelson – Omaha, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 pilot

Gregory O’Neill – Fort Myers, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO, 787th

Orville Roeder – Hankinson, ND; US Army, Medic

Nicholas Vukson – Sault Saint Marie, CAN; RC Navy, WWII, Telegraphist, HMCS Lanark

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VETERANS DAY 2015

For each and every veteran – Thank You!!

Armistice Day Becomes Veterans Day

World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany, however, had ended seven months earlier with the armistice, which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. Armistice Day, as November 11 became known, officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and a national holiday 12 years later. On June 1, 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day to honor all U.S. veterans.

A military parade with crowds of excited spectators along 5th Avenue, in celebration of Armistice day and peace in Europe following World War One, New York, 1918. (Photo by Paul Thompson/FPG/Getty Images)

In 1968, new legislation changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.

Please watch and listen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq1xMXOhxqE

For their loyalty…

War Dog Memorial on Guam

For the rest – Let your patriotism show!!

For the Remembrance Days around the Free World!

The Things That Make a Soldier Great


    The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,
    To face the flaming cannon's mouth, nor ever question why,
    Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,
    The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,
    The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall:
    'Tis these that make a soldier great. He's fighting for them all.

    'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;
    'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;
    For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam
    As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.
    Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run--
    You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.

    What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?
    The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,
    The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,
    Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.
    The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome
    But to the spot, where'er it be--the humble spot called home.

    And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there,
    And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;
    The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,
    And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.
    He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,
    And only death can stop him now--he's fighting for them all.

by: Edgar A, Guest

For those who need assistance of any kind… browse through Colonel Mike Grice’s website!

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Shout Out!!

It has been a while since my last Shout Out to the Veterans and Volunteers of Arkansas – my apologies!  I think of you all quite often and Sheri DeGrom keeps me up-to-date on your activities.  Enjoy your day!!!!!!!!!

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Boot Camp Humor – (you didn’t forget your D.I., do you….?)

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Farewell Salutes – 

Carl Bove – Willow Grove, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, C/188th/11th Airborne

…. . and every day!

Francis Dabrowski – Chicago, IL; USMC, WWII, Korea

Robert Feigley – Hagerstown, MD; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea

James Hoeh – Cincinnati, OH; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT

Clive Irving – Taupo, NZ; NZ J Force # 634744, WWII

Willard Janey – Graham, NC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, HQS/675th Artillery

Melvin McCoury Jr. – Spokane, WA; USMC; Korea, Vietnam, Colonel (Ret. 23 years)

Ronald Prentice – Sydney, AUS; RA Air Force, WWII,pilot, 461 Sunderland Flying Boat

Ricardo Young – Rosston, AR; US Army, Afghanistan, XVIII Airborne, Sgt.

Stanley Zwicker – Nova Scotia, CAN; RC Army, WWII

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Veteran’s Day

Always a Soldier!!

 

“FOR TOO LONG, TOO MANY OF US HAVE PAID SCANT ATTENTION TO THE SACRIFICE OF A BRAVE FEW IN OUR MIDST.  IT IS UNHEALTHY FOR A NATION TO BECOME DETACHED FROM THOSE WHO SECURE IT.”_______Howard Schultz, author of For Love of Country

 

 

I first want to give my personal THANK YOU to each and every veteran that fights for peace and freedom!!!  I tear up and become speechless at the mere sight of any one of you!!  Boo-ya!!  Here in the United States of America we do our best to convey our gratitude to these men and women for giving so much of themselves for our safety on this day.  In such nations as: Canada, New Zealand, Australia, England, India, Mauritius, South Africa and many in Europe, a day set aside is called Remembrance Day and was recently observed.

Our fellow blogger @ Parent Rap led me to this –  100 Ways to Honor a Veteran – if you care to view it – CLICK HERE.

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

by: Cadet Major Kelly Strong, Air Force Junior ROTC, Homestead Senior High, Homestead, FL 1988

I watched the flag pass by one day,

It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it, and then

He stood at ease.

 

I looked at him in uniform

So young, so tall, so proud,

With hair cut square and eyes alert,

He’d stand out in any crowd.

 

I thought how many men like him

Had fallen through the years.

How many died on foreign soil?

How many mother’s tears?

 

How many pilot’s planes shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldier’s graves?

No, freedom is not free.

 

I heard the sound of Taps one night,

When everything was still.

I listened to the bugler play

And felt a certain chill.

 

I wondered how many times

that Taps meant “Amen,”

When a flag draped a coffin

Of a brother or a friend.

 

I thought of all the children,

Of the mothers and the wives,

Of fathers, sons and husbands

With interrupted lives.

 

I thought about a graveyard

At the bottom of the sea

O unmarked graves in Arlington

No, freedom is not free.

 

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MILITARY HUMOR  – 

Soldiers Never Change!

Our budget-cut Air Force?

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CURRENT NEWS –

The true story of WWII hero, POW, and Olympic athlete, Louis Zamperini who recently passed away 2 July 2014, has his life depicted in Laura Hillenbrand’s best seller, Unbroken, will be coming to the big screen, 25 December.

Did you know? – One of most inspiring anthems, God Bless America, sort of has a birthday – Irving Berlin wrote an earlier version in 1918, but the one we hear today was first performed on 11 November 1938, in a radio broadcast by Kate Smith.  The song eventually became her theme song.

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Farewell Salutes – 

Harold A. Blake Jr. – Fulton, NY; US Army, 11th Armored Div., WWII, ETO, Battle of the Bulge

Margaret Yang Kim – Oahu, HI, WAC, WWII

Gordon Lewis – Waterbury, CT; USMC, WWII, PTO, First Lt., pilot, MIA

Samuel Melish – Cincinnati, OH; USMC, WWII, PTO, Cpl, gunner, MIA

Gilford Muncy – Hyden, KY; US Army, WWII, ETO

Marcus H. Muncy – Hyden, KY; USMC, WWII, Cpl, PTO

Harry Phillips – Sunderland, UK; Merchant Marine, WWII, SS Empire Webster, Lloyds War Bravery Medal

Everett A. Smith – Broad Channel, NY; US Army, 11th A/B Div., WWII, Cpl.

George Zimmerman – Tampa, FL; US Army, WWII, PTO

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NOTE _  All the Farewell Salutes today are friend or relatives of our fellow bloggers.

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VETERAN’S DAY

In my own small way, a Thank You to each and every person who has served in the military to help protect my way of life…

 “Ole Top”

by Chuck Hall

1st Sgt. Phil “Ole Top” Dierickx, USMC, WWII, Korea, Vietnam

I never got to meet him,

Nor serve in his command.

But I knew many like him,

Who bravely made their stand.

 

From what the “Bandits” tell me,

He dearly loves the Corps

Took real good care of comrades,

And took that one-step more.

 

‘Twas up in frozen Chosin,

When things looked bleak and bad.

He used his strength and wisdom,

And everything he had.

 

 

For those who fought beside him,

Who never will  forget.

He gave them will and courage,

Resolution, faith and grit.

 

The Corps has many heroes,

And stories they all tell.

“Ole Top’s” a hero in my book,

He served his hitch in hell.

 

 

Night Intruder Lament

__Author Unknown

I have a story to tell you

A story of men bold and brave

Have fought, and some died for their Country

With a brightly burning plane for their grave.

 

On an island we called Honshu

With the broad, blue Pacific all around

We set up our tents and our shelters

And dug holes for our safety in the ground.

 

At night, when day fighters are sleeping

And we call Hacksaw for a fix

The Heavens are filled with our thunder

And the roar of our Baker-26.

 

On a cold moonless night in December

The order was read with a sigh

And a happy-go-lucky young pilot

Took his plane and his crew out to die.

 

They went with a smile all unknowing

‘Twas only a Korean patrol

Too bad that their duty included

Their answering God’s Final Roll.

 

Moonshine gave them their vector

Surveillance to the Yalu and back

They say the last words they transmitted

“We wish we were back in our sacks.”

 

One hour stretched into seven

It was no time to jest or grin

We knew as we waited and listened

Another Night Intruder had augured in.

 

There was no one to see and report it

No help from a searching patrol

Just three name scratched from the roster

Who will no longer answer the call.

 

So lift up your glasses my buddies

In honor of those who fought the fight

The sleep you enjoy out of danger

Is because of the boys who fly at might.

 

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I wish I could include so many other links for wonderful Veteran’s Day salutes, but that would be impossible – here are a few –

Pierre Lagacé and his cousin Joe pose us questions about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at:

Lest We Forget

CJ did a great job with:

The Things That Make A Soldier Great

And, concerning our future generations:

http://allaboutmanners.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/the-inquisitive-child-a-remembrance-day-poem/

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Farewell Salutes – 

Dorothy Baldwin – Devonshire, England & Arlington, VA; British Army nurse, WWII

William Benson – Clearwater, FL; US Navy, WWII & Korea

Alexander (Sandy) Cameron – Toronto, Canada; CSTJ, CD, AdeC, Colonel

Thomas Camp, Jr. Washington DC; BrigGeneral, US Army, WWII & Korea

August Genge – Niles, IL; US Army, WWII

Charles Nardoni – Chicago Heights, IL; US Army, Korea & Vietnam

Ted Okita – Chicago, IL; US Navy, WWII

David Polzin – Toronto, Canada; WWII

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