The Wall

[The_Hammer]

My heart and my mind turn to the Viet Nam Memorial in D.C. and the Pierce County Veterans of Foreign Conflicts wall in Nebraska. Of the the men in my family that occupy space on these venerable monuments to our country's finest, I am not worthy to tie the boots up on any one of them. I am honored to have their blood in these veins. You damned right I weep. This is the greatest country on Earth. bar none, and freedom is bought and paid for by the blood of the brothers and sisters that gave it all.

My hat goes off, my hand over my heart and I lift my voice high to honor all of your kin whom served this Great Republic. I am honored to have worn the uniform in YOUR defense too, in defense of America and her sons and daughters. If I had a thousand lives to give, a thousand deaths to experience, each one worse and more terrible than the last, I give them all freely for each and every one of you here. I love this country with all my fiber, and I love all of you as dearly. With pride, I offer you all these men, whom are listed upon these two memorials in lieu of the upcoming holiday in their honor. Their last names are omitted to respect their privacy:

My Father: SSgt Mahlon Walter USA-Korea, Viet Nam, Purple Heart, Meritorious Conduct, 2 Silver Stars, 2 Bronze Stars, The Iron Cross died April 24, 2004

My Uncle: GM-G2, USN Patrick Karl-Died in the Mekong River Delta Viet Nam in battle Tet Offensive-Silver Star, Bronze Star, Naval Commendation Medal

My Uncle: Master Sergeant of the Army Daniel Raymond; Viet Nam; 2 Silver Stars Bronze Star-admitted to the Veterans hospital in Grand Island NE where he resides to this day.

My Cousin: Major Daniel-Viet Nam Air Force F4 Flying Ace for 4 MIG fighters confirmed down

My Cousin: SSgt Donald Victor. WWII, died at Omaha Beach. Bronze Star, Europena Theatre citation

Myself; Capt. James Leslie USAF, Beirut Lebanon, October 25, 1980-January 25, 1982-Purple Heart October 18, 1982 at Golan Heights. Meritorious Service, Conduct.

God Bless America, Land that I love!

Remember our courageous men and women in uniform, pray for em every time you think of em and may God smile upon us.

[best]

I did not serve but both my dad and FIL did and two of my 3 sons.
My oldest boy was in the Marines at the time of my father in law's passing.
My son was allowed home on leave and seeing him snap a full salute to his Grandfather at his Grandfather's miltary funeral service... the single tears he tried to hold back as he stood in his full dress blues at attention... I can't think of a greater show of honor, love, and respect then what I had seen that day.
Yes I love my freedom and I am very grateful for it.
Thank you Hammer and thank you to your relatives and all who gave of themself so I can live free.

Joseph J. G. US Navy WW2 USS Yorktown CVC5 and CV 10

My FIL was a man I am sure you would like. He found recovery and was a man filled with many stories of life.

[The_Hammer]

The hammer stands at attention for all of Best's military Kin. Thanks you for your sacrifice. Bows his head in prayer.

[toad]

Welcome home Jimmy..........

Sgt. Jerry England
101st Airborne Divison
3rd Brigade, Long Range Recon Patrol

Vietnam 1967-68

Tet-Vet (Patroit Guard name)

aka......toad

[BillJ]

A distant relative fought at San Jacinto - the decisive battle that made Texas an independent Republic. His name is engraved on the San Jac monument, and his portrait hangs in the Senate Chamber of the Texas State Capitol.

My grandfather (West Point, 1920) served in the early '20s, and re-upped when the US entered WWII. He left the Army Air Corps in '46, as a Lt. Colonel, and served in the Air Reserve until 1960.

Uncle Bernard (West Point, 1945) was a pilot, decorated for his post-war service in the South Pacific. He was killed in a freak plane crash at Andrews AFB in 1948. My grandmother died in a car wreck exactly three weeks later, as she and my grandfather returned from collecting Bernard's personal effects.

My father trained as an Army Air Corps navigator, and was on a troop train bound for the West Coast, for deployment to the South Pacific, when Japan surrendered. To celebrate, he and his buddies got off the train and went into the nearest town, where they took up positions as "traffic cops," and "directed" motorists into a massive snarl.

Uncle Tom served on the USS Denver, and narrowly missed being killed when his former berth compartment, from which he'd moved the week before, was struck by a Japanese torpedo. Experts who examined the Denver after it returned to San Francisco for repairs said that, given the extensive damage it suffered, the entire ship should have been lost. Tom, whose former bunkmates were all killed in the attack, later said he never understood why the Japanese didn't come back and finish them off. He told my mother the Denver "couldn't have fired a pop-gun" after it was torpedoed.

Uncle Ed lied about his age to enlist in the Marine Corps. He and some other jarheads were stealing a Jeep from an Army post in the South Pacific (common practice between the services) when a storm blew up. A hunk of sheet metal, sent flying by a sudden gust of wind, decapitated the Marine standing closest to Ed.

Uncles Bob and Bill both saw combat in the South Pacific.

Uncle Otts served with MacArthur in the Phillipines.

My father-in-law joined the Army, and served in Europe.

My cousin Art (Otts' son) served in Vietnam, 1969-70, and received a Purple Heart and Silver Star.

With that kind of lineage, you might think I'd've been a fairly strack troop, but I wasn't. Far from it. I only enlisted at age 17, at the end of the Vietnam War, to dodge a pending prison sentence, and drank my way out of the service a year later. I was anti-establishment, anti-authority, anti-war, and a textbook case of "unadaptable to military life."

I'm still anti- all that stuff, and I'm certain I'm still pretty much "unadaptable," but I'm also just a tad more mature. These days I can look back on the service my family has rendered to this nation, and marvel at the immense sacrifice they made. My only regret (a small one, given the condition I was in at the time) is that I was unable to live up to the standards they set. I wish I could have done differently.

That said, blessings on all our vets! Your service really is appreciated.

[Rarly Harley]

The Geman submarine U30 sank the passenger liner Athenia on Sept. 3rd, 1939. Canada declared war on Sept. 10, 1939. My Father (George Sr.) and my Uncle Russ wanted to join the Navy ASAP. There was no recruiting office here in S.S. Marie Ontario, so they hopped a freight to Sudbury Ontario, to enlist. In Sudbury they were told that the only open recruiting office at that time was in Winnepeg Manitoba, about 1,000 miles away. They rode freights out to Winnepeg and enlisted. My Father became an engine-room articifer on the HMCS Hepatica, a flower-class corvette destroyer and my Uncle Russ became the ship electrician on a different corvette. They both served till the end of the war in June 1945. The corvettes were responsible for the safe passage of the merchant navy, carrying over 181 million tons of supplies to Great Britain, during nearly 26,000 safe crossings from Halifax Nova Scotia, to Great Britain.
I can remember being at camp in the winter with my Father, Uncle Russ and a few of their buddies. I was about 16 then. After supper, the whiskey bottles came out, along with the poker cards. After my Dad had a few, he would let me partake also. I remember one night, when everyone was full sail, my Dad and Russ told a story of an escapade they had while they were on shore leave in Halifax together. They got good and drunk, cleaned house in a bar fight, then cleaned house with the shore patrol when they arrived, stole the S.P.'s jeep, then smashed it into a train and made it back to their respective corvettes unscathed. The seed was planted then, a little voice in the back of my head began whispering to me, that I would outdo my Dad and Uncle Russ. Boy, did I try....LOL. Other than a few ruffled grouse and untold numbers of fish, I never participated in the demise of another living creature. Thank God that I didn't, even the years when I packed...
I too am humbled by the sacrifices made by service men and women, that makes my freedom possible. I, for one, will never forget....

[The_Hammer]

Originally Posted by toad

Welcome home Jimmy..........

Sgt. Jerry England
101st Airborne Divison
3rd Brigade, Long Range Recon Patrol

Vietnam 1967-68

Tet-Vet (Patroit Guard name)

aka......toad

The Hammer embraces toad, then snaps to attention with hand salute.

[The_Hammer]

Originally Posted by BillJ

A distant relative fought at San Jacinto - the decisive battle that made Texas an independent Republic. His name is engraved on the San Jac monument, and his portrait hangs in the Senate Chamber of the Texas State Capitol.

My grandfather (West Point, 1920) served in the early '20s, and re-upped when the US entered WWII. He left the Army Air Corps in '46, as a Lt. Colonel, and served in the Air Reserve until 1960.

Uncle Bernard (West Point, 1945) was a pilot, decorated for his post-war service in the South Pacific. He was killed in a freak plane crash at Andrews AFB in 1948. My grandmother died in a car wreck exactly three weeks later, as she and my grandfather returned from collecting Bernard's personal effects.

My father trained as an Army Air Corps navigator, and was on a troop train bound for the West Coast, for deployment to the South Pacific, when Japan surrendered. To celebrate, he and his buddies got off the train and went into the nearest town, where they took up positions as "traffic cops," and "directed" motorists into a massive snarl.

Uncle Tom served on the USS Denver, and narrowly missed being killed when his former berth compartment, from which he'd moved the week before, was struck by a Japanese torpedo. Experts who examined the Denver after it returned to San Francisco for repairs said that, given the extensive damage it suffered, the entire ship should have been lost. Tom, whose former bunkmates were all killed in the attack, later said he never understood why the Japanese didn't come back and finish them off. He told my mother the Denver "couldn't have fired a pop-gun" after it was torpedoed.

Uncle Ed lied about his age to enlist in the Marine Corps. He and some other jarheads were stealing a Jeep from an Army post in the South Pacific (common practice between the services) when a storm blew up. A hunk of sheet metal, sent flying by a sudden gust of wind, decapitated the Marine standing closest to Ed.

Uncles Bob and Bill both saw combat in the South Pacific.

Uncle Otts served with MacArthur in the Phillipines.

My father-in-law joined the Army, and served in Europe.

My cousin Art (Otts' son) served in Vietnam, 1969-70, and received a Purple Heart and Silver Star.

With that kind of lineage, you might think I'd've been a fairly strack troop, but I wasn't. Far from it. I only enlisted at age 17, at the end of the Vietnam War, to dodge a pending prison sentence, and drank my way out of the service a year later. I was anti-establishment, anti-authority, anti-war, and a textbook case of "unadaptable to military life."

I'm still anti- all that stuff, and I'm certain I'm still pretty much "unadaptable," but I'm also just a tad more mature. These days I can look back on the service my family has rendered to this nation, and marvel at the immense sacrifice they made. My only regret (a small one, given the condition I was in at the time) is that I was unable to live up to the standards they set. I wish I could have done differently.

That said, blessings on all our vets! Your service really is appreciated.

I for one, am glad of who you ARE. I salute you!

[The_Hammer]

Originally Posted by Rarly Harley

The Geman submarine U30 sank the passenger liner Athenia on Sept. 3rd, 1939. Canada declared war on Sept. 10, 1939. My Father (George Sr.) and my Uncle Russ wanted to join the Navy ASAP. There was no recruiting office here in S.S. Marie Ontario, so they hopped a freight to Sudbury Ontario, to enlist. In Sudbury they were told that the only open recruiting office at that time was in Winnepeg Manitoba, about 1,000 miles away. They rode freights out to Winnepeg and enlisted. My Father became an engine-room articifer on the HMCS Hepatica, a flower-class corvette destroyer and my Uncle Russ became the ship electrician on a different corvette. They both served till the end of the war in June 1945. The corvettes were responsible for the safe passage of the merchant navy, carrying over 181 million tons of supplies to Great Britain, during nearly 26,000 safe crossings from Halifax Nova Scotia, to Great Britain.
I can remember being at camp in the winter with my Father, Uncle Russ and a few of their buddies. I was about 16 then. After supper, the whiskey bottles came out, along with the poker cards. After my Dad had a few, he would let me partake also. I remember one night, when everyone was full sail, my Dad and Russ told a story of an escapade they had while they were on shore leave in Halifax together. They got good and drunk, cleaned house in a bar fight, then cleaned house with the shore patrol when they arrived, stole the S.P.'s jeep, then smashed it into a train and made it back to their respective corvettes unscathed. The seed was planted then, a little voice in the back of my head began whispering to me, that I would outdo my Dad and Uncle Russ. Boy, did I try....LOL. Other than a few ruffled grouse and untold numbers of fish, I never participated in the demise of another living creature. Thank God that I didn't, even the years when I packed...
I too am humbled by the sacrifices made by service men and women, that makes my freedom possible. I, for one, will never forget....

The Hammer, shows respect for Rar.

[TonyB]

Jimmy,
I just want to say, “Thank you sir.”
God Bless
TB

[The_Hammer]

My honor, my privilege, my pleasure.