Thank You Veterans

danger boy

Lets take a moment and say thank you to our veterans who gave their time and their lives so that we can enjoy the freedom we do today.

our hats are off to you...

POIDOG

+ 1 Brothers

Conradicles

Extreme thanks from the bottom of my heart. God bless all of you.

bobman1235

More thanks than I know how to give.

A blogger I read who is a Marine and Iraq Vet wrote some great posts today :

- This one chronicling his feelings before his first trip to Iraq, and it's amazingly poignant.

- This more simple one is about what he wants as a veteran on Veterans Day.

From the latter :

You know, that’s the real sacrifice veterans make: not the horrors we suffer while serving our country, but the loss of the world we know when we re-enter civilian life. I don’t want to be thanked for what I did; I just want to be normal. I want my command of a tank company at age 25 to count as much as running an 80-person department when people look at my resume. I want employers to treat veterans like people with exceptional job experience, not as otherworldly beings who insanely took a different path. I don’t deserve pity or awe, and I don’t want one day of reverence followed by 364 days of nonchalance. I don’t want yellow ribbons on cars. I want every person to challenge himself or herself, to pursue a life they deem honorable, to make the most of the few short years they have on this planet. Those who have been to war know that it can reveal the worst of humanity. Strive to make it better.

mizthuphee

Thank you!!! We appreciate you all!!!

CLPolk

To all Veterans and current military persons, thank you and know that you are in the daily prayers of many.You can have all your Football,Baseball,Race car Star's Pat Tillman is my Hero
http://www.biography.com/articles/Pat-Tillman-197041

steveinaz

God Bless them for making the ultimate sacrifice. Love and prayers. We are who we are, because of them.

To active duty veterans, we have NOT forgotten you and the challenges you face everyday. Bless you and your families.

Fireman32

A big thank you to all our veterans!!!!!

NotaSuv

Fallen Hero of Operation Iraqi Freedom

This is a repost from last year have posted same post on his birthday as well as Vets Day. As always a tear while posting for a young man I will never forget.....

I had the pleasure of working with this wonderful young man in Texas....enlisted to better his life(ex gang banger/drugs...) and make a better future for his future wife and his child.....still brings tears to my eyes whenever posting in his memory..you will never be forgotten Robbie...................

Army Pvt. 2 Robert L. Frantz

19, of San Antonio, Texas; assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Ray Barracks, Germany; killed June 17, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was on guard duty when a local resident threw a grenade over the wall. Frantz died of his injuries.



San Antonio soldier killed in Iraq grenade attack

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — From Operation Iraqi Freedom, a Central Texas soldier told of his nights spent in the charred remains of one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces and days spent guarding the Central Bank of Baghdad.

To Robert L. Frantz’s family, it appeared the 19-year-old high school dropout with a 2-year-old daughter and plans to marry had matured quickly since joining the Army and then going overseas for the war in Iraq.

“He wanted his daughter to be proud of him,’’ said his stepfather, Vincent Smith, a Lackland Air Force Base firefighter. “He grew into a man strictly overnight, by joining the Army. He was a little scared, but excited. He knew he was going to do good things.’’

But Frantz died June 17 as a result of a grenade attack the previous night, according to Phil Reidinger, a spokesman for Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

Frantz, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry, was hit with shrapnel while he was standing guard duty. An unknown assailant threw the grenade over a wall in the Iraqi capital.

For the San Antonio native who joined the Army 10 months ago and his family, “this was supposed to be a happy week’’ on the heels of the Spurs’ NBA championship, said Frantz’s mother, Kim Smith.

Instead, the family spent the day coping with the death of Frantz, an Army private first class.

“We thought the war was over,’’ his mother told the San Antonio Express-News. “I told him, ‘Be careful. Watch your back.’ But I had no thoughts that there would be this.’’

Frantz was about 4 when his father died. His family moved a short time later from Michigan to San Antonio, where he attended elementary and middle school. He attended Marshall High School, then withdrew and earned a General Educational Development diploma.

Later while waiting tables at an International House of Pancakes, Frantz met the woman he would eventually makes plans with to marry, Ana Perez.

His daughter, Shannon, 2, is in the custody of her mother, who lives in San Antonio and has remained close to Frantz’s family.

Frantz also had a 22-year-old sister, Heather Frantz, and a stepsister, stepbrother and a 3-year-old brother, who is too young to understand the tragedy.

“He’s been telling us, ‘Don’t be sad, Robby’s coming home,’ ” Vincent Smith said.

Died:
June 17, 2003
Attached Thumbnails

janmike

Thanks to all the men and women of the world that strive to bring peace and order and make this a better place to live for all of us.

steveinaz

There is no greater Honor than serving your country and fellow American.

jimmydep

My son Cpl Matthew D., a Marine who just returned from his second and last deployment to Iraq says "YOU'RE WELCOME, it has been my honor to serve this Great Country".

I'm so Proud of him.

Jimmy

kawizx9r

I too want to say to everyone You're Welcome. More importantly though, it's because of all the support everyone provides that makes it all that much easier to do the things we do.

Semper Fi

fossy

Big ole TEXAS YEEEEEEHAWWWWW for all the vets. Thank you to each & every one.

shack

Thanks Dad...



And everyone else who have served past and present.

TECHNOKID

janmike wrote: »

Thanks to all the men and women of the world that strive to bring peace and order and make this a better place to live for all of us.

To all men and women of all nations that has and will sacrifice for justice and freedom!

bsoko2

All of these postings bring tears to my eyes. 42 years ago when I came home I was avoided, and 2 years later just before I was retired, spit on. The climate today is alot different for service people and veterans then in my day. I am happy to see change in attitude towards our service people and veterans that we finally give to them for sacrifice and service to our country.


Bill

hearingimpared

God bless all you vets and thanks for our freedom.

steveinaz

jimmydep wrote: »

My son Cpl Matthew D., a Marine who just returned from his second and last deployment to Iraq says "YOU'RE WELCOME, it has been my honor to serve this Great Country".

I'm so Proud of him.

Jimmy

Thanks Jimmy, my daughter is in the Navy and has served in Iraq, so I feel you.

steveinaz

bsoko2 wrote: »

All of these postings bring tears to my eyes. 42 years ago when I came home I was avoided, and 2 years later just before I was retired, spit on. The climate today is alot different for service people and veterans then in my day. I am happy to see change in attitude towards our service people and veterans that we finally give to them for sacrifice and service to our country.


Bill

Bless you man, and THANK YOU, from the bottom of my ARMY heart. You ARE NOT FORGOTTEN.

zarrdoss

100% most certainly, Thank you!

steveinaz

kawizx9r wrote: »

I too want to say to everyone You're Welcome. More importantly though, it's because of all the support everyone provides that makes it all that much easier to do the things we do.

Semper Fi

From this Army Vet to the Marine Vet, thank you brother.

TECHNOKID

bsoko2 wrote: »

All of these postings bring tears to my eyes. 42 years ago when I came home I was avoided, and 2 years later just before I was retired, spit on. The climate today is alot different for service people and veterans then in my day. I am happy to see change in attitude towards our service people and veterans that we finally give to them for sacrifice and service to our country.


Bill

Some comforting read for you then!

The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you ?
Have you always turned the other cheek ?
To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'

Author Unknown~

It's the Military, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It's the Military, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It's the Military, not the politicians that ensures our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It's the Military who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag.

steveinaz

That poem hangs in my office at work.

danz1906

Thank you!

vc69

I want to express my sincere gratitude for our armed services veterans. Without you men and women fighting and dying in the name of freedom, democracy and the American way, this great country would cease to be.

Thank you all from me and my family.

Salute!

cfrizz

Thank you to all who have served our great country past & present.

hoosier21

honestly, thank you

kawizx9r

I know this thread is a couple of months old but it deserves to be brought up

Ran into a couple more vets on here (helipilotdoug and HB27)

Semper Fi brothers :cool: ERRRRRAH!

Hawkeye

bsoko2 wrote: »

All of these postings bring tears to my eyes. 42 years ago when I came home I was avoided, and 2 years later just before I was retired, spit on. The climate today is alot different for service people and veterans then in my day. I am happy to see change in attitude towards our service people and veterans that we finally give to them for sacrifice and service to our country.


Bill

Bill, I joined when I was 18 in 76. A guy who used to work to work for my dad went in 71. When he came in uniform over to our house, being all of 13, I was in awe of him. Perhaps I was raised differently, but I had and have nothing but respect and admiration for any and all Nam vets. You did what the country asked you to do and I salute you Sir.

Gordon
USN 76-96

woodhead 2

bsoko2 wrote: »

All of these postings bring tears to my eyes. 42 years ago when I came home I was avoided, and 2 years later just before I was retired, spit on. The climate today is alot different for service people and veterans then in my day. I am happy to see change in attitude towards our service people and veterans that we finally give to them for sacrifice and service to our country.


Bill

+1 on that. Times sure have changed. And that's a good thing.;)