Veteran's ROCK!

imtbtrails salutes and thanks all the folks that have served, fought, and died for our country to preserve the freedoms we get to experience today. I personally never served. I look back on this and have regretted it all my life.

I can't thank enough the men and women who have served this country to allow me the freedoms I get to experience in this GREAT Nation.

Thank you SO much!
Sincerely,
Mikie
imtbtrails

 

We hold these truths, to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

You get the gist. This was from memory. I hope I got it basically right. I could go on. Everybody should memorize at least the first half of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence - it's the most fundamental part of our nation.

John Locke and J-J Rousseau got a good thing started. James Madison and our founding fathers built on that. Our veterans have secured these ideals for 240 years - at risk of great peril, horrible suffering and often - the ultimate price.

A "thank you" just seems so weak. But thank you.

 

Even as a vet, I believe Veterans Day is more for the older vets that gave the ultimate sacrifice (they deserve more than 1 day). There was a ceremony at Riverside national cemetery (wonder if they do it on Memorial Day too). I rode my bike through there before and my eyes teared up, not even thinking about anything.

I saw a whole legion of aging vets waiting outside Applebee's on my road ride today. They had those black jackets with the yellow embroidery. Place was packed. Was thinking about getting in on their free entree offer for vets, but passed.

Also experienced the 21st century version of helping an old man cross the street. The guy's buggy was stopped as he came off the curb and into the gutter channel, he waved me down, and told me in a weak voice that his chair's controls weren't working and that there might be a problem with the connection to the battery. It looked connected, so I went to reconnect it, but it started moving the moment I grabbed it, then stopped when I let go. Clued in that a wire was coming loose out of the connector, I took the slack of the cable and propped up the bit of cable coming out from the connecter to be angled another way. He went about 4 ft, out of the gutter and stopped. He was on the edge of the road with cars going over 45 MPH (4 lanes with a center median). So I rigged it so it stayed even if bumped, and he recklessly crossed with even traffic coming and I followed behind walking my bike and trying to alert traffic. He made it across and scooted downhill, and I went back to riding uphill. Was kind of amusing. I'm actually trying to learn how to fix such issues with electronics atm.

Spent the day, out on the bike from about 11:30 to 7:30, checking out the "greatness" of the country to see what vets helped protect. There's good and bad (subjective), but compared to other countries I've been too, there's a lot of a certain type of beauty here, though I mostly only got to witness civil engineering feats like roads, structures, landscaping, lack of visible utility lines, city parks and how the community utilizes them. Even saw some huge trucks that reminded me of Red Alert resource collecting trucks (PC gamer reference), except they eat up all the tumbleweed.

 

Somewhat lower key for 2021. My salute and heartfelt thanks go out to those who saw a calling greater than themselves, and stood up. We are forever indebted to those who are forged from a different mold and see something larger than the individual, or even the family. You may scoff at tribe; that is still vastly better than supposing your body politic isn't worth preserving.

For the Marines, Semper Fideles.
For the Sailors, Anchors Aweigh; Semper Fortis.
For the Soldiers, De Oppresso Liber
For the Zoomies, Slip the Surly Bonds of Earth; Aim High.
For the Coasties, Semper Paratus.

For all of you: Heads high, I got your back.

 

@Runs with Scissors That gave me chills. Thank YOU for having our backs - and thank you to all who gave their all so that we can enjoy the things we probably take for granted.

Thank you isn't strong enough, but THANK YOU!

 

Respect and gratitude to all who served, and whose families also endured that service.

Service is so easy to say or write. But as Mark eloquently stated, it's a task that only some are up to.

 

Thanks to all who have served, especially knowing that unless you are quite a bit older than me - you volunteered and wrote that blank check.
Many in my family have served, though not me. I looked into it, but it was not right for me at the time.
My grandfather was a late call up to the Great War. All three of his sons served, eldest in WWII and Korea in the Navy, destroyers and subs.
My father was a Green Beret, a few years active (including Bay of Pigs where no Americans were...) then 37 years in the Reserves. As the leader of a large school he was almost as active as those Active.
My youngest uncle joined the Navy at 15 after running away from home. A year later the Navy kicked him out. At 18 he re-upped and ended up retiring at 37. Saw time in Nam.
A cousin my age did ROTC (so did my dad) and flew Army Blackhawks. In the First Gulf War as a Captain he ended up as an Abrams squadron commander. That story takes a few beers to tell!!
A few of the next generation have served as well, a couple of Marines and a few Army; all deployed at least once.
Me,?, closest I really came to serving was guarding a nice beach and jumping into some 12+ foot waves.
Again, thanks to all.

 

I always feel somewhat guilty on Veteran's Day, because I believe that I got more out of my service than I put in.

I remember a short time after I was discharged, I was standing in line at college to get into a bar. It was winter, and I was wearing one of my Army jackets because I didn't have a lot of disposable income. The bouncer at the front of the line looked me over and said "That's a cool Army jacket - where did you get it?"

"In the Army" I replied.

Everyone in line turned and stared at me

 

I typically ride up to the Luge and replace the flag on Veteran's Day - but it's not necessary today. Last time I was up there a couple of weeks ago, the flag was fine - and last year my flag was stolen and replaced by a smaller nylon flag.

I was hoping to surf today and pay my respects on the Camp Pendleton base - but the waves are too small to overcome the morning high tide. So I may end up riding up to the flag after all.

Regardless - Thank you @Runs with Scissors and all Veterans! For without your service, none of us would be able to enjoy any of this.

EDIT: Now if I could get @Mikie or @Faust29 to correct the apostrophe abuse in the thread title...

 

"It's over, Johnny!"

 

Maybe the rock belongs to that guy.

 

I remember starting out everyone wanted those M60's and M203 grenade launchers because they thought they were cool. And then once you carry them around for any distance, you yearn for your trusty 'ole lightweight M16 back The worst was to be the ammo carrier for those things. Two cans of ammo, the spare barrel, and you STILL had to carry your M16 and M16 ammo load-out. LOL good times!

 

I guess there aren’t many Space Force vets at this point to offer a “Semper Supra” to all the Guardians.

 

Happy Veterans Day gentlemen, and a big

 

As mentioned a year ago, I typically ride up to the Luge and replace the flag on Veteran's day. I was up there today - the flag is new and in good condition. There is no Marine Corps flag, however.

I am headed to Prescott this weekend to visit some friends, so no Luge Flag ride for me. I'm bringing a bike in case my hip allows me to ride.

Thank you veterans for defending our Constitution and preserving our freedoms. I hope our elected officials can also support the Constitution and the Veterans who served to protect it.

 

And yet another year the city I work for does not have Veterans Day as a holiday (it would have been November 10, confusing it with the Marine Corps' birthday, but I digress) and yet we have tomorrow - Election Day!!! - as a holiday.

I believe this comes under the heading of "skewed priorities."

Whatever, I salute all my fellow veterans for their sacrifice and service to something larger than themselves.

An interesting read for anyone interested - something I had not thought about.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/...e_code=1.8Uw.CNDn.-muk93sCorOy&smid=url-share