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Salute to Veterans

L5Larry

By L5Larry
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L5Larry

L5Larry

Posted
Posted

This weekend starts the Veteran's Day celebrations here in the U.S., and I'm off on a musical road trip to try to do a little on my part. As the son of the Lt. Col. Headquarters Commandant of the European Theaters of Operations, Advance Base (WWII), I feel a little obligation to give back.

 

Saturday morning (11/8), I'm off to Kansas City, Missouri to play a veterans tribute concert with the Ladies For Liberty. The "Ladies" are what we would call an "Andrews Sisters" tribute band.

 

 

This could be really fun, IF... the logistics are in order, the stage work is the easy part. I want my travel, hotel accommodations, and sound and lights to be in order.

 

Anyway.... thank you to all the Vets. We wouldn't be here without you!

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Searcy

Searcy

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My father fly for the USAF in Vietnam, Laos and a number of other places in his 20+ years as a fly boy. He fly H3, 02, KC135, C130, AC130, Huey and I have no idea what else. During his time in combat he received the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Flying Cross and was shot down once. Over the years he was always reluctant to talk about his time at war. On the one occasion when he did he told me that he didn't like to talk about it because his experience was so different than all the other soldiers. On the plus side a combat pilot sleeps in a reasonably comfortable bed most nights. On the minus side he does his job alone. Not my song but I made this video to go with the song a few years ago.

 

So a few years later when I heard this song that echoed almost all of the comments my father had made to me about his time at war I decided to make a video for the song. In honor of my father and his service.

 

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Cougar

Cougar

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Anyway.... thank you to all the Vets. We wouldn't be here without you!

 

Yep, we remember and can't adequately express our appreciation for the sacrifices of our veterans.

 

I'd also like to thank Musicians Friend for their Veterans Day Sale that yesterday subtracted a sizable 15% off an already reasonably priced Epi EL-00 Pro and Epi case! [thumbup][biggrin]

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dReit1

dReit1

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As a vet I'd like to say thank you for what you are doing to honor American Veterans.

 

And while it's always a good thing to thank our veterans it's also a good time to make a vet.

 

I hope you all are encouraging your children to grow up to serve their country. No matter which country you live in.

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milod

milod

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For what it's worth, "Veterans Day" programs are interwoven this time of year into our local school system.

 

The high school annually names a "veteran of the year," but it's not for whomever might have earned the most medals, but rather that veteran who then continued contributions to his or her community after returning to civilian life.

 

Yeah, a batch of WWII guys are obvious, and a lotta Vietnam era guys almost seem to hide their service, and the gulf wars folks I know don't make a big deal out of it either because they tend to figure they're both too young and also that they simply were doing what their lights called them to do. That latter, of course, is a big part in what does make a "hero."

 

BTW, the mention of sailors reminds me of one of the first to get that local honor. He started a US Navy career literally shoveling coal into the boiler of a four-stacker destroyer as a kid who cheated on his age and had only an eighth grade formal education. Along with serving on a coal-fired ship, he also served under sail, oil and nuclear, that last as the command chief on an aircraft carrier. He served undersea (although just a few weeks as I recall), on the surface and in the air. Served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

 

After a career that took him to being a master chief petty officer, he tested out of high school and entered college, achieving a bachelor's and a master's degree and headed into a career as a high school teacher and volunteer for about anything that arose in his community. He walks now with a cane, but still is a regular volunteer for various civic organizations and functions.

 

Larry... break a leg. Sounds like a super gig to me.

 

m

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matonanjin

matonanjin

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Larry, thanks for starting this thread and have a great gig. I've never understood what "break a leg", as milod said, meant but "break a leg" [thumbup]

 

As the father of one who served and retired from the military and who served in Iraq I now have much more appreciation for those that served. Much than I would have otherwise, I'm sure.

 

Thanks to all of you on this forum that did serve or are now doing so!

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brc

brc

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Can not thank the Veterans enough for their service. In all of the wars, con-flicks, its the Veterans that stood up to keep our country the greatest place on earth.

Its a shame that some of these men and women do not get the respect the rightfully deserve.

When I read and hear about the troubles some of them go through when they return from service, it just boggles my mind.

Thank you to all of you that served our country so proudly.

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kelly campbell

kelly campbell

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As a vet I always feel weird when someone thanks me for serving. As far as my experience, I was in the Navy and was floating around in the Persian Gulf on a US Navy ship during the first gulf war. I did 4 years in the Navy and the last 19 in the Coast Guard. I retired from active duty November 2011. The people who are the real heroes are the WWI, WWII, Korean, Vietnam vets that saw action, and the Special Forces that are doing stuff we know nothing about, and the men and women over in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. When I was at my stateside duty stations it was really just like a regular job except, I wore a uniform and saluted. When you go home to your wife and kids every it is really just a job. After Nam men got called baby killers and got spit on and they obviously did not deserve that. Now suddenly public opinion has changed and service men and women are all heroes. There was a time about 20 miles away form where I live in Newport News, VA, around the US Navy Base in Norfolk, VA people used to post sign that say "Sailors and Dogs stay off the grass". I don't feel like or consider myself a hero. Not to mention I get a check on the 1st of every month till I die. I am not trying to be cynical or put anyone down who has served, it is just my take from someone who lived it for over 20 years.

 

I agree with a lot of what you are saying...I was never in at a war time so I always feel embarrassed when at certain functions now days when they ask the veterans to show their hands or stand up, I mean I am not ashamed but there are a lot of men and women who died for me to live the way I do and I feel for their families. The are also a lot of you men and women now days who come home with disabilities and I feel for them as well..The closest I came to any real harm was during the Iran Hostage situation in 1980 and we were on 24 hour alert, floating around the Indian Ocean on a carrier. I looked at it like I volunteered for it and that was my job while I was there..But I was not in war and I feel so bad for those who have been and are still. do not Under-sell your contribution and sacrifice.it is greatly appreciated by this fellow Veteran...

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jaxson50

jaxson50

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The story of Dan Bullock, one of the forgotten

http://articles.philly.com/2000-10-30/news/25586235_1_boot-camp-parris-island-vietnam-memorial

On June 7, 1969, Marine Pfc. Dan Bullock was killed in a firefight at An Hoa Combat Base in what was then South Vietnam.

 

According to battle reports, Bullock and his unit were posted along the northern end of the base's airstrip about 2 a.m. when a regular North Vietnamese Army unit attacked them with rockets and mortars.

 

In the skirmish, Bullock and two other Marines were killed and 31 were wounded, including 19 who had to be evacuated.

 

Chances are, Bullock would have been just one casualty among many - his name is on Panel 23W, Row 96 of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington - except for one distinction: He was only 15 years old when he died.

 

Perhaps even that would have been just a footnote in history except for one former Marine who lives in Mount Laurel and who considered Bullock his best friend when their paths crossed in boot camp.

 

"He's a hero," said Franklin McArthur, who has launched a campaign to win special recognition for his Marine Corps brother. "He lied about his age to defend this country. . . .

 

"He's the most patriotic young man. He took his secret to the grave to fight for an ideology, when you had grown men fleeing to Canada."

 

McArthur helped organize a caravan that left Saturday from Brooklyn, N.Y., to travel to Goldsboro, N.C., where Bullock is buried.

 

McArthur has also established the Pfc. Dan Bullock Foundation, which is gathering money for a monument to the soldier to be erected in Brooklyn outside the Marine recruiting office where both men signed up.

 

Bullock is believed to be the youngest U.S. soldier to die in Vietnam. He joined the Marines by forging his papers.

 

Saturday's trip ended with a dedication ceremony for a headstone for Bullock, who was buried without one in 1969. The headstone was donated by talk-show host Sally Jessy Raphael.

 

* Bullock lived in North Carolina until he was about 13, when his mother died and he and his younger sister, Gloria, moved to Brooklyn to live with their father and his wife.

 

"My brother didn't like New York," Gloria Bullock-Burroughs, 43, said in an interview. "He wanted to get an education, to make something of himself, and saw the Marines as a way to get there."

 

Changing his birth date from Dec. 21, 1953, to Dec. 21, 1949, to make it look as if he were 18, Bullock enlisted in the Marines and reported for duty on Sept. 18, 1968, McArthur said. Bullock was 14.

 

 

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L8_4thesh0w

L8_4thesh0w

Posted
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I don't believe I limited my appreciation exclusively to American veterans, nor my appreciation of freedom as such, either. :-k ?

 

Remember Slaughterhouse Five?

 

Σß

I apologize if anyone was offended by that last comment. I was distracted and forgot to add this:

 

My dad was a veteran. He served in Germany in the Corps Of Engineers after WWII. I'm not really sure what he did there.

He died before I was old enough to care about knowing such things but I know it didn't involve combat.

 

Σß

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