Salute to Veterans

“Stand Tall
==========
patriotism
plant the flag
symbolism
body bags

men crying
buildings down
people dying
all around

more tanks
body parts
enemy flanks
brave hearts

eternal days
forever nights
atheists pray
by exploding lights

lovers long
don't ask why
right or wrong
fight or die

white flags
peace accords
wheelchairs
hospital wards

young and brave
innocence
fall parades
monuments

green grass
headstones
tidy rows
finally home

freedom lives
duty called
sacred honor
gave it all

freedom fighters
heroes, all
be proud
stand tall

-------
(c)Fritz Barnes, 1999”

“Veterans deserve our respect and gratitude that they were willing to put themselves in harm's way and fight for our country.”

“Ditto! Thanks vets!”

“To My Dad; WWII combat vet. in Europe and a dentist in a MASH unit in Korea. Thanks Dad!”

“To Grandpa- Royal Canadian Mounted Rifles- Captured in Ypres (WW I) ...we remember!”

“For my brother, Born 10 MAR 49, KIA RSVN 15 JUN 68. He instilled in me a love for the outdoors. Gone, but certainly not forgotten.”

“Thank you vets everywhere! All gave some, and some gave all. Happy Veteran?s Day!

Does anyone know of any organizations that handle care packages to the troops over seas? I tried the Red Cross and the USO but neither one do it.”

“I have been told that the military has suspended all such programs due to security.”

“I never thought of that. Thanks.”

“Sucks bad don't it?”

“Amen to that. Anybody gonna make a donation to Amvets this year?”

“Already have Markar. And to the Vietnam Veteran's Crisis Support Center.”

“To Dad, Uncle Gary & Uncle Tom (Vietnam) Both Grandpa's and Great Uncles's: Joe, Ed, Butch, John, George, and Marty (kia - Guadalcanal)

and...

all the vets that served, and are serving our contry today.”

“The young Marine came back from the war, with his toughest fight ahead of him. Merlin German waged that battle in the quiet of a Texas hospital, far from the dusty road in Iraq where a bomb exploded, leaving him with burns over 97 percent of his body.

No one expected him to survive.

But for more than three years, he would not surrender. He endured more than 100 surgeries and procedures. He learned to live with pain, to stare at a stranger's face in the mirror. He learned to smile again, to joke, to make others laugh.

He became known as the "Miracle Man."

But just when it seemed he would defy impossible odds, Sgt. Merlin German lost his last battle this spring — an unexpected final chapter in a story many imagined would have a happy ending.

"I think all of us had believed in some way, shape or form that he was invincible," says Lt. Col. Evan Renz, who was German's surgeon and his friend. "He had beaten so many other operations. ... It just reminded us, he, too, was human."

___

It was near Ramadi, Iraq, on Feb. 21, 2005, that the roadside bomb detonated near German's Humvee, hurling him out of the turret and engulfing him in flames.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080525/ap_on_re_us/memorial_day__miracle__marine”

“An American Hero”

“A crisp salute to Merlin German, SSG Paul Johnson, Matt Weber, and all those who so freely gave their lives in the service of others. Thank you all and may you rest in peace.”

“Semper Fidelis my brother!!!”

“...so sad.....*tears*
:(”