Hey Guys,

I just wanted to see how many Military Vets we have here. I'm guessing quite a few.

I thought it would be interesting to see a "Then and Now" pic.

Here's mine

Then:


Now:

Cool thread. Thanks for your service.

1-501st Airborne Infantry Battalion out of Ft Richardson Alaska.


Im on the left

Handing out some candy counter insurgency ops


Me now with my friends new born..

Thank YOU for your service. I got to see a lot of Jungle but no sand. I was in during the first desert war. I remember a saying for us not there in the desert..."I'd fly 10,000 miles to 'smoke' a camel". And a picture of cross hairs on a camel. Good times.

Didn't take any pictures when I was in the ANG 122nd CAMS fighter squadron in Ft. Wayne, Indiana from 86' to 92.' Sorry.

I was a Army military dependent from 1957 to 1973. Does that count too? According to Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels it does.

Elizer and DogLoyalty thanks for your service!

USAF 1964-1968

Gotta be some pics around somewhere but...

I put my pictures in a safe place where I wouldn't loose them, but this is all I could find.



I found one more picture

Dang, I don't even know where to look. U.S. Navy, 1969-1975.

Yeah I have a few but I would have to take a picture of the picture! I will see what I can do though it may be a bit.

USAF 1987-1991 Little Rock AFB

Thanks all of you that are or have served! You and your families both sacrifice so much for our country.

CMM

Hi Honorable Vets, Thanks is not enough,but what is an American Like me to do or say other than thank you for so many who have done so much for us. I do tell my children and grandchildren to tell everyone who serves, "just stop and say thanks". My family does and we try to buy/ pay for a meal or give them a hug. One would be surprised how many get little recognition from those who they protect.
To all those who did and do serve thank you for my and my family's freedom. Thank you for the unspoken sacrifice of you and your family. May true peace be in your future for the peace you give us.

Wow, I'm speechless. What amazing words of encouragement. Thank you for your continued support, thoughts and prayers for all our men and women in uniform.

YOU inspire ME.

Thank you for making my weekend.

Freedom has a heavy price. It should be obvious who pays the bill. God bless everyone of you who serve in our armend forces (Army , Navy Air Force , Marines , Coast Guard). Many of them have willingly gone in harms way and given up all of their tomorrows so you can live free today !

Roger that!

US NAVY 1975-1995
Helicopter Rescue Swimmer/Crew Chief.
Retired as Chief Petty Officer.

The pic next to the helo was in the Philippines, '82.

Louisiana oilfield supply boat captain, 1996-Present

The pic is on the bridge of the M/V C-Commander.

Let me try this again.....and I'm the guy on the left in the pic beside the helo, the other fella is LCDR Kron Littleton. He flew it, I jumped out of it!

The pic on the ships bridge is from 2013, fatter & grayer!

Hi fellas
First time I have ever posted anything. More of a listener than a talker .
U.S. Navy Seabees , 1969 - 71, Bien Hoa, Cat Lai, Dong Tam, In Country. Sure miss some great guys that didn't come back with us, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It made me and a lot others grow up and appreciate what we have in this great country. I thank all that served in all branches .

You, your brothers and sisters give me the ability to have the freedom to write on a computer,just as one small example and be able to say thank you. I am glad you felt the spirit it was written in.

Thanks to all of you that have worn the uniform with honor!

I'm proud to have served! USAF F-16 Crew Chief from '84 to '04. Highlights were Desert Shield/Storm/Provide Comfort in'90-'91, Deny Flight in '94, Osan ROK, and that
tour in Alaska!

From one of the Provide Comfort trips to Turkey - my first ride...and 9.4G under my own hand. Those rides are a blast! I'm the guy on the left in the picture.



I'm blessed to have transitioned to teaching what I spent my active duty career doing! On the left in this picture as well.

John,

My dad was in basic in Ft. Knox the same year you were.

USN 1966-1969. Great Lakes, Pensacola, Norfolk, Viet Nam...

Hey All --

Randy and I didn't always get to have cameras with us during our time on these cruise liners, and elsewhere. Here are some photos from our history. I'm in two of the photos below. I think Randy was below decks, ripping paper off of a teletype machine during one of the photos below.











The good times were not always good times. Yet, some of our colleagues got to provide humorous salutes so the folks back home knew they were OK as guests of some unfriendly hosts. Oh well, at least it is now a museum, even though it is on land, and not in the harbor.








Don't forget these guys. Their "gracious hosts" let them come home Christmas -- only to be kept safe in an undisclosed location for several weeks, apparently for not having presents for their families.



And, let's not forget -- you don't have to be in the US military to be taken as a US prisoner in a foreign country while defending this country..




Remember, PTSD doesn't require one to be in hand-to-hand combat, nor even necessarily still in the military for it to take it full effects.

[URL=http://John,

My dad was in basic in Ft. Knox the same year you were. [/quote]

I can't get this quote thing right. Cecil a lot of us were in the armed services at that time period as it was required everyone had to serve. Most of my classmate buddies went into the Navy. Two went to the air force, one flying refueling jet tankers until he retired, the other the electronics man in a two-man jet. One joined the National Guard before he was 18 and served at home. I was the only one that went to the army. The older brother of the one that flew the jet tanker was shot down in Vietnam and his jet was found in the jungle, and his remains returned some thirty years later to our small town here in Indiana. At the end of his services in the cemetery and just as taps were being played, 5 jets flew over and shot straight up in the air. It was beautiful and timing was perfect. My tombstone is only 50 feet from his.

Great thread and thank you to all who served and are still serving. John Monroe, great story about your buddies brother's remains being returned home.... Hopefully your tombstone goes un-used for a long time (but you'll be in great company if you ever have to use it)!

Still love your canoe John..........

Thanks to all for your service.

Happy Veterans Day to you all, and thank you.

Thanks to all US Veterans out there that give us the freedoms we have!

Thank you all for your service. It is very much appreciated!

So true John so true. So tragic to hear of your classmate that was shot down. I get angry when i think of the sam sites in Hanoi we weren't allowed to destroy. A lot of choopers were shot down in Vietnam too. I think i heard something like 800?

My dad says a lot of the guys in his basic went to Korea and he never saw them again. I think my dad started out in an engineer battalion. He then went to airborne triaining and ended up in Special Forces. Eventually he served in Vietnam and Cambodia. Retired as a Msgt.

I'm going to try and dig up a photo of him standing near a couple of jounalists. I said, "Dad do you know who that is?" he didn't much care as he wasn't fond of jounalists as he indicated they would comoromise a mission in a heartbeat if it meant a story. Anyway i told him it was Morlely safer (sp?) of 60 minutes.

A big thanks to all of you.

I was talking to my son one day about 15 years ago when he was in the 8th grade:

Son: "I'm meeting some friends after school."
Me: "Anybody I know?"
Son: mentioned a few names
Me "is *** **** from Viet Nam"
Son "Yes"
Me "Did you tell her I was in Viet Nam?"
Son "No"
Me: "Did you think that it might effect your friendship?"
Yes "uh, uh, yes"

My son is a terrific young man and ment no harm, he just gave me an honest answer.
But it broke my heart...

My uncle who was in Vietnam has similar attitude but he tries his best to manage it. My grandpa who was in Korea shared thoughts along those lines too.

Sincere thanks to all Veterans today and every day. I enjoy when you collectively relive your service through stories.

Couple thoughts:

1. Woe to whomever decided to scrap with John Monroe after a few beers back in the day - looks like he was ready to roll.

2. I hope Dave can find some of his old photos...I understand he played a prominent role in the battle of Bull Run.

Sorry, I think that I was still in Basic Training during that scrap.

My only memorable experience was a desert survival "exercise". The USAF dropped off about 8 of us in the desert somewhere around Fort Huachuca AZ. We had knives, tent shelters, shovels, plastic for solar stills, a radio, and some meds. We made it for 10 days; or at least 6 of us did. The others were evaced out. The summertime temps was in the 130's. We ate some interesting things that we foraged. We all lost a little bit of weight but had been pretty carefully selected. I started out at 135 pounds and only lost about 5 pounds. We kept wondering why we were doing it.

The 6 day war between Israel and neighbors started about 60 days later. We were guinea pigs.

I remember the 6 day war Dave. We were living in Germany and I was with my dad fishing a Bavarian trout stream. A wife of another soldier friend came looking for us and my dad's unit was put on full alert.

Just re-read this thread.. rmedgar. Fix that broken heart NOW!!! You have nothing to be ashamed of. We're proud of you and your son should be also.




Totally missed the part when this happened 15 yrs ago. I erased a lot.

By the way rmedgar, THANKS!!!