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Remember to thank a veteran

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sw

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DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY
Was on a sunny, Sunday afternoon, our first time walking through that gate,
To our son a new beginning, but this time the US Marines, were to be his date.
Gave him a goodbye, and a long and hard embrace
I knew there would be tears, if I dared, to look him in the face.
jww.jpg


Hugged his little sister, then gave his momma a squeeze too,
Said "I'll try to stay in touch, I'll try to write to you.
Cause where I'm going there is no phone, no such thing as email,
There's even fewer conveniences, than in a small town jail."
Told his cousin, who was wearing, grandpa's marine jacket for the event,
"See you around man", and off with his Sergeant he went.
My respect for him grew immensely, filled me up with a lot of pride,
Had to choke down some of those feelings, us men are trained to hide.
Have never seen my son so committed, to anything he's done,
Guess that kind of commitment is why, the Marines have usually won
iwo2.jpg


I have walked among those like him, buried at Arlington,
Watched the changing of the guard at the tomb, of someone's unknown son.
I've stood at the statue of Iwo Jima in awe at those men and their guts,
Turned around and had to listen to a bunch of liberals, and antiwar wingnuts.
Who do they think gave them the right, to express their leftwing thought?
It's with kids like mine whose commitment, this freedom has been bought.
unknown.jpg


Anyone who thinks they can do and say whatever they want to say,
Better thank themselves a soldier, each and every single day.
There's a big Semper Fi pasted on the window, of our front door,
All of those antiwar opinions, to me are just a bore.
iwo.jpg


This was not just any given Sunday, we were also celebrating my birth.
Guess it was God's way of telling me, of my contributions to this earth.
My son is being sent to protect you all, his duty to you has been sworn.
I never would of dreamed it, 22 years ago when he was born
flag.jpg


Like most all the good things in life, sometimes you have to wait,
For the time being though, my son has a lot, sitting on his plate.
To all of you that have been there, and those who want to be,
You have my respect, and a big thank you, coming straight from me.
I salute you all, for doing what is right,
I have the privilege of being free, because of those who chose to fight.
Semper Fidelis
headstones.jpg


Scott Wiley 2005
 
I been sitting here best part of an hour,looking at the pictures,reading the poem,trying to figure how to thank you,your boy and all the service men/women who put it all on the line for their country,and fellow Americans,some times words come hard for an ole TX cowboy especially for folks like yall,so I will simply say ,thanks for everything............good luck
 
thanks, was going to save this for later in the week but what the heck. Could not wait to share it. Just printed it up to send to him so he can share it with the others. I have never in my life felt so humble as when walking through Arlington. Hope I get to go back again someday.
Haymaker, thank him yourself, he used to read Ranchers some himself and he was here when we went to Deadwood, he would probably really get a kick out of it.

Wiley, John W.
2nd RBTN Golf Co. Plt. 2152
35051 Midway Ave.
San Diego, CA 92140-2152


BTW, the W is for Wayne, maybe that is why he has an attitude. :!:
 
like Haymaker been readin this and trying to think of an appropriate reply,All I can come up with is the most respect goes out to him,his family and all the others out there with him and on Friday Nov.11 I will be saluting him at our Canadian Remembrance Day Service!!!
 
Well that decides it, my $ go to a veteran's charity!!!!

The "ranchers" shorts will be remembered for all those that have given their lives and their dedication to OUR FREEDOM!!

And those not so fortunate to have a choice!!!!

Have the shorts been mailed off yet? If not, send them to John W.

Thanks for reading John!!!
 
Yuh know sw, that stuff is hard to look at and read with this salt water in my eyes. Truely wonderful!

I tried to get across to my son how he and all of those around him were hero's over there, but he never seemed to quite get it. "Aw Dad, we are just doin' our jobs." Damn kids!

Make an old graybearded poop, proud!
 
sw said:
thanks, was going to save this for later in the week but what the heck. Could not wait to share it. Just printed it up to send to him so he can share it with the others. I have never in my life felt so humble as when walking through Arlington. Hope I get to go back again someday.
Haymaker, thank him yourself, he used to read Ranchers some himself and he was here when we went to Deadwood, he would probably really get a kick out of it.

Wiley, John W.
2nd RBTN Golf Co. Plt. 2152
35051 Midway Ave.
San Diego, CA 92140-2152


BTW, the W is for Wayne, maybe that is why he has an attitude. :!:


I think I will scrawl him a few words ,later next week ............good luck
PS there aint nothing wrong with having a attitude when you are right :wink:
 
First off, that was totally awesome! I think I've missed the details. Is he in boot camp or was he already enlisted? Our 19 year old nephew is in Army reserve bootcamp in missouri. He has 2 1/2 weeks left and is having a blast. We are SO proud of him. He didn't have a good familly life (Mike's sister is his mom), so he adopted us about 4 years ago when he started working here in the summers. He lived over by Boise, Id. This summer he wasn't going to work here, had a job at a tack store. We asked to come for a week to help get caught up,and he decided it was alot better here :) When he came he brought everything he owned and told everyone he had moved over here :p He's a good kid and we love him. Anyway hope your boy likes it as much as Caleb. I'll post Calebs address too. He loves getting mail :!: and even writes back :!:
 
I probably do too much thinking about how to raise my kids to be respectful of others and also to be successful. Mine are younger than yours and I have some time to work on things, but you must be rewarded and proud at the same time on how things have worked out for you two.

Good job, and good luck. And hats off to ALL Veterans.

They say not to cuss a farmer with food in your mouth, so on the same hand, one shouldn't ever cuss a Veteran when you still have your freedoms. I didn't join the military, but folks like your son gave me the right to choose because they are doing such a great job. Thanks.
 
Jinglebob, give that one to him and tell him I said thanks, I even got to Dad, he had that problem with salt water too. As a matter of fact I guess I did too.
 
Nicky,
post his addy and we will send him things. John is in BOOTY, bet it has a new meaning for the word now and I'll bet that he thinks dad was an angel, compared to a drill seargent now.
 
Thank you, sw, for the finely written poem. It is a wonderful tribute to your son, and to all of the military men and women who have put their lives on the line to keep the freedom of this great country. As American citizens living in the finest country in the world, we owe them a very big debt of gratitude. Thanks for bringing it to our attention in such a dignified manner.
 
My dad never talked about when he was in the service. He went into the army right before WWII was over with. But when the grandsons came along he told them all about what he did. He was stationed in Guam and was to be a grease monkey, he called it. But he wound up helping to clean out the caves with Japanese soldiers still in them. It must have been horrible for him, as he told the boys that it scared about 20 years off his life to have a japanese man just about took his head off!!! Now that he and mom live closer to us, he has been honored for being a veteran by our little town, it has helped him alot in that he now can talk alittle more about what happened and his service for our country. GOD BLESS ALL VETERANS, MEN AND WOMEN.
 
My Great Uncle Mac was stationed in France in WWI. He was wounded quite badly and spent months in a hospital in England, and the war was over before he got home. For the rest of his life he never spoke of what happened over there, but he carried shrapnel in his shoulder until the day he died.

While investigating our family history, I obtained his war records. It turns out he was a messenger. One of those fellows on the Harley Davidsons that the Germans liked to call targets. "Don't shoot the messenger" is exactly the opposite of what really happens in war. If you want to slow down your opponent, shooting the messenger is exactly what you do first! That's what they did. It was during a pivotal battle that cracked through the German trenches finally, and allowed the last big push that broke them. This battle was the beginning of the end of the German defenses. It was an unbelievably big break, and may have been what finally won the war. He never spoke of it. Ever. In his mind, the horrors were too much to put on the family at home, I think. No one at home had any idea what he had gone through, and he carried the burden alone.

For him, I wear a poppy on Nov 11. Every year. For the many others like him, everyone should always remember.
 
I felt a lot of emotion reading your post Kato. What a brave man. My hat goes off and my heart goes out to him.

And it seems that most of the soldiers DIDN'T talk much about what they encountered.

That is what got John Kerry in trouble, all the blabbing he did about being a war hero. The real HEROES said nothing at all.
 

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