"GM" wrote in message
...

Ophelia wrote:

> "Gary" wrote in message ...
>
> Just wanted to wish a nice day to ALL vets* past and present
> today. It's a giant team effort to do what you all do so well.
> From actual front-line combat and all the way down to the lowest
> support position. All are important. You do a damn good job and
> keep up the good work.
>
> I've lived right under the main flight path of Oceana Naval Air
> Station here for many years. So many neighbors complain about the
> jet noise when they fly. It's very loud but I ignore it.
> (sometimes you have to pause a conversation until the jets pass -
> always 2...one craft plus wingman). These are our Navy's fighter
> jets. Used to use F-14s but now all fly F-18s. I admire every
> damn one of them and when someone whines about the noise, I smile
> and say, "We're protected here night and day." heh
>
> Despite all the 'anti military' nonsense that you might hear,
> just know that probably the majority of us support it fully. Tax
> money for Defense is well spent, imo. You DO really need to carry
> a 'big stick' in this evil world.
>
> I've always even included my father in this day too. He was never
> in the military but he worked his entire career for the Defense
> Dept. Still very much part of the entire team effort.
>
> * Ok, even you non-related animal vets get a kudos from me. Great
> job to all of you too! ;-D
>
> ==
>
> From me too My husband served in the military for 22 years so I am very
> grateful too.


A big "thank you" to him *and* you from the bottom of my heart, Ms. O...
Over our lifetimes we've seen the benefit of a strong Western/NATO defence,
specifically the collapse of the hated soviet empire - this happened without
a shot being fired between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. We still have many
tensions, but hundreds of millions now live better lives because of our
combined Western military and ideological strengths...

Especially poignant that it's the centenary of the end of WWI (IMO a useless
war that opened a Pandora's box of the 20th century demons of communism,
fascism and nazism) - I know you in the UK have had many remembrances and
celebrations this past few days...when I visited London years ago I visited
The Cenotaph, very moving; I saw the Queen visited to pay her respects:

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-46169...tes-on-beaches

Here is an interesting article:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/...erbert-hoover/

This is simply gobsmacking:

"...They fell in battles like that of the Somme, on whose very first day
(July 1, 1916) the British army suffered 60,000 casualties, including 20,000
dead. They fell in 1917 at the terrible, three-month-long battle of
Passchendaele, near the city of Ypres (now called Ieper) in western Belgium.
Today, if you visit Ieper, you will find a building called the Menin Gate
Memorial, on which are inscribed the names of more than 54,000 soldiers from
Great Britain and the British Empire who died in nearby battles between 1914
and 1917 and whose bodies were never found..."

Best
Greg

====

Thank you, I have passed that on) I am very proud of him

D has served in many wars and conflicts. I am very lucky to still have him!

Many have lost their lives in service of their country. It is heart
breaking for those families.