Farewell Marine

Just a moving dedication to the Marines that gave all

Farewell Marine

Semper

That was good.

Thank you semperfortis.

Roper

Originally posted by semperfortis
Just a moving dedication to the Marines that gave all

Farewell Marine

Semper

Excellent my friend...

I applaud your continued morality and support...

Johnny

Semper Fi to all marines. Without you guys America would not be as free as we are.

Mad respect to all my buddies in the marines serving now or ever.

Sometimes I wish I was man enough to be a Marine.

They should be proud of themselves.

that's pretty good. thanks OP

[edit on 12-12-2006 by stingray]

Aw, geez, Semper, why'd you have to make me cry?

Four days from now will be the third anniversary of my dad's death from Alzheimer's. It's a sad time for me. At his funeral, they played Taps and a 21 gun salute - he was a Rear Admiral in the Navy and a Mustang at that. I have always been so proud of him. He fought in WWII and gave everything he had for his country. RIP, Dad and all the other U.S. vets who have proudly and selflessly fought and died for our country so that thier children and future generations could continue to live in freedom.

Thanks, Semper, that was really beautiful.

ForestLady,

As I write this, I stand and give your Dad a Marine Salute!!!!!

HOORRAHHHH!!! Admiral....

Semper Fi...

Semper

That was beautiful, Lord knows all our service members sure do deserve a fine tribute as that. I want to thank them for their courage, and I will honor them the best way I know how to, wake up tomorrow, put on my uniform, and head to work. I will continue to serve, and say a little prayer for everyone down range.

Go with God, and peace be upon all of you.

Ok Semper now you've done it; you've made me cry.

Forest Lady your Dad was an awesome person. Thank God I still have mine I think our Dads are much alike. Dad fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. I will say a prayer for all our boys and girls in uniform, the vet and their families.

Semper this was inspiring and wonderful. Thanks

Hey Semper and GallopingHordes, thanks for the kind words about my Dad. I should also add that he grew up on the "wrong side of the tracks", didn't have a father or anyone to give him a hand up. He enlisted in the Navy in WWII as an enlisted man and worked his way up thru the ranks. He was a very remarkable man who left his children with a wonderful legacy.

This is one video I'll sure be passing along to my military friends.

He must have been a GREAT man, He obviously raised a GREAT Daughter...

Semper Fi...

Semper

Geez, Semper this time you made me blush AND cry...thank you for such a very nice compliment.

BTW, here is something we can do to help one of our soldiers. Just a simple holiday card would be welcome and you can easily add this address to your list this year.

*******
U.S. Soldier needs YOUR HELP!!!

This letter was e-mailed to a friend of mine so I believe it to not be a fake. This U.S. soldier has lost his legs, his arm and well basically, his life. He apparently is being hit by serious depression and writing letters, sending cards to him would really help. Here is his story, as told by his Adjutant:

********

On 13 Aug 2005 somewhere around 930pm I was chillin out in my bunker in Iraq watching a movie on my laptop when a Chinese rocket landed about 100 meters from me. This wasn't unusual in and of itself, my area of the FOB was always targeted by insurgents (I lived in the HQ/Command area) and we got hit every other week or so (sometimes once a week). for some reason, they preferred to fire at us on Saturdays. I don't know why.
In response we fired some illumination rounds and sent out a QRF (quick reaction force) to try to find the insurgents who fired the rocket. Anyway, the first humvee which turned down the road outside our FOB went over a hell of an IED.
the humvee blew up, the gunner was blown a few yards up, out, and away from the humvee. 2 of the others inside were able to open their doors, the driver took 2 steps before falling dead, the vehicle commander took 4 steps. The guy in the back never got out. The explosion set off a fire and the ammo in the humvee started cooking off.
Another QRF went with the medics to try to save them but couldn't reach the humvee because the ammo in the humvee was cooking off and was literally "shooting" in every direction. I'm talking about soliders taking cover from bullets shooting out of a burning vehicle, while trying to save lives (at the time they didn't know they were dead). About an hour after the fact the fire died down and even then the medics had to use water to cool the bodies down in order to pick them up and put them in body bags (plural, with 3 exceptions, everyone that I knew that got killed over there went home in multiple body bags).
I"m writing this about the survivor, SGT Kevin Downs. The initial IED blast took off both of his legs and covered over 80% of his body in 2nd and 3rd degree burns. We were scheduled to go home in October and he was to be married then.
Being Adjutant, I was a part of the whole story we're talking about. I was in the TMC (troop medical center) when they brought him in. He was so badly burned he kept asking our Squadron Surgeion (Doc Spradlin) if his penis were burned off (I'm under the impression from the conversation with Doc Spradlin that SGT Downs or his fiance were virgins). All they could really do was dope him up and wait on the medevac chopper from LSA Anaconda. the chopper came, got him, took him to Anaconda, and began to treat him.
They stabilized him and sent SGT Downs to Germany. They stabilized him some more and sent him to Texas. He's still there. They're in the process of amputating one of his arms and he still hasn't recovered from the burns. He almost died last Christmas/Yule from pneumonia and is having trouble again. I hate to say it but his ongoing health struggle makes me wonder who was the luckier soldier that night- the 3 dead or him? It's that bad.

Anyway, the reason I'm writing this is that I"m going to write SGT Downs a letter. The purpose is to let him know that he isn't forgotten. He's spent over a year in a hospital recovering from injuries and his life, assuming he lives, will never be the same. No idea on when he will fully, completely recover. No idea if he will ever really go home (he left TN on June 2004, had 10 days leave in Oct 2004, had 14 days leave in early 2005, that's it) again.
I'm throwing his address out to anyone who would like to send him a card.

SGT Kevin Downs
Brooke Army Medical Center
Bldg. 3600, Room 430 West
3851 Roger Brook Dr.
Ft. Sam Houston, TX 78234

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The link has been deleted. Damn. I'll I can say is the sentiment expressed by all of you is certainly agreed to by me. My father (gallopinghordes, too) is a three war veteran who isn't getting any younger. One day I'll be saying good bye to him...for all his faults, and he has a few...but he's my dad and I love him dearly. To him, and all the others who didn't make it home, and those who did...Thank you.

Originally posted by seagull
The link has been deleted.

Here you go ... they've moved it due to exceeding bandwidth limits.


www.yellowribbongreetings.us...



ALL

Thenk you. I'm not often reduced to tears, but I was, and still am. I've always been grateful to those willing to step into harms way to protect those unable to defend themselves.

In our memories they'll forever be young and alive. Their memories forever fresh. May they always be remembered as such.

Forgot to tell you, Semper. Way Above Award on the way. You care and always will. Carry on, brother. If I keep giving you way aboves people are going to start the most outrageous rumours .

[edit on 11-4-2007 by seagull]

Let em' talk Seagull, let em talk... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Thank you my friend...

Semper

Would you be able to U2U me the URL for this, by the reviews it sounds really touching, but when I click on your link I’m told that it is not there. But I would like to see this vid.
Thanks
Mr Mx

Semper thank you for bringing this to ATS.
Ass this war drags on and the people get more and more caught up in the politics we seem to forget that these men are out everyday fighting and dieing to protect us. So we can stay safely back here and argue about whether the war is right or wrong, should we stay the course or cut and run, as we write slogans and chant songs, these fine people are out doing their duty insuring that we have the right to bicker all we want.
To the men and women of all the services, Thank you.

This moving tribute is particularly timly for me and I'm sure Seagull as well since our younger brother is once again preparing to deploy to Iraq. There has been much talk that we don't belong over there, that our troops are little better then criminals; insults have been slung at them that are or should be unspeakable; yet they still risk all to defend our rights to speak and believe as we wish. All of our men and women in uniform are heros in their own right whether or not they ever have a medal pinned to their chest. Thank God for them.

If anyone wishes to show support for our troops they could go to adopt a soldier.com this is one of the most meaniingful ways to show support; many of our troops don't receive mail or packages from home. It really means alot when someone shows they care and sends a care package. I really encourage anyone interested to visit the site and let your heart guide you.