I habla that... lima charlie, my friend, lima charlie.

Although it's not veteran's day/memorial day here, there's never a wrong moment to think about our troops.

I can't thank the men and women enough for things done in the past, and the ones in places like Uruzgan now, for keeping this a free country.

Same goes for our allies, including the Americans.

Your country sent in troops to Iraq in 2003. I know this because they relieved 1100 US Marines that got to come home, when otherwise they would have been extended. A little known, esoteric fact that meant the absolute world to those troops and their families. Buy one of 'em a beer for me, will ya?

Nice posts by everyone. We have the same thing up here but called Rememberance Day. I found out it's the only day of the year that7-11 closes their doors even if it is for half a day

My heartfelt thanks are given to all who served to protect our rights and freedom. My father served in WWII in North Africa and Italy. He was a commissioned officer and in Special Services, which among other duties, included tagging and identifying those killed in action. One story he told me that made a huge impact on me was this.

One day he and another American soldier were in no mans land somewhere in the hills of Italy tagging victims when they came upon two German Soldiers doing basically the same thing. It was a stand-off, with rifles pointed toward each other until the other American soldier spoke in German to the other two, and they in turn lowered their rifles, and my Dad and his partner did the same. They worked for over three hours identifying bodies, sometimes side by side with the enemy. When they finished at this particular site, they picked up their rifles, shook hands, and turned their backs on each other and walked away.

About six months later, near the end of the war, my Dad was helping out at a prison camp for captured German soldiers and as he was helping out some of them get to their barracks, one German soldier came up to him and in broken English asked my father if he was the soldier out in the field identifying bodies a few months earlier. From that point on my father and this young German became friends and when the war ended this German soldier came to the United States and settled in Milwaukee. He worked at the Shorewood Inn, on Oakland Ave., and I had the privilege to meet him in 1967 at a rehearsal dinner before my sisters wedding.

He passed away in Milwaukee in November, 1987, just one month before my Dad passed away. I wonder if they're up there talking about what went on at that moment they met. Naw.........they're laughing and drinking beer!

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ok, bob - that gave me chills. amazing story!

GREAT STORY BOB!!!
I wish we could hear all those kinds of stories from the Veterans past. I bet there are lots of them. It shows you that even in the worst of times, mankind can surprise you.

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You're right Cheesey. But for many of those men who served, they would just as soon forget about it. My late father-in-law was in Normandy in the landing there. He was a Tank Commander and survived all the horrors of that battle. When my wife and I wanted to take him to see Saving Private Ryan he simply said, "No! I was in that battle and I don't want to relive it again."

My Dad had many memorable experiences from the war and he shared many of them with us. Some were good and some not so good. The funniest one was about some non-coms in the US Army who were put on report for drunkeness just before the invasion of Rome. My Dad by then was a Lt. Colonel and he got wind that these non-coms were going to blow up the Commanding Officers quarters because he was hard nosing them and making things miserable for everyone. Nobody liked this guy at all. The night it was suppossed to happen my Dad and a guy from demolition hid out and watched these guys set up there charges around the base the CO's quarters. Only they forgot one thing....the detonator, which had to be procurred from the demolition headquarters and signed for. As the culprits came back, realizing their mistake, my Dad and the other officer stepped in and asked what they were doing. Then the demolition guy proceeded to show them what they forgot.....the detonator.

They let the guys go after a strong tongue lashing and my Dad said to them..."next time you're going to blow up something, think backwards. Start with the detonator and go from there." He said it was one of the best laughs he had in Italy.

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My Father in law used to tell me stories about WW2. He had 3 purple hearts from that war.
He told me how he had rushed a machine gun nest the one time with his bayonette. He actually killed the machine gunner. He then turned around and started walking back to his platoon. He felt wet, and reached inside his shirt, pulling his hand out covered with blood. It was then he realized the machine gunner had got him too. His right lung was shot out. Once he knew he was hit he yelled "MEDIC!" and doesn't remember anything after that. I saw the bullet wound scars and the scar where they took out what was left of his lung.

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In 1971 or 1972, my dad reflected with me about his service in Korea, and how he served as an Battery Commander of 155 howitzers. He told me that one of his fellow Commanders by the name of Al Gray and him were best of friends in that conflict, and what a hard-charging Marine Al was. I remember my dad reflecting upon how Al would gruffly dismiss him (my dad) as a bit of a "dilettante" for his ivy-league education, and called him the "barrister" for having gone to law school. He said that AL would make an outstanding Commandant of the Marine Corps, but would never get there, as he was pure Marine rifleman, and had a total disregard for the political "debutantes" in the puzzle palace and its environs (Pentagon and D.C.). Two years later, I'm a Marine. Year after that I forgot to duck during the Mayaguez "Incident" in Cambodia. Year after that, my little brother also joined the Corps. Al Gray was my little brother's Commanding General in the 3rd Mardiv on Okinawa. Flash forward 4 more years. My brother gets out of the Marines, I'm still in. Now I'm in the 2nd MarDiv and Al Gray is my Commanding General. The world is a truly small place... The Corps is small by other service standards, but we are still talking over I think at the time 192,000 men. I was in the 1st Bn 8th Marines. We had a rather significant problem in Beirut, again I forgot to duck, yada, yada yada... We get back from Beirut, land at Morehead City, NC. Al Gray is there to meet us getting off the ship. Keep in mind I have never met him in my life. I work the courage up to break out of ranks and introduce myself and reflect upon his service with my dad and what my dad had said about him 10 years prior. I walk up to him and start to salute him. He puts his hand out instead of saluting. He says "Welcome home, David." "I called your dad and told him you were alive on the night it happened... why do you keep forgetting to duck, and why the hell did your brother leave our Corps?" I was absolutely flattened. I said to him, (I couldn't think of anything else) "Sir, my brother served under you in the 3rd MarDiv" He says.. "I know, I pinned a Navy Achievement Medal on him." I knew, of course, about that medal, but my brother swears Gen. Gray gave no indication of acknowledgement of him when he did it. General Gray had followed my career just like my father had followed his. To this day I do not know how he knew who I was when I approached him. By the way, who do reckon' became what most Marines recognize as the best Commandant the Marine Corps ever had? Years later he gave me his phone number, and I used it. On my dad's 80th birthday we had a little surprise for my old man. The guest of Honor was the former Commandant of the United States Marine Corps ... General Alfred P. Gray. It was like they were battery commanders again. God, I love the Corps.