Originally Posted by Seer666

As silly as it may seem, it does hit a soft spot when some one you’ve never seen before and probably will never see again walks up and shakes your hand with an expression of real gratitude on their face.

Originally Posted by Johnny Cash

One mornin' at breakfast, I said to my wife,
We been everywhere once and some places twice,
As I had another helping of country ham,
She said "We ain't never been to Vietnam,
"And there's a bunch of our boys over there."
So we went – to the Orient: Saigon.

Well we got a big welcome when we drove in,
Through the gates of a place that they call Long Vinh.
We checked in and everything got kinda quiet,
But a soldier boy said: "Just wait 'til tonight,
"Things get noisy. Things start happenin'.
"Big bad firecrackers."

Well that night we did about four shows for the boys,
And they were livin' it up with a whole lot of noise.
We did our last song for the night,
And we crawled into bed for some peace and quiet,
But things weren't peaceful. And things weren't quiet.
Things were scary.

Well for a few minutes June never said one word,
And I thought at first that she hadn't heard.
Then a shell exploded not two miles away,
She sat up in bed and I heard her say: "What was that?"
I said: "That was a shell, or a bomb."
She said: "I'm scared." I said "Me too."

Well all night long that noise kept on,
And the sound would chill you right to the bone.
The bullets and the bombs, and the mortar shells,
Shook our bed every time one fell,
And it never let up; it was gonna get worse,
Before it got any better.

Well when the sun came up, the noise died down,
We got a few minutes sleep, an' we were sleepin' sound,
When a soldier knocked on our door and said:
"Last night they brought in seven dead, and 14 wounded."
And would we come down to the base hospital, and see the boys.
"Yes!"

So we went to the hospital ward by day,
And every night we were singin' away.
Then the shells and the bombs was goin' again.
And the helicopters brought in the wounded men.
Night after night; day after day.
Comin' and a goin'.

So we sadly sang for them our last song,
And reluctantly we said: "So long."
We did our best to let 'em know that we care,
For every last one of 'em that's over there.
Whether we belong over there or not.
Somebody over here love's 'em, and needs 'em

Well now that's about all that there is to tell,
About that little trip into livin' hell.
And if I ever go back over there any more,
I hope there's none of our boys there for me to sing for;
I hope that war is over with,
And they all come back home,
To stay.

In peace.

Originally Posted by clavus

Oh, Hell yes. Thank you.

Hey as much as I'd like to buy one of those insipid "I support our troops" magnets to slap on my car, I already spent the money. Whenever I see a vet selling the goofy, little fake poppies to support disabled veterans, I grab the biggest bill in my wallet and stick it in his hand. Then I ask him where he served and thank him.

This war...this administration...sigh...don't get me started. But I support my troops 100%. I will continue to agitate, to cartoon, to write and to make political donations all with the idea of bringing our troops home safe and sound.

God bless the brave men and women who we put in harm's way.

Originally Posted by BigBen931

As a Canadian soldier, I would like to thank the American service men and women. We hold you in high regard, and your example is a tough one to live up to...

Every american service personnel I have met has been a credit to your forces and to your nation. Turned out in proper fashion, with decency and respect overflowing. I have often seen my fellow soldiers comment "if only WE could be like that..."

The next time I run across one of you, I'll buy the beer. Canadian beer, that is. :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by maleficent

I'm so glad to hear that it does mean something. I wish I could take credit for it, it was purely a copy cat move on my part after I watched a friend do it... Whenever I am in the airport... I always spot at least one or five service people in mid flight transfer, and I as much as possible I give a thank you... sometimes I think I've scared a few of them - -who's this crazy lady hitting on me ... but it 's a good feeling...

My dad served in Korea, a close family friend was a 17 year old marine in WWII, a great big thank you to all who have served, and all that are doing their best to serve in the future.