Drudge Retort: Red Meat for Yellow Dogs
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

As the sole bugler for the southern region of New York's Military Forces Honor Guard -- part of the state National Guard -- Louis DiLeo travels five days a week from cemetery to cemetery, playing at funerals of military servicemen and women and veterans. He started three years ago and hasn't missed a day since. About 1,800 veterans die each day, most of them from World War II.

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Let's start off Veterans Day by remembering and giving thanks to our own Drudge Retort military veterans.

DRUDGE RETORT MILITARY VETERANS

RexZeitgeist - US Army
Goatman - US Navy
Prolix247 - US Navy
Reagan58 - US Army (Special Forces)
OzarkAggie - US Navy (Submarine Service)
BuffaloBob - US Air Force
Cowboy - USCG
Boaz - US Army
Vernon - US Air Force
Beachbuzz - US Army (1985-1998) MOS:19K
Jackass - US Army Reserve
Tadowe - US Army
Sarge - US Air Force
Judas - USMC
101Chairborne - US Army
Commonsense-US Navy
Briwo - US Army (1978-1982)
Walt - US Army
Tron - US Army
USN - US Navy
Babuenthal - USMC
GrumpyToo - USMC
RealPlus5 - US Navy
Frosty - US Air Force
TedBaxter -- US Navy
KatieBerry - US Army, National Guard
FrankF55- US Army
Dutch46 -- USCG
Trooper -US Army
Sniper - US Army
lwalk17 - US Air Force
RightisRight - US Army
RightOCenter - US Air Force
MSgt - US Air Force (Ret).
John47 - US Air Force
TFDNihilist -- USMC
Herm - US Navy
OldWhiskeySour - US Air Force
KGBeekeeper - USMC
Oohrah's son Bob - USMC (now serving in Afghanistan)
LilBrit - WRNS (Womens Royal Naval Service)
Mattm - Minnesota Army NG (22 yrs. w/1 yr. active duty in Kosovo)
JustSomeGuy - US Navy
TownNCountry - US Navy, USNR
ItsMe - US Army
TJTull - US Air Force
Timbci - US rmy
JeffnDenmark - US Navy
Observer27 - US Army
Mr. Retaliation - US Air Force
SPC_Evil - US Army
Cmbell73 - USMC
ChickenRancher - USAF
MistaKurtz - USAF
VMA224 - USMC
JustinPhx - US Navy
Libertarian_GI - US Army
EvilPolock - US Army (1976-1980)
DrSoul - US Army (1964-1967)
GreatAmerican - US Army (Engineers)
Jwil22 - USMC (1992-1998)
Andyuhenet - US Air Force
RealPlus5 - USAF 1975-1979 /USN 1980-1998
DrKnowItAll - US Navy
rabiabidabi - US Navy
Mictian101 -USMC
EDB - US Army
Woke - USAF Security (1968 -1972)

Seems like this interesting list should be available on the stats page....? Would also be interesting to know vets versus non-vet political "leaning" on here.

Hey - saw advert that Applebee's restaurants are giving free meals to enlisted and vets today.....nice expensive gesture.

PS - re Applebee's....

To eat:
Valid Veteran and Active Duty Identification to Obtain Free Entree:
U.S. Uniform Services Identification Card
U.S. Uniform Services Retired Identification Card
Current Leave and Earnings Statement (LES)
Veterans Organization Card (i.e., American Legion and VFW)
Photograph in uniform
Wearing uniform
DD214
Citation or Commendation

Neat list, CChris.

TYVM.

Up here in Canader the Veterans groups decided to promote the idea this year that folks with specific remembrances of war should tape sommat and stick it up on youtube as part of a national "Canada Remembers" campaign.

With very little fanfare or advertising budget the thing has proven quite successful with current troops from Afghanistan adding their own uploaded thoughts to those of older veterans from other campaigns as well as the thoughts and memories of people who did not serve but who have also been affected by war.

Spud adds his own quiet gratitude to those other folks and thanks all those who have put themselves in harm's way to keep liberty alive for another generation.

Thanks to all Vets.

Lest we forget.

Be Well.

Thanks for this CC.

And to all my family and friends in and out of the armed forces, I salute you. There is a long list of them.

Thanks to you we are still free.

For now.

To my dad, brothers, cousins and each and every soldier past and present....a very grateful Happy Veterans Day to all of you!

Thank you for your dedication and selflessness.

It is a privelage and an honor to consider you brothers and sisters of this great country.

God Bless you all!

It's Remembrance Day in Britain. A lovely hymn ....

O Valiant Hearts

O valiant hearts who to your glory came
Through dust of conflict and through battle flame;
Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved,
Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.

Proudly you gathered, rank on rank, to war
As who had heard God's message from afar;
All you had hoped for, all you had, you gave,
To save mankindyourselves you scorned to save.

Splendid you passed, the great surrender made;
Into the light that nevermore shall fade;
Deep your contentment in that blest abode,
Who wait the last clear trumpet call of God.

Long years ago, as earth lay dark and still,
Rose a loud cry upon a lonely hill,
While in the frailty of our human clay,
Christ, our Redeemer, passed the self same way.

Still stands His Cross from that dread hour to this,
Like some bright star above the dark abyss;
Still, through the veil, the Victor's pitying eyes
Look down to bless our lesser Calvaries.

These were His servants, in His steps they trod,
Following through death the martyred Son of God:
Victor, He rose; victorious too shall rise
They who have drunk His cup of sacrifice.

O risen Lord, O Shepherd of our dead,
Whose cross has bought them and Whose staff has led,
In glorious hope their proud and sorrowing land
Commits her children to Thy gracious hand.

My Uncle Walt was a ship's fire control specialist (gunner) in World War II (he used to say that he also peeled a lot of potatoes); his ship survived a horrific kamikaze attack.

Walt's younger brother, Loren (USAF) did maintenance on the U-2 in Japan. He drank beer with Gary Powers.

My oldest brother was a Vietnam medic in the Air Force. He also served in Nebraska (SAC) and the U.K. at Lakenheath. He permanently injured his back in Omaha when he leaped to catch an infant in a falling incubator... not all military injuries happen in combat.

I was in the Air Force at Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Kaiserslautern, Germany. Grand Forks was ground zero for World War III -- B-52s, missiles, cruise missiles.

In Germany we were forward air control -- air traffic control for NATO; When the US Army wanted a bomb on a particular spot, they called us, and we'd contact the Americans, Brits, Dutch, Germans, etc., and coordinate the delivery.

It let me travel all over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East because we had control sites everywhere.

My nephew, Antonio, is now an Air Force electrician on his umteenth deployment to Iraq. His wife and three kids live in South Dakota.

chris

this wish goes to even the assholes on your list of drudge vets

thank you each one for your service.

It's good to be a Loyal American again, after 8 years of being called, a Traitor an Non-American for opposing the Bush's Administration handling of the Iraqi war. To all of you Veterans Young and Old, thanks for what you do for this Country.

To my Uncle Richard, who was MIA in the Korean Conflict, You will be forever young to us, we Love you an think of you often. For all of you Veterans especially those who never came Home an never got to grow old, I know that God has saved his best Blessing especially for you.........

Much better headline, no offense but, "Happy Veterans Day" just didn't sound right.

I guess today I should be thinking of my Dad and his brothers who all served in WWII and by Grandfather who served in the War to End All Wars.

To Chester who died in action in WW11, to Bruno who lost use of his arm in Korean conflict, to Eddie who served in Vietnam and came back safe, we honor you my brothers. To honor these, my brothers, I served in the US Marines.

Wilfred Owen

Dulce Et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

DANNI

Much better headline, no offense but, "Happy Veterans Day" just didn't sound right.

"Happy Veterans Day" was NOT my original headline.

I put this thread up late last night and my headline was "Veterans Day Remembrance 2009" and when I woke up this morning it had been changed to "Happy Veterans Day."

I never felt this particular holiday should include the word "happy" and, like you, thought the title should instead make a reference to honoring and remembering our military past and present.

I couldn't do anything about my original headline being changed.

Herm - US Navy

Thanks for this CC.

And to all my family and friends in and out of the armed forces, I salute you. There is a long list of them.

Thanks to you we are still free.

For now.

#6 | Posted by The_Chapel

Thanks to you we are still free... to see a doctor at a clinic and have an abortion!

For now.

OldWhiskeySour - US Air Force

The world needs another Hitler. The ultimate bad guy that made you feel somewhat ok about the business of war.

WWII vets had this amazing honor bestowed upon them that very few other vets have.

Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, those guys gave that to you.

Pol Pot, Binladin, Hussein, and the like, don't.

So, our people are still having the shit blown out 'em, albeit at a significantly lower rate, and don't get the recognition of the great accomplishments of WWII, like freeing the jews...

www.google.com

whoa yogot

fighting and the death was all an 'amazing honor"..

are you serious.
someone please tell me IM misreading what he said.

not sure who is was but someone asked me not long ago why music was included in schools..

northguy just showed us one reason.

it can sooth the soul...

OH yeah...

and sooth the savage breast..(beast) ??

Excellent story NG3.

Not only do I want to thank the veterans for their service to our country but also CalifChris for her persistent reminders to us all to remember their sacrifices

me - US Army, 1982-86 under Reagan, the last president who actually cared about the troops.

That's how I got Germany in the first place, btw.

Looks I am going to eat at applebees tonight.

Thanks to all on the list above, and thanks to both my grandfathers for their service in WWII.

Thanks, Chris! I'll go to applebee's and tip them the cost of the meal. That's nice of them.

Bob's doing fine. He can't say much of anything even if there had been something of significance.

Thanks to my Dad and uncle Joe and cousin.

Thanks to all the veterans here on the DR.

A couple of websites--

One on present Afghanistan and Pararescues--

aimpoints.hq.af.mil

Here is something from folks who visited Walter Reed--email from Ranchy Redskins

It really makes you think about what it means to live in this country and what type of person is willing to risk life and limb for you and me.

There's a saying that goes:

A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at
one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to the 'United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

Seeing these Wounded Warriors really brings home what that means.

Cool pictures, murphy.

And the website that has my Dad on it--

raunchyredskins.us

Thanks Dad!

My grandmother was one of nine siblings -7 girls and 2 boys. They grew up in rural Arkansas during the depression. The older girls got high school educations at the School of the Ozarks. Boarding school sounds expensive until you know the School of the Ozarks took students of any means and required them to work their way through.

I have a picture of all nine with their parents. It was taken the day before the older boy left for the Navy in 1942.

He saw action all across the Pacific Theater in both surface ships and submarines. He retired from the Navy after 30+ years. His brother joined the Seabees in 1943 and worked on many South Pacific islands during the war.

The girls did their parts as well. Most married soldiers or men who would later become soldiers. One wound up working in LBJ's administration.

We called them "The Kids". We still do -at least the ones that are left. After that picture in 1942, it was another 33 years before all 11 of them would get together one last time. Then almost another 30 years before the nine kids were all together again.

They were bold and vibrant. They loved life and all it brought. I'll never forget my great aunt telling stories of reading the paper on her porch at night by the light of the nuclear tests not far from her Death Valley home. The pictures of the Borneo head-hunters and topless native girls the boys sent home. The things they saw and did enriched the lives of everyone in the family.

There are only three left now. We lost the younger brother years ago to cancer. The older brother was always the epitome of the huge strapping sailor. He has withered in recent years as his health has declined, but he hasn't diminished in presence. Now, though, alzheimer's is taking him drop by precious drop.

When I hear the term "The Greatest Generation", my mind thinks "The Kids". There's no ambiguity about who they were, what they thought, or how they lived. They lived through some of the hardest times and were rewarded with the rarest purity.

I drove a Korean War veteran to see his doctor earlier today. He had a flag at half staff on his lawn. I asked him why it was at half staff because I'm ignorant about that sort of thing even though I did a stint in the peacetime military myself. He said he just liked to do it that way to remind people that it wasn't all about parades and glory. I left it at that, not knowing what to say really.

Thanks to you we are still free... to see a doctor at a clinic and have an abortion!

For now.

#18 | Posted by Monstman at 2009-11-11 12:39 PM | Reply | Flag: NEEDS END OF LIFE COUNSELING....FOR NOW

#36 | Posted by brock at 2009-11-11 03:14 PM | Reply | Flag:

I would say it was for the guys that didn't come back.

I would say it was for the guys that didn't come back.

#38 | Posted by Buffalo_Bob at 2009-11-11 04:00 PM | Reply

Wow, you're a fucking genius...

101CHAIRBORNE....Your statement about my MIA Relative is over the line, I have an account on FB look for it, get in touch with me, any place any time an I will come to you home an beat your ASS, an while I am there I may share your Wife, an show her what a real man is......Don't be afraid Mother Fucker call me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

get in touch with me, any place any time AN I will come to you home AN beat your ASS, AN while I am there I may share your Wife, AN show her what a real man is......

My god, you murder the English language worse than Roman Maroni!

It looks like both your uncle and the letter "d" are MIA in your life, psycho.

My god, you murder the English language worse than Roman Maroni!

Is that from "Johnny Dangerously"?

anyway, fucking hilarious. Celisary is the last douchbag on this blog who should pretend to be offended by what something posts.

Your faux outrage is noted Celisary.

pussy.

Is that from "Johnny Dangerously"?

#42 | Posted by eberly at 2009-11-11 04:31 PM | Reply

Absolutely!

I have an account on FB look for it, get in touch with me...
#40 | Posted by celisary at 2009-11-11 04:20 PM | Reply

Crazy,
I'm not familiar with how Facebook works, but I'm pretty sure I can't just type in "Crazy fuck with embarrassed uncle and horrible grammar" and some how track you down.
You're going to have to be a little more specific. How am I supposed to further ridicule you if you don't let me know how to find you on FaceBook?

Well, I searched "celisary" on facebook, and the first picture to pop us was this: profile.ak.fbcdn.net

He's kind of adorable.

I think I could take that punk...

He looks so well adjusted, too.

There's a "Celisary" on HuffPo. I hope that stupid shit doesn't tell anyone he posts over here!

Wow, didn't know there were so many Vets here.

Any of you fly fighters or Hueys?

And the website that has my Dad on it--

raunchyredskins.us

Thanks Dad!

#34 | Posted by MURPHY at 2009-11-11 02:03 PM

If for some reason you weren't able to drop by DR on Veterans Day I was going to go ahead and link your Dad's webpage for you. Glad to see you were able to do it.

Chris,

I stopped by the board today just to see this thread, which I knew you would start. Thank you for that. Today I came prepared with kleenex in hand, because this thread never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

Heartfelt thanks to all our vets, past and present. Without you, there would be no us.

My dad and his 2 brothers were flyers in WWII.
Lary Smith, the eldest, was killed in Pearl Harbor. He got hi plane into the sky, but never landed.

My dad flew troop carriers in Europe. He was the pilot of jump planes. I went with him to a vets reunion and those old farts went on and on about how dad flew like a man at age 19 into battles and fireballs and never showed fear.

His brother Lyle was a pilot also, but never had a chance to talk much with him about his war years.

Grandma always sat proudly in the Veterans day parade as a gold star mother.

I'm proud that we have so many vets on the site.
You can hardly find a vet in a croud these days. Went to a concert 3rd of July last, at one point the announcer asked the vets on hand to stand up...in a crowd of 100,000 I didnt see enough folks standing to put together a soft ball game.

I salute you my brothers and sisters.

For all of my Brothers:

www.youtube.com

I salute:

My Dad... RCAF 1939-'45 (radar tech). Today is also his 89th birthday.

My hometown (west) neighbour (lost a leg when his Corvette was torpedoed in the N. Atlantic).. passed on 2 years ago.

My hometown (east) neighbour, Canadian Legion member who visits everyone, including Dad, every Sunday in the Long Term Care ward, as he has for decades.

Greatest Generation indeed.

I sincerely believe our world as we know it will be a whole lot less when the Greatest Generation all die off. I have been thinking a lot about this and have come to the conclusion we are screwed when that happens. Sad to say.

Larry

Wow, you're a fucking genius...

#39 | Posted by 101Chairborne at 2009-11-11 04:02 PM | Reply | Flag

You call 'em as you see 'em---so do I moron.

;-)

1,800 die a day......incredible statistic. I just returned from my free vet meal at Applebee's....was packed with vets and Ft. Wood enlisted. However, my Samuel Adams beer wasn't free.

Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, those guys gave that to you.

Pol Pot, Binladin, Hussein, and the like, don't.

So, our people are still having the shit blown out 'em, albeit at a significantly lower rate, and don't get the recognition of the great accomplishments of WWII, like freeing the jews...

#20 | Posted by yougothurt at 2009-11-11 12:43 PM | Reply | Flag:

YouGotHurt -- the perfect definition of filth

#35 | Posted by valis at 2009-11-11 02:32 PM | Reply | Flag:

An amazing story. Thank you.

My wife is Filipina and I am suddenly reminded of a story I heard from so many old men and women that I must believe it is true.

During the occupation, Japanese soldiers took particular pleasure in stabbing Filipino children, so people would dig burrows for their children, and hide them with leaves.

But every night, before the children went into their holes in the ground, they would pray that the Americans would be successful and someday allow them to sleep above-ground.

I've also heard many stories from Filipinos who were soldiers as young as 13, fighting the Japanese inch-by-inch alongside Americans. The battle for Leyte Island is especially awful.

But it was American soldiers, on foreign soil, who made all the difference.

Americans are different from the rest of the world

-Americans are different from the rest of the world

Starchier, mostly.

Americans are different from the rest of the world
#60 | Posted by vernon

Yeah, they live in America. The others live in other places.

My wife is Filipina(try to picture Manny Pacquiao with store-bought tits and a handlebar mustache)and I am suddenly reminded of a story I heard from so many old men and women that I must believe it is true.

#60 | Posted by vernon

www.ourlandofthefree.org

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