Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Ghosth on May 29, 2000, 08:02:00 AM
-
For all who have ever served our country.
Defended it's borders, safeguarded it's sea's & air. For all those who answered the call, surrendered self & risked all.
I offer you one Tight Crisp SALUTE!
Along with the heartfelt thanks of one American.
May your sacrifise never be forgotten. May freedom's flag always wave.
-
<S> all who fought and died for an great cause.
------------------
AH : Maniac
WB : -nr-1-
(http://www.rsaf.org/osf/images/osf_inga.gif)
http://www.rsaf.org/osf/ (http://www.rsaf.org/osf/)
[This message has been edited by Maniac (edited 05-29-2000).]
-
ditto ghosth.
(http://www.ropescourse.org/cammo.jpg)
-
To Charles A. Rogers, who died in his Sherman tank on Jan.17, 1945. Exactly one week before my mother was born.
<S> Grandpa, I wish I could've met you.
-
Here's a story from Ted Park's "Angels Twenty":
One of our squadron's B-17-watchers on what we came to call "Bomber Day" was Lombardi. Tall for a fighter pilot, dark-haired, brown as a New Guinea native, with a quick flash of white teeth when he smiled, this guy had stepped right out of a recruiting poster. He was also bright, funny, kind, and modest. He'd graduated from Cornell, spoke articulately, read books, and played talented baseball when we braved the heat to get up a five-innings game. When something broke, like the belly-tank shower at the flight line, Lombardi would quietly fix it before anyone had a chance to yell for an aviation mechanic to come and mess with it.
Understandably, he was considered a great addition at the evening meal when the officers joked and argued with noisy amiability at their long table, and afterwards around the poker table. At our daily task, he was competent, except for one thing he couldn't help: bad luck, which dogged him.
One afternoon, slow-timing a plane, Lombardi's engine quit. He'd been flying west from Moresby along the coast, exploring an area we barely knew because we never needed to fly over it. When his prop stopped he had about 2,000 metres between him and the shoreline. He glided down over the long, wet mudflats reaching out into the Arafura Sea, found one spot that looked solid, and bailed out over it.
Once out of the plane, his luck returned. He landed on a small coastal clearing - you couldn't really call it a beach that indeed was solid and even had a track leading away from it, inland. So he rolled up his parachute as best he could, gathered his gear, and set out along the faint track. In five minutes he reached a clearing with a house and some shacks around it, and even a flagpole with the Australian flag flying. It was a small misssion station. When he knocked on the front door, an astonished white man appeared, and offered him a cup of tea. He politely accepted and ended up staying a couple of weeks.
Lombardi, naturally, made friends with everyone there, fixed a faulty generator, outlined the world situation neatly to the missionary and his wife, and helped teach the Papuan kids. He became the most popular person at the mission, and it was only reluctantly that the missionary used his Lombardi-fixed radio to ask for someone to come and take this magnificent stranger away.
A rescue boat showed up a few days later, anchored offshore, and sent in a rubber dinghy. Lombardi stepped aboard, as the entire mission stood on the shore and waved. And all the kids sang "Far Above Cayuga's Waters", which is Cornell's beautiful old song. Lombardi had taught it to them.
Some weeks later, while returning from a Wau milk run which I wasn't on, Lombardi called in his leader to say his coolant temperature was in the red and climbing, and he was getting smoke in the cockpit. The Beavers were over one of those deep, mysterious valleys, mist-shrouded in the mornings, then lusciously gren to look down upon. It was there that Lombardi bailed out, his flight circling him as he went down. They said he waved from the parachute, and they kept with him until he landed. He seemed to be fine, standing tall and waving that he was OK.
Everyone knew the map coordinates and Beaver leader, whoever it was that day, called them in to Maple, the Moresby sector. They sent a Piper Cub next morning, which managed to land in the valley. The pilot hunted everywhere and could find no sign of life. Two more Cubs went in the next day and the pilots searched. Nothing.
We conjectured that Lombardi might have set up a little empire in that fertile valley. Perhaps he did. We never saw him again
There are a lot of guys like Lombardi still out there. I pray the Lord takes good care of them. <Salute> to them all.
[This message has been edited by funked (edited 05-29-2000).]
-
Angels Twenty is available from Burbank's Books: http://www.senet.com.au/~mhyde/burbanks_books_ww2.htm (http://www.senet.com.au/~mhyde/burbanks_books_ww2.htm)
-
<S> to all the veterans and people still serving. We owe a great deal to them.
Bee
-
Indeed, and I am thankful.
It saddens me though, to think about the German families who lost their loved ones as they fought for a bad cause. Little comfort do they have from that. My thoughts go out to those as well.
------------------
StSanta
II/JG2
(http://saintaw.tripod.com/santa.gif)
-
<Salute> To the best grease monkey the USAF ever had CMSgt. Disca Savant Jr. <---my grandpa
-
To my father, Segundo Torres Leon Guerrero, who experienced war as a child on occupied Guam in WWII, then fought in Korea with the 24th Inf. Div.
May our species one day look back and see our violent ways as a sad, but extinct, phase of our evolution.
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/frown.gif)
-
It's good to remember all of these veterans, but Memorial Day is specifically to remember those who gave their lives in service of their country.
-
To the men who fell to English musket balls, standing proud for little more than a dream,
I thank you.
To the brothers who faced one another to preserve their vision of that dream,
I thank you.
To the men who huddled in muddy trenches, and stormed bloody beaches, and somehow found the courage to protect that dream,
I thank you.
To the men and women who answered the call when it seemed we might loose that dream,
I thank you.
To all of those who gave so dearly, in order that I might dream that dream,
I thank you.
Greg Cook
(a simple man, who marvels daily at why I deserve the sacrifice of so many)
[This message has been edited by Greg 'wmutt' Cook (edited 05-29-2000).]
-
funked, and part of my point is; who remembers the dead German soldiers who fought for their nation?
Nazi's they're called and tyrants and so forth and probably for good reason. Still at least some of them did it for the same reason the Brits and Americans did; because they thought they did the right thing.
------------------
StSanta
II/JG2
(http://saintaw.tripod.com/santa.gif)
-
Originally posted by StSanta:
funked, and part of my point is; who remembers the dead German soldiers who fought for their nation?
StSanta, not to belittle the sacrifice of any man, woman, or child who has died in the service of their country, but Memorial day is an American Holiday to remember our past service men and women. So in answer to your question, I would have to direct you to a German calander to look for something similar.
wmutt
-
Ah, yes, but the need to remember fallen ones is universal, no?
It is an American holiday, aye, but we remember the Brits and so forth too. It seems to me we just keep forgetting the Germans.
My post was made as an addition to maniac's:
<S> all who fought and died for an great cause.
Clearly they did not die fighting for a great cause. But I believe that at least some of them died fighting for their nation, if not for their Fuhrer.
"Resistance is futile, you have been Americanized".
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/biggrin.gif)
------------------
StSanta
II/JG2
(http://saintaw.tripod.com/santa.gif)
[This message has been edited by StSanta (edited 05-30-2000).]
-
Santa, I let your first comment slide, but you had to bring it up again. I do not appreciate you hijacking this thread which is meant to honor fallen heroes on a solemn national holiday.
If you want to have "Remember the Dead Nazis Day", go right ahead. But yesterday was "Memorial Day" and that's what we were talking about. And let's be absolutely clear - we are talking about right and wrong, good and evil. Do not dishonor the memory of brave American soldiers on this day by celebrating the evil men they stopped fifty years ago.
Go start your own thread if you want to do that.
[This message has been edited by funked (edited 05-30-2000).]
-
PS If you have a chance today, you might want to get down on your knees and thank God for these men and those of other Allied countries. Because of them, today you are free and not a slave laborer or concentration camp inmate.
-
Originally posted by StSanta:
Ah, yes, but the need to remember fallen ones is universal, no?
To put it quite simply, not on Memorial Day.
It is an American holiday, aye, but we remember the Brits and so forth too. It seems to me we just keep forgetting the Germans.
Actualy, I don't believe Memorial Day has anything to do with any other nation. We perhaps acknowledge those who died along side us in passing, but the holiday is dedicated to United State's fallen hereos. I do not believe we should compromise their memory by broadning the scope of the holiday in some vain attempt to achieve 'political correctness'.
My post was made as an addition to maniac's:
<S> all who fought and died for an great cause.
Clearly they did not die fighting for a great cause. But I believe that at least some of them died fighting for their nation, if not for their Fuhrer.
"Resistance is futile, you have been Americanized".
(http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/biggrin.gif)
[/b]
Quite the opposite. To die in the service of one's Country is the greatest honor that can possibly befall a warrior. The Germans that died in the defense of their homeland and way of life are deserved of the greatest honor and respect we can bestow upon them. And when I am made aware of a holiday devoted to the recognition of that, I will support it to the best of my meger abilities. But not on Memorial Day, That is not what it is for.
(note: I welcome any other nations citizens to expound and wax on misty eyed (my post above was composed through very tear-blurred eyes) upon their military holidays, and futhermore offer a slight apology at the preponderance of Americain sentiment expressed upon this international fourm)
hmmm... That ought to about cover it (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/smile.gif)
Thank you
G. Cook (who thankfully was never called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice while enlisted, but still listens)
[This message has been edited by Greg 'wmutt' Cook (edited 05-30-2000).]
-
Santa
Regards your 'Let's remember the brave and patriotic dead Nazis' day...
It's probably only historically fair to note that not all German soldiers, airmen, and sailors were actually members of the Nazi party.
It's highly likely that there were numbers of German military that served only in service to their country.
What a noble concept.
But let's remember also that this country is the one that began the war for no other reason than the desire to subjugate its neighbors...and in the process institutionalized the Holocaust.
It's one thing to help defend your country or to go to the aid of an ally...it's quite another to be the aggressor.
I don't think the Germans need a Memorial Day...instead, they need a Guilty Conscience Day.
Next thing we know, you'll be suggesting a Memorial Day for Pol Pot and his boys.
-
Day late here, but I proudly flew the flag, and brought my 4 year old outside to salute and remember...he asked questions that I'm sure confused him, such as "why did they die for the flag Dad?" I explained to him that it represents freedom and democracy. He'll understand one day, for history will repeat itself, lest we forget!
------------------
Ripsnort(-rip1-)
~GeschwaderKommodore~I./JG2~Richthofen~[/i]
CLICK>> JG2 INFORMATION (http://Ripsnort60.tripod.com/JG2inquirer.html)
Panzer Group Afrika~15th Panzer Division~[/i]
(http://saintaw.tripod.com/ripsnort.jpg)
Too often, we lose sight of life's simple pleasures. Remember, when
someone annoys you it takes 42 muscles in your face to frown, BUT, it
only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm, grasp the joystick button,
and shoot the sucker down!
-
I didn't want to do this, and frankly I am unhappy with several of you for turning this thread from what it was to what it is now.
I had several family members who served. Lucky for me they all came home, injured, wounded, scared for life, but alive.
I personally have no disrespect for the Germans or the Japanese. If a WW2 Japanese zero pilot knocked on my door he would be made welcome. PERIOD.
However, I do NOT believe that bringing the German cause into this thread does anything but start a flame war.
It is as was pointed out an american holiday.
Perhaps the error was mine for posting it in the first place. However, it is the one way I have of honoring ALL those who served for the US Armed forces.
Personal, I have hoped that one of the things that the internet does is brings us all closer together. So that we me each understand the other, and AVOID such wars in the future.
With that understanding must come tolerance.
Wisdom of when to speak & when not too.
I beg each & every one of you to either get this thread back on topic, or let it die here!
-
Awright, I see where you are coming from.
I'll start a separate thread.
------------------
StSanta
II/JG2
(http://saintaw.tripod.com/santa.gif)
-
I deeply apologize if anything in my posts served to inflame certian issues that led to the distraction of the tribute of this thread's original intent.
I want to make it abundantly clear that have nothing but the deepest respect for the brave men, women, and children who have throughout the ages, stood steadfast in their convictions and patriotism, so as to lay their lives at the feet of fate, no matter what country has inspired them.
Once again, my profound apology.
Greg Cook
-
<SALUTE> Gentlemen
I flew my very large flag proudly on Memorial Day...
... and remembered those American GI's who died all over the world for freedom, especially those who fell in the Bataan death march, and those who fell in South East Asia...
<SALUTE>
Stephen "Gunthr" Guenther
-
Those who quickly forget, America is made up of people from every nation in the world. And as many have pointed out Memorial Day is and American Holiday. So is it wrong for Americans to remember thier loved ones no matter which side of the the war they faught on, No I dont think so Memorial Day is a day of remmeberance, dont forget we have VETERANS DAY a day for the Vets. I believe americans use memorial day to remember the dead no matter if they died in war or not. I saw on the History channel that with out the support of those not able to fight the war couldnt have been won at all, should we forget them, no. Eric Hartman is the leading scoring ace of all time He later flew for NATO if he died fighting for the U.S. should we not remember him because he was a Nazi. American or not people all over the world died fighting for what they thought was right they deserve to be honored all so not for who they followed but for the sacrifices they made, right or wrong it was a lost life.
Lets all hope America continues to be as strong as it is today so we want have another war like WWI and WWII. To all brave souls who served our country in War and Peace I thank you!!!
Tommy
-
Actually, Veterans Day is a day historically used to honor the end of WWI and it's Veterans. It was formally known as Armistice Day. No matter.....We use both these honorable days to recognize those sacrifices made by American Servicemen and Women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our country and freedom throughout this planet we call home.
Semper Fi
-
Indian,
You make some good points, ones that personally I tend to believe in.
However, there are always those who hold a grudge.For a couple more generations anytime someone mentions honoring ALL who have died in war there will be problems.
Fact of life I guess.
-
Yep Ghosth, that's what I was thinking. If somebody tried to express that sentiment to either of my grandfathers while they were sitting around on Memorial Day thinking about the men they lost in the war, they would have got an exhibition in US Army hand-to-hand combat techniques. (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/smile.gif)
-
Funked
Unless I misunderstood you, you should have paid more attention to your grandfather.
_____
Folks...many of the comments here are so touchy-feely...so in tune with today's moral relativity. Lucky you to live in these times.
Here it is in black and white. Until you have served this country in war...until you have traded fire for fire...and seen men die for a cause...until then, I suggest you keep your wishy-washy, idealistic, pie-in-the-sky comments to yourself.
Yes...this is a forum...yes, opinion is welcome. But, please...there are some topics that are hallowed ground for those whom have been there. Until you too have...you don't have the price of admission.
Andy Bush
-
<Salute> To my Uncle.. who finally got his chance to fly a P51 in combat during the final weeks of the war.. and tho try as he might; shot down only a tree.
<Salute> To the Mustang known as "Mom's Favorite" 31 Sorties, 4 locomotives, 17 trucks, One Tree.
I miss you both.
-
Andy Bush I suggest you keep your comments to your self. Your remark is way out of line.