The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Conference Center > General Discussion Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old November 5, 2012, 02:24 AM   #1
boltgun
Junior Member
 
Join Date: September 18, 2012
Posts: 5
Veterans Day

In approximately 6 days, it will be Veteran’s Day. I didn’t want to wait until then to express my gratitude for those who have served, and to the families in which supported their Service Member. Thank you for Serving America.

Its fascinating to think of all the men and women throughout time that have deployed to military bases that sit literally across the street, or to far away foreign lands to fight often times an unseen enemy.

I’m thankful for what you have done, the sacrifices you have made, and sure would like to hear one of your memories that you may be revisiting this week due to the Holiday on 11/11…

I’m posting this here because at some point, you have found yourself behind a military issued weapon and there has to be a story that goes with it…

Semper Fi, Dave
__________________
RIFLELOGBOOK - The snipers deadliest tool...
boltgun is offline  
Old November 5, 2012, 07:50 AM   #2
Dwight55
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 18, 2004
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 2,568
On Friday, our county senior citizen center will be hosting a breakfast for all veterans. We will also dedicate a newly donated POW flag in the ceremonies, and if all goes as planned, it will be first raised by a former POW.

Additionally, they are "building" a remembrance quilt to be displayed there once it is done. They are using 6 inch by 6 inch squares of white material, putting the service branch, medals, rank, name, and conflict (among others) in a graphic display on each square.

I thought as a Navy vet, . . . it was really pretty neat, . . . there could be WW1 names next to an Afghany vet, . . . nurses next to Iwo marines, . . . who knows how it will play out. All materials were donated, . . . labor was offered, . . . and a local quilting guild will put it together.

The memories it will represent will be astounding once it is done.

May God bless,
Dwight
__________________
www.dwightsgunleather.com
If you can breathe, . . . thank God!
If you can read, . . . thank a teacher!
If you are reading this in English, . . . thank a Veteran!
Dwight55 is offline  
Old November 5, 2012, 09:57 AM   #3
BPowderkeg
Junior member
 
Join Date: September 27, 2011
Posts: 382
Quote:
you have found yourself behind a military issued weapon


as a 25 year Navy Vet, i never found myself behind behind a military weapon, unless you might consider an F3H-3m Demon or F-4 Phantom a military weapon.

Quote:
there has to be a story that goes with it…


personally, after 25 years i have scads of stories, one is when i was with VF-161, on the USS Oriskany CVA-34, we were tied up at the refueling dock in Sasebo Japan, we had a J-71 engine to be tested before installing in the aircraft, we had to have special permission from Fleet Commander to turn up the engine, when we got the "OK" we tied the engine on a test stand down on a special spot for engine testing, at the same time there were Japanese workers (maybe 50+) repairing the wood on the flight deck, when a new engine comes out of the "can" it has a lot of preservative oil in the system, i was the P.O. in charge, i started the engine windmilling and hit the igniter button, white smoke was coming from the exhaust, when the JP-5 fuel ignited, a huge ball of flame lit off the vaporized oil, producing an "explosion" those Japanese workers scattered everywhere some (2 or 3) even jumped overboard into the water, when the engine stabilized at idle, i done all the required tests, at 100% power, then come the afterburner test, there once more the afterburner system also was full of preservative oil, when that sucker lit off there was another huge ball of smoke from the vaporized oil and the resulting BOOOOOOOM ! again the Japanese workers took cover, none jumped overboard this time, the test required three afterburner tests, the most impressive is the one from idle speed straight to afterburner, if the engine "hiccups" in that test we had to make adjustments to the fuel/igniter systems. when done, our C.O. got a call from Fleet Comm. expressing their disbelief of the engine test and the resulting panic caused throughout the entire bay, we just had one hilarious laugh over it all.

below is a stock photo of a J-71 engine installation while i was stationed at VF-121, i am the mechanic under the "3599" number.


BPowderkeg is offline  
Old November 8, 2012, 09:55 AM   #4
chris in va
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 26, 2004
Location: Louisville KY
Posts: 13,805
USAF, 92-96. We got to play with the M16 once, during basic. NOT allowed to put it on FA. One kid did and got 'washed back' for it.

Dad was based in the Philippines during the Tet Offensive. Some local hostiles stole all their guns from the locker a couple nights prior, and took pot shots with them from the woods. The only folks on base with firearms were the MP's and they yelled at the airmen to "get your ***heads down!" while laying into the aggressors with 50's.
chris in va is offline  
Old November 10, 2012, 09:41 AM   #5
wizrd
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 26, 2012
Posts: 232
A big, sincere Thank You to all of the men & women out there who have served our great country. Without your sacrifice, there would be no United States of America. As I go through my daily routine, enjoying the Liberty & Freedoms that we have in America, I take the time, every day, to THANK GOD, that men and women like you have lived. May God bless you and keep you from harm.

To our Marines out there, Nov. 10 is the Marine Corps Birthday -- 'Semper Fi' --
a big HOO-RAH! to all, and may God bless & keep you safe. Thank you.
wizrd is offline  
Old November 10, 2012, 02:45 PM   #6
Master Blaster 2
Junior member
 
Join Date: May 29, 2011
Posts: 895
Texas Roadhouse has free entry and drink Monday from 11am to 2PM!!! Bring in you military ID or DD 214. I will be there!!
Master Blaster 2 is offline  
Old November 10, 2012, 07:53 PM   #7
jmr40
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 15, 2008
Location: Georgia
Posts: 10,792
In honor of my 89 year old dad who is a WW-2 vet. A gun picture from 1945 Germany.

http://s1129.beta.photobucket.com/us...53055717582522

My dad on VE day from Germany in front of the ambulance he drove.

http://s1129.beta.photobucket.com/us...53055717582522

Feel free to scroll through several other photos at the bottom of the photobucket link.
jmr40 is offline  
Old November 10, 2012, 09:30 PM   #8
carprivershooter
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 16, 2008
Location: Michigan, Upper Pennsula
Posts: 396
Veterans Day.

I wanted to take a second to thank all my brothers and sisters in arms both past and present for their service and sacrifice and to remember all of those who did not return to enjoy the freedoms that others enjoy today. May God Bless you. Thank you. Enjoy Veterans Day.
__________________
CarpriverShOOter
Finch, I don't like guns. Reese, Me either but if someone has to have guns I'd rather it be me. (Person of Interest).
No trees were destroyed in the posting of the this message
carprivershooter is offline  
Old November 10, 2012, 10:30 PM   #9
kraigwy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 16, 2008
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 11,061
It turned cold and its snowing.

SO

I'm gonna shoot my early WWII Garand in honor of my fellow Paratroopers from the 101st. Abn Div.

Then I'll set out a empty glass and drink to those who drink with me no more.

Bastogne.

__________________
Kraig Stuart
CPT USAR Ret
USAMU Sniper School
Distinguished Rifle Badge 1071
kraigwy is offline  
Old November 10, 2012, 10:54 PM   #10
twobit
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 25, 2010
Location: Coyote Creak, SW Texas
Posts: 597
What Veteran's Day means to me

My father: US Navy E3 World WarII Guam ABSD-3
Grandpa: US Army Sergeant World War I trained the artillery crews Fort Sill OK
Ancestors: Civil War CSA, Spanish American War, War of 1812, American Revolution Virginia Regiment.
...me ... Texas State Guard WO1, and 25 years in law enforcement.
__________________
Twobit,
Strive to live up to the opinion that your dog has of you.
twobit is offline  
Old November 10, 2012, 11:55 PM   #11
Jeff #111
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 25, 2001
Location: Idaho
Posts: 1,072
The first Army issued weapon I found myself behind was an M16A1 that was made by Hydramatic - a division of General Motors. It was 1986 and I was in Basic Training. Everyone else in my platoon had a Colt M16A1 and I didn't. I was jealous. Many had almost new M16A1's and I had some old clunky Vietnam era rifle. I was jealous until many of the newer ones began to break and my old dinosaur kept on trucking.

Over the next fourteen years I used many different firearms, but I have always remembered that old Hydramatic M16A1. It was probably sold to some friendly dictatorship a few years later or cannibalized and the remainder crushed, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for that "clunker".
Jeff #111 is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 12:17 AM   #12
Walter
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 17, 2004
Location: North Texas
Posts: 641
Happy 237th Birthday, Marines, and many more. Semper Fi, brothers.
And Happy Veterans Day to all who served, whatever type of service they
did for all of us.

Quote:
I’m posting this here because at some point, you have found yourself behind a military issued weapon and there has to be a story that goes with it…
I trained in boot camp with the M-14 rifle, and imho, that is the finest infantry rifle ever devised, George Patton's opinion duly observed.

I was issued a Colt M16 A-1 rifle shortly after my first entry into RVN in January, 1969. Nice gun, I guess, but not really my style.

Shortly after the start of my second trip "down south", I swapped my M16 for an M79 grenade launcher. Nice weapon, and it came with a Colt 1911 A1 to boot. I liked that a lot better. I was a pretty good rifle shot, but with that M79, most of the time, "close" really was "good enough". It's just too bad there really is no good civilian application for that gun.

Walter
aka "Blooperman"

Last edited by Walter; November 11, 2012 at 12:33 AM.
Walter is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 07:45 AM   #13
shortwave
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 17, 2007
Location: SOUTHEAST, OHIO
Posts: 5,970
Happy Veterans Day to all Vets.

Your sacrifices has made it possible for me to sit here and freely type this post and to carry on my daily activities as I see fit. Unfortunately, to often, your sacrifices are taken for granted and the daily sacrifices that your families have made are overlooked as well.

You... Vets, are the true HEROES of this country.

I Salute You and Thank You and your families as well,

shortwave.
shortwave is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 07:57 AM   #14
Sparks1957
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 4, 2011
Location: Vermont
Posts: 1,552
Thanks to all of you that have served our country. I'm going to visit my brother's grave today... he came home from Vietnam in 1970 but bore the scars for the rest of his life. I understand the price many of you have paid as a result of your service.
Sparks1957 is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 08:28 AM   #15
Rifleman1776
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 25, 2010
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 3,309
Thanks for your post.
I have been invited to be the main speaker at the Vet Day ceremony in my community. I will be going dressed as a Revolutionary Rifleman and will present his role in the war of freedom. It will be an honor to do this.
Rifleman1776 is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 09:36 AM   #16
Bud Helms
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 31, 1999
Location: Middle Georgia, USA
Posts: 13,198
Threads merged.
Bud Helms is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 09:55 AM   #17
egor20
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 14, 2010
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 1,824


I spent from 1983 until 2005 in the Navy and the only handgun I ever carried was a 1911A1, usually a Rand but
not always, they’re ugly, heavy, rattle and not the most accurate weapons but, I loved them and always will.

I went to the armory once to sign out a sidearm, the Chief handed me a M-9, I looked at him and laughed,

he laughed,

then handed me a .45.



Happy Veterans Day to those whom have served

BMCS (SW/DV) ret.


And as my wife reminded me (by kicking my shin) its Remembrance Day also.



Her father was a Lt Col Royal Army Veterinary Corps, and her brother was a Maj. Royal Marines.
__________________
Chief stall mucker and grain chef

Country don't mean dumb.
Steven King. The Stand

Last edited by egor20; November 11, 2012 at 01:52 PM.
egor20 is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 11:12 AM   #18
Kevin Rohrer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 19, 2010
Location: Medina, Ohio
Posts: 1,049
Happy Veterans' Day

__________________
Member: Orange Gunsite Family, NRA--Life, ARTCA, and American Legion.

Caveat Emptor: Cavery Grips/AmericanGripz/Prestige Grips/Stealth Grips from Clayton, NC. He is a scammer
Kevin Rohrer is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 11:13 AM   #19
Kevin Rohrer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 19, 2010
Location: Medina, Ohio
Posts: 1,049
Happy Veterans Day 2

Grandad's helmet, and mine (dad was an officer and still has his hat)

__________________
Member: Orange Gunsite Family, NRA--Life, ARTCA, and American Legion.

Caveat Emptor: Cavery Grips/AmericanGripz/Prestige Grips/Stealth Grips from Clayton, NC. He is a scammer
Kevin Rohrer is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 11:53 AM   #20
silver arrow
Junior Member
 
Join Date: November 11, 2012
Location: Near Atlanta
Posts: 11
USAF Retired Col. B 52's
silver arrow is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 12:05 PM   #21
MJ1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 10, 2008
Posts: 329
Reguards to all Veterans today.

Regards to all Veterans for today from the wine country.




...MJ...


__________________
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading"
--Unknown Soldier--
Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid.
- David Hackworth -
MJ1 is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 12:16 PM   #22
SPEMack618
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 21, 2010
Location: Central Georgia
Posts: 1,863
I was a 19D, and did a tour in th A-Stan, and carried an M-4 with a -203 underneath and an M-9. Pops was in the Air Force and served in SEA, he went sliding down a rope out of a helicopter for down aircrew memebers before anyone thought of wearing a red beret.

I had a Great Uncle who was in the 4th Armored Division and rode on the back of the fourth tank in then Colonel Abrams column that relieved Bastonge.

I had one Grandpa slog through the Solomons carrying the tripod for a water cooled Browning and another Grandpa race across France in the 3rd Army.

Great-Grandpa served in the 82nd Inf Div during the War to End All Wars.


I posted this last year, so it seems fitting to post it again....

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.

Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.

You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a vet?

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU".

Remember, November 11th is Veterans Day

* * * * *

"It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier,
Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protestor to burn the flag."

often attributed to Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC


It was my priviledge to sally forth to the "faint rattle of musketry over the far hill" when my country called upon me to do so. I soldiered with one of the finest men the state of Georgia had to offer, and it was the highest honor in my life to be entrusted to lead nine of them into battle and bring eight of them home safely. I can think of nothing more satisfying to me than knowing that I wore an M-9 Beretta in holster clipped to my MOLLE vest, the same way that Pops had an M-1911A1 in a home made leather shoulder holster, and Grandpa carried a S&W Victory Model in an old Cavalry holster and Great Granda carried an M-1911 with a lanyard under his shoulder strap.
__________________
NRA Life Member
Read my blog!
"The answer to any caliber debate is going to be .38 Super, 10mm, .357 Sig or .41 Magnum!"
SPEMack618 is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 01:24 PM   #23
richardcorey
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 4, 2009
Location: SW Ok
Posts: 113
From an 11-Bravo in SEA 1968-1969. the best I heard was Lee Emery (GUNNY) on the old Mail Call program when he said "Your Country Called ... You Came." and then he threw a salute and said "Carry On."
I saw the wall at the Alamo where the names of the Defenders has one of my ancestors listed, several of the family fought in the War Between the States (on either side), two grandfathers fought in WW1, my dad fought in WW2 and Korea and mine in SEA. I guess some things are genetically implanted, and we don't ask why, we just do. So today for sure, and any day if you can, think about what has taken place to get us where we are.
And to all our present soldiers and all of our future soldiers, I offer the thought we were given on leaving Viet Nam when a Full Col. told us "In life I hope all of you become more than you are today...but from this day forth you will ALWAYS BE A VETERAN." That still makes me proud of all you guys.
__________________
sometimes your shadow leads,
sometimes your shadow follows,
BUT when your shadow says "Cuidado!!"
LISTEN!!!
richardcorey is offline  
Old November 11, 2012, 07:20 PM   #24
Bud Helms
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 31, 1999
Location: Middle Georgia, USA
Posts: 13,198
Threads merged.
Bud Helms is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:54 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.11303 seconds with 10 queries