Archive for the Military Category

Veteran’s Day #NaBloPoMo

I hated formations. I would do everything I could to get out of a formation. When I couldn’t, I was generally irritable and borderline (if not outright) belligerent. I knew there was some real work I could be doing rather than standing until my toes went numb. There was one when I was overseas that pissed me off to no end because while it was done with good intentions, the execution had the opposite effect. Because really, who wants to get up on the 4th of July and go stand in formation in order to improve patriotism. In “peacetime.” Having a lack of respect for a authority (which is not one of my good character traits), I pushed the envelope for that one. I dug out the worst uniform I owned which was one of my initial issued ones from basic, which I had worn at my first duty assignment. The pants were more faded than the shirt because that was one of the distinguishing marks of working in a combat comm unit in Oklahoma. You spent a lot of time outdoors in the heat with the BDU blouse off in just a tshirt. I found the worst looking BDU hat to wear, and probably found some mud to wade through and stick to my boots. Several of us carpooled, and so SSgt Nemec had 2 specialists and a senior airmen with her. I went all out to be a good role model. 😉 When we got ready to leave, our division superintendent and commander were standing right in front of my car having a conversation. I said something like, “Hey y’all. Watch this!” I popped in a CD, skipped to the song I wanted, cranked up the volume, and blasted Fortunate Son. Despite that boldness, I was too scared to look as was Darrel and Val. But Emily looked, and gave a great description of the reaction. The commander pretended nothing was happening, but the superintendent’s jaw dropped in complete disbelief. Score! But, after all that, all of us disgruntled soldiers and airmen went to Pop Bellies for breakfast which made getting up worthwhile.

Fast forward a year later, and I still hate formations. And we all got tagged with one we couldn’t get out of. By all, I mean the entire organization, just like the 4th of July one. Only it was a workday, but a Friday, and this one required service dress/class A’s. Darrel managed to break something, so he had to stay and fix it while the rest of us dutifully gaggled up in front of headquarters. Now the occasion for this one was this. Every year the 303rd Bombardment Group who were based at RAF Molesworth during World War II would travel back to the UK for a reunion. That year was going to be their last reunion since it was so much harder for them to travel at their age. So the powers that be decided the JAC should greet them as they arrived. I was tired of standing long before they finally arrived. Let me tell you, I was not prepared for what I was about to be a part of. Yes, my uniform was sharp because I didn’t have crappy looking blues. My shoes were clean and shiny. And I snapped to attention and a sharp salute. What I wasn’t prepared for though was what I was about to see. I don’t know how many cars and buses drove through us. I have no idea how many WWII vets were in them. But there were a LOT, and I don’t think there was a dry eye among them. I know my eyes were leaking. I was filled with such pride to be able to honor those men – the heroes who made it. It was so humbling to watch those tear-filled men salute us back, and I was and still am so glad I didn’t get out of that one.

303Grifn

Because of that one, I didn’t balk at going to the Memorial Day service the following year at Cambridge American Cemetery. Talk about another humbling experience. To walk among so many men who didn’t make it back. Utterly heartbreaking.

Pict0028[1]

Pict0038[1]

Today I specifically want to remember family members who served before and with me. I don’t think there was a war since our countries founding that I didn’t have an ancestor serving in. Unfortunately, I can only put names to those since WWII. I have multiple uncles, cousins, in-laws, and a niece who have served in each branch. It’s great that my husband and I are among so many veterans among our families.

Maniacal Monday #23

I had one of the best and most exhausting weekends in a while. Seriously, 7pm last night, I crashed. It was great. Ok, it was mostly great. There was a lot of yelling when I got home Friday. I even fired James. “I know now I was suffering from pre-menstrual syndrome.” – Truvy Jones. And on that note, I put on my black yoga pants Saturday afternoon, and those things are always covered with lint, fuzz, and hair. My hair, dog hair, and cat hair. Because we all shed. I immediately thought of that scene in Steel Magnolias when Truvy hires Annelle and Annelle tells Truvy she has “tiny little hairs and fuzzies” all over her. Truvy’s response was “There’s so much static electricity in this room, I pick up everything but boys and money.” I tweeted that, because it’s how I roll, and then I went to the store with hair and fuzz all over my black yoga pants. Because that’s also how I roll. My tweets also publish to my Facebook, and thus began the quote-fest. Petra dropped a quote, and we went back and forth for hours while she did photo editing and I graded. I’ve seen that movie way too many times. I’m sure I saw it every day for my last 6 weeks in Kuwait back in ’97. I know that when Lisa and I sat in the chow hall one day with the major, and Steel Magnolias was playing, we were quoting line by line with the movie. And the major looked at us and said, “You guys have been here too long.” Fun times. 🙂

I got up Saturday morning and went to Raleigh to run the 2nd annual Run to Reclaim 5k. It was 30F when the hubs and I left the house. I kept reminding myself that the Anderson Creek 10k earlier this year was a lot colder. Anyway, I caught a fantastic shot of the sunrise over Jordan Lake on the way.

It had been at least 6 weeks since I last ran, so I was totally amazed to finish in under 37 min. My official chip time was 36:42. I combined runs, and so this was also my Dynamic Duel Canada vs USA Virtual 5k run. And if you haven’t, go sign up and do it!! Especially if you are from the states. Because I think I saw an update on FB where Canada had come from behind and was winning. Not that there are any losers in this one as it supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 🙂 Here’s my “finish” photo with the awesome shirt I got from the Run to Reclaim 5k. Because I just love the florescent yellow. 😉

photo(2)

And then I got on my bike and rode 9.69 miles. Which is just crazy. But I only had to stop twice going up the hill-to-be-conquered this time. And one of those I was all bent over my bike trying to catch my breath and not puke in someone’s driveway…while there was someone in the yard.

Grading. That was the other low point of the weekend. Chad bombed 2 of the 3 tests he took last week, and didn’t finish all of his work that he said he finished. :headbang:

I spent nearly all day at church yesterday because I was on schedule to play with the worship team. I’m pretty sure I screwed up the chords on every single song, but especially the last one. I even had the chords written and taped to my guitar and couldn’t get them right. But it was still fun. And I have a cool story. So there we were during the second service after the sermon. Pastor Nate was leading us in prayer before we watched a special video from Pastor Benji. My head is bowed; my eyes are closed. I heard this noise start up, and I wondered what it was. I kept mentally going through everything on stage that could be making it and finally thought maybe Shawn turned on the fan. Then it seemed to be just a bit louder and it started to dawn on me what that noise was and as I opened my eyes and started to raise my head back up, I heard a step from across the stage which was Rodney about to come warn me of the projector screen that I could now see was about to come down on my head. Hilarity then ensued as I quickly tucked and rolled. Ok, I just ducked and moved back. It was funny. Heidi was in the same boat, but she was by Rodney, and not as tall as me, so she had a tad bit more warning. Again I want to say how much I enjoy being part of the C.O.R.E. Worship Team!

Now let me tell you about lunch. The hubs fixed me a gluten free hamburger helperish thing for lunch yesterday, and when we got done with it there really wasn’t enough for my lunch today. So he said he would fix me sweet potato home fries which are awesome! Anyway, when I packed up my lunch this morning, in addition to the sweet potatoes, there was a small container of deviled eggs. Score! And, there was ham underneath the sweet potatoes. Like Christmas in November.

I was singing this the other day grading Jamie’s work:

And I will wrap this us with a huge THANK YOU to all of our veterans today and for those still serving. There are too many friends, family, and co-workers for me to name, but I am partial first to my husband, my extended family and my husband’s family, and then to those I served with in the 3rd Combat Communication Group, Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, and the JAC & 423rd ABS in the UK.

All gave some. Some gave all.

Remembering

This is a repost from last year, which was pretty much a repost from the year before. I haven’t received anything via email this year that tops this. I will add this though, the below cemeteries are identified as being just in Europe, but there are more than just the European cemeteries. Additionally, these are just U.S. troops, and (I think) just from WWII. But even if they span both World Wars, it wasn’t just U.S. troops who gave their lives. We had many allies who fought for freedom too. Those we fought paid the ultimate price also, and even if they were on the wrong side, they weren’t all volunteers (any more than all of ours were back then), and many of them also left behind families and friends. I have heard many times that Memorial Day began because of Confederate women who not only decorated Confederate graves, but Union also. One side in war wins, but both sides lose.

In alphabetical order, just Europe …..

1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France. A total of 2289 of our military dead.

aisne-marne

2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium. A total of 5329 of our dead.

We are arrogant.

ardennes

3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France. A total of 4410 of our military dead.

Excuse us.

brittany

4. Brookwood, England American Cemetery. A total of 468 of our dead.

brookwood

5. Cambridge, England. 3812 of our military dead.

cambridge

6. Epinal , France American Cemetery. A total of 5525 of our Military dead.

epinal

7. Flanders Field, Belgium. A total of 368 of our military.

flandersfield

8. Florence, Italy. A total of 4402 of our military dead.

florence

9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. A total of 7992 of our military dead.

henri-chapelle

10. Lorraine, France. A total of 10,489 of our military dead.

lorraine

11. Luxembourg, Luxembourg. A total of 5076 of our military dead.

luxembourg

12. Meuse-Argonne. A total of 14246 of our military dead.

meuse-argonne

13. Netherlands, Netherlands. A total of 8301 of our military dead.

netherlands

14. Normandy, France. A total of 9387 of our military dead.

normandy

15. Oise-Aisne, France. A total of 6012 of our military dead.

oise-aisne

16. Rhone, France. A total of 861 of our military dead.

rhone

17. Sicily, Italy. A total of 7861 of our military dead.

sicily

18. Somme, France. A total of 1844 of our military dead.

somme

19. St. Mihiel, France. A total of 4153 of our military dead.

stmhiel

20. Suresnes, France. a total of 1541 of our military dead.

suresnes

IF I ADDED CORRECTLY THE COUNT IS 104,366

Remind those of our sacrifice and don’t confuse arrogance with leadership

The unit to which I was assigned during my time in England held Memorial Day services annually at Madingly American Cemetery near Cambridge. That’s #5 on this list. I only attended one during my last year active duty, and it was a humbling experience.

John 15:13 (King James Version)

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Never forget.

All photos from American Battle Monuments Commission.

Memorial Day

This is pretty much a repost from last year. I haven’t received anything via email this year that tops this. I will add this though, the below cemeteries are identified as being just in Europe, but there are more than just the European cemeteries. Additionally, these are just U.S. troops, and (I think) just from WWII. But even if they span both World Wars, it wasn’t just U.S. troops who gave their lives. We had many allies who fought for freedom too. Those we fought paid the ultimate price also, and even if they were on the wrong side, they weren’t all volunteers (any more than all of ours were back then), and many of them also left behind families and friends. I have heard many times that Memorial Day began because of Confederate women who not only decorated Confederate graves, but Union also. One side in war wins, but both sides lose.

In alphabetical order, just Europe …..

1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France. A total of 2289 of our military dead.

aisne-marne

2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium. A total of 5329 of our dead.

We are arrogant.

ardennes

3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France. A total of 4410 of our military dead.

Excuse us.

brittany

4. Brookwood, England American Cemetery. A total of 468 of our dead.

brookwood

5. Cambridge, England. 3812 of our military dead.

cambridge

6. Epinal , France American Cemetery. A total of 5525 of our Military dead.

epinal

7. Flanders Field, Belgium. A total of 368 of our military.

flandersfield

8. Florence, Italy. A total of 4402 of our military dead.

florence

9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. A total of 7992 of our military dead.

henri-chapelle

10. Lorraine, France. A total of 10,489 of our military dead.

lorraine

11. Luxembourg, Luxembourg. A total of 5076 of our military dead.

luxembourg

12. Meuse-Argonne. A total of 14246 of our military dead.

meuse-argonne

13. Netherlands, Netherlands. A total of 8301 of our military dead.

netherlands

14. Normandy, France. A total of 9387 of our military dead.

normandy

15. Oise-Aisne, France. A total of 6012 of our military dead.

oise-aisne

16. Rhone, France. A total of 861 of our military dead.

rhone

17. Sicily, Italy. A total of 7861 of our military dead.

sicily

18. Somme, France. A total of 1844 of our military dead.

somme

19. St. Mihiel, France. A total of 4153 of our military dead.

stmhiel

20. Suresnes, France. a total of 1541 of our military dead.

suresnes

IF I ADDED CORRECTLY THE COUNT IS 104,366

Remind those of our sacrifice and don’t confuse arrogance with leadership

The unit to which I was assigned during my time in England held Memorial Day services annually at Madingly American Cemetery near Cambridge. That’s #5 on this list. I only attended one during my last year active duty, and it was a humbling experience.

John 15:13 (King James Version)

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Never forget.

All photos from American Battle Monuments Commission.

15 years ago today

I was in AF Tech School with orders to Tinker AFB near (as in a suburb town away) Oklahoma City. The hubby was in Biloxi visiting me the week that the Murrah Building was bombed, and was the one who told me about it as he met me for lunch after my classes were over that day. Later, after we were at Tinker, he joined the Army Reserves and one of his senior NCO’s was in the Murrah Building the morning of April 15, 1995 when the truck bomb was detonated. She was injured, but though her physical injuries lingered to an extent, I suspect the emotional toll was much greater. She did not talk about it. There was a young lady in the 32nd CCS (my orders were for the 32nd, but that was changed to the 31st before I arrived) had gone to the Murrah Building that morning also. She had just gotten married, and went to the building to get her name changed on her Social Security card. She did not survive, and many of the friends I later made that knew her continue to mourn such a senseless death.

Memorial Day

Since today is really the traditional Memorial Day as opposed to the day off this past Monday, I will post my tribute today. This is an email I received from the director of the organization where I work, and I also received a copy of it from a friend.

In alphabetical order, just Europe …..

1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France. A total of 2289 of our military dead.

aisne-marne

2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium. A total of 5329 of our dead.

We are arrogant.

ardennes

3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France. A total of 4410 of our military dead.

Excuse us.

brittany

4. Brookwood, England American Cemetery. A total of 468 of our dead.

brookwood

5. Cambridge, England. 3812 of our military dead.

cambridge

6. Epinal , France American Cemetery. A total of 5525 of our Military dead.

epinal

7. Flanders Field, Belgium. A total of 368 of our military.

flandersfield

8. Florence, Italy. A total of 4402 of our military dead.

florence

9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. A total of 7992 of our military dead.

henri-chapelle

10. Lorraine, France. A total of 10,489 of our military dead.

lorraine

11. Luxembourg, Luxembourg. A total of 5076 of our military dead.

luxembourg

12. Meuse-Argonne. A total of 14246 of our military dead.

meuse-argonne

13. Netherlands, Netherlands. A total of 8301 of our military dead.

netherlands

14. Normandy, France. A total of 9387 of our military dead.

normandy

15. Oise-Aisne, France. A total of 6012 of our military dead.

oise-aisne

16. Rhone, France. A total of 861 of our military dead.

rhone

17. Sicily, Italy. A total of 7861 of our military dead.

sicily

18. Somme, France. A total of 1844 of our military dead.

somme

19. St. Mihiel, France. A total of 4153 of our military dead.

stmhiel

20. Suresnes, France. a total of 1541 of our military dead.

suresnes

IF I ADDED CORRECTLY THE COUNT IS 104,366

Remind those of our sacrifice and don’t confuse arrogance with leadership

The unit to which I was assigned during my time in England held Memorial Day services annually at Madingly American Cemetery near Cambridge. That’s #5 on this list. I only attended one during my last year active duty, and it was a humbling experience.

John 15:13 (King James Version)

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Never forget.

All photos from American Battle Monuments Commission.