Paw and Stripes helps veterans recover

It all began with one veteran and a dog named Sarge.

 Jim Stanek rescued Sarge. Sarge rescued him.

 Stanek, a former volunteer firefighter in the New York area, enlisted in the military after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Thanks to all who have served.

To all Veterans:

Thank You for your service to protect my freedoms. 

 triskele wrote: 
i'm also sympathetic and empathetic to all involved 

i'm doing my best to rebuild a broken machine

 triskele wrote: 
Yes, and we'll keep working on a world where it's less necessary.

honor and gratitude to all who serve

Thank you to all the veterans.

 jadewahoo wrote: 



I understand what you are saying but this thread was meant for veterans - not the politicians that create the situations you describe. There is a big difference.


So I have no problem recognizing and honoring those that put themselves in harms way.

There have been wars of necessity, that I will grant.

In my life, since I became conscious of war as a young fellow, I cannot say that there has been one war, nor even one death of our troops in a military endeavor, that has in any way protected my freedom. With the passage of time, astute observations in the moment have always been validated by the unravellings of the rationale for a conflict. Lies, deceit and greed have been the underlying method and reason for the wars of my time. The murder of our youth in the vainglorious justifications of securing corporate aggrandizement is the order of the day.

I understand that these men and women truly believed that they were doing the right thing in the moment, those who died and those who lived to suffer the scars of war. I grieve for those whose lives were ripped from them by the claws of lies. But you will not find me this day in celebration of the veil of conceit that has perpetrated this deceit of glory hung upon the necks of veterans.

 lily34 wrote: 

happy veterans' day to all those who have served. my gratitude to you, and to those who have served and passed.

A friend, from my African days, shared this next door...If you have 52 minutes to watch it is an amazing story.

 

 katzendogs wrote: 
my dad was artillery, too.  42nd infantry, rainbow division, european theater, signed up again after he got out the first time. the only story i know for sure, other than his unit was the first inside of dachau, is that he took out 14 germans with one mortar shot at a half track.  saved his entire unit.

the war followed him for the rest of his life, and he died from bone cancer....eating him from the inside out.

dad's brother, uncle neil, was taken as a prisoner and spent time in a german pow camp. he made it out, came home, married, had a kid, but never got over it. drank himself to death in 1964.


these are the reasons why i pray for the haunted ones.

 katzendogs wrote: 
He may not have been sarcastic at all. It happens.

My dad was in artillery. I asked him once if he ever killed anyone. He gave me a snicker and said  " he probably killed some of our own". I'm sure he was being sarcastic. But, he was in WW2 and Korea. 

Daddy couldn't go overseas in WWII because of his bad eyesight, but in the Navy he was stationed in Philadelphia and worked on a portion of The Bomb. Years later when he was diagnosed with his muscle degenerative disease he concluded that in some way the work he did during the war contributed to the development of that disease.

My dad served in WWII in the OSS behind German lines in France training the underground well before D-Day. Told me some of the stories when I was a kid and I thought it was cool.

My mom's brother, Uncle John, was a squadron leader, lead bombardier who flew 56 mission in Europe on B-24's. Mom said he was shell shocked after the war for many years, and especially when he heard a plane fly over.

My mom's other brother, Uncle Charlie, was a widower with 3 daughters and they took him in the Pacific campaign. He was on a The Repair ship Delta and saw a lot of action and caught shrapnel, but never got a Purple Heart. His ship pulled into Nagasaki Harbor right after the dropped the bomb.

The only one left today is my mom's, sisters husband, another Uncle John, who was also in the Pacific on a tin can and was at Iowa Jima firing support and also saw them raise the flag.

Most of the men who served in WWII never really wanted to talk about their service. They kept it inside them, but would only talk to another veteran about what they saw.

The one thing I wish I had done was to tape or record their stories. All I have is whats engraved in my mind and that's not a good thing.

So for all that have served since and now...   

 bokey wrote: 
My dad rarely talked about it either—just bits and pieces over the years

 2cats wrote: 
 My Uncle got shot up pretty bad during Normandy and spent time in a German POW camp with no meds at all. My Mom and the family didn't know if he was alive or dead for months.

He never talked to me about it and I never asked, but when I'd spend the summers with him and my Aunt in the mountains, he'd take off his shirt when working outside. The scars were just horrifying(well actually as a kid I thought they were kind of cool), but like I said, we never talked about it. It left quite an impression though.
     I sure wish life was perfect.

"And I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another. "- Clint Eastwood(as Josey Wales)

 If only it were so.
 God Bless You Uncle Dayton, and thanks for not telling me the stories when I was just a kid.