At 06:32 PM 9/18/01, you wrote:
>At 08:42 AM 9/18/2001 -0700, you wrote:
>
>
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Nick Arnett [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>> > Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 7:06 AM
>>
>> > I am quite sure that many, many of us have relatives and
>> > friends with military experience, who fought in WWII, Vietnam and
>> > elsewhere.
>>
>>To amplify, since I did the research to reply to an off-list challenge...
>>
>>About one of every 200 Americans is serving in active duty in the military.
>>
>>About one out of five Americans is a veteran.
>>
>>It is a rare person, indeed, who is unfamiliar with those who serve in the
>>U.S. military.
>>
>>Nearly every baby boomer has a father who served in World War II, as did
>>mine. We are a generation raised by people who went to war.
>>
>>Nick
>
>And there are US military veterans on this list. I'm one, I think Ronn is
>also. Are there any more?
>
>john
Just to confirm: I was an officer in the Air Force back in the latter part
of the 1970s, but I never saw combat, being just a bit too young to be
"requested" to go to Southeast Asia.
My father was in the Army in WWII and spent some time on Okinawa in
1945. His father was in WWI.
And I just got an e-mail message from a friend of mine who is a major in
the USAF Reserve. She was just about to complete a tour of duty in Texas
and head back home to her husband of less than a year when this
happened. She concluded her message with the following request:
>My 90-day tour of duty won't be ending in another two weeks. Please pray
>for us, and for the wisdom of our leaders.
I'm sure she won't mind me passing that along. Especially since right
after reading her message, I saw this one:
>BREAKING NEWS from CNN.com
>
>-- U.S. Air Force will deploy more than 100 aircraft to "forward areas" in
>the Persian Gulf, sources tell CNN. Details soon.
No telling whether or not she will be involved in that. (Of course, if I
asked, she couldn't tell me, and I know better than to even ask. Troop
movements are always classified information.)
I repeat her request. Regardless of how you personally feel about whether
or not we should force, please pray for our troops. They are not the
aggressors. They don't want to be there, thousands of miles from home and
their families. No sane person _wants_ to go to war. They train to be
ready in case the unthinkable happens, as it did last week, and consider
themselves successful if their training is never needed. I hope and pray
for all our troops that they will be able to do what needs to be done as
quickly as possible and return home safely. I hope you join me.
-- Ronn! :)
God bless America,
Land that I love!
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam�
God bless America!
My home, sweet home.
-- Irving Berlin (1888-1989)
