Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Serenity, Water, and Veterans



I wish all Veterans a great Veteran's Day today. Especially the servicemen and women returning to Fort Campbell from overseas after a long tour of duty. Enjoy a bit of serenity and water in your lives today, before you have to begin doing this again.
in the garden....grateful I no longer have to ruckmarch the six miles to the turn around point and back again to the start point.

36 comments:

  1. Tina ~ Thank you to you and Mr. Fixit and now your daughter too - for your service to this great country! It is appreciated more than you can know.

    That water fountain is very soothing. I can imagine just reading a book by it and being very stress free!

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  2. Tina,

    Let me add my thanks to you, your family and all the veterans who have served our country.

    Gail

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  3. I thank you and everyone else that has served our country so well.
    Happy Veterans Day Tina!

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  4. Cindy, Gail and Linda, Veterans Day is always such a heartwarming and upbeat day because everyone is so appreciative of the Veterans. Thanks for all of your support!

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  5. Thank you for your service to our country.

    BTW--what is a "ruckmarch?"

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  6. Tina, thanks to you and your family of your service to our great country. My dad was carrer military (30 years, 34 if you count the fours years he lied about his age and joined up at 16 to fight in WW2.) After the war, he went home, finished highschool and then re-joined. I am so proud to be is daughter. He was an enlisted man, a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy, and proud of it. He now rests in Arlington.
    Helen

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  7. Tina, I also extend my thanks to all service men and women.

    I met a sweet WWII Veteran and gardener at the State Fair and am honoring him today with his story in his own words.

    God Bless You,
    Cameron

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  8. Susan, Glad you asked what a ruckmarch is! A painful thing for me anyhow. It is a 12 mile march with boots, rifle, helmut, uniform and all gear needed (such as weapon belt), and the ruck. The ruck is our pack we carry on our back. You can see the packs on the soldiers' backs in the pictures. When I was in the standard for the ruckmarch is the 12 miles in 3 hours with a 15 pound ruck on your back. It doesn't sound like much but it really is-and tough for short ladies like me. It was a semi annual requirement and I think it still is. A fitness builder that the units train for prior to the 'test' of the ruckmarch. I just thought I'd share a bit of the Army with you all as it is a part non military folks seldom see.

    Helen, You must be so proud of your dad! 34 years and to join at such a young age and fight in WWII? Brings tears to my eyes. The Greatest Generation of course. I too was enlisted, and my husband still. My stepdad will be ever so excited to hear about your dad and that he was a Navy man. Our daughter in law is a Navy corpsman (medic) right now. The only Navy one besides my stepdad in a family full of Army vets and current soldiers.

    Cameron, I just love your new picture on your profile. Very pretty. I think WWII was the greatest as in The Greatest Generation of course. While living in Europe I had the excellent opportunity to travel to Normandy for a tour of all the beaches, and the cemetery of course. Very heartwrenching. It was as though you could still hear John Wayne say, "Only two kinds of people are gonna stay on this beach: those that are already dead and those that are gonna die." while touring all the beaches, seeing the fortifications and all. Very emotional. It is great you are honoring this WWII veteran today. I will look for the post.

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  9. Tina ~ John Wayne is the quintessential American hero isn't he? We saw "The Sands of Iwo Jima" recently and it seemed like it had actual footage from the Marines in it. Those movies always give me pause to think about the actual events and is as you said, heartwrenching.

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  10. Cindy, Yes, John Wayne is one of my favorite actors! I just love him and was so sad when he died. I love all of his war movies. Have you seen The Longest Day? That is the one that chronicles the Normandy invasion. One of the best movies ever made on a true story but all of his are great. I need to rewatch the Sands though. It has been a while.

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  11. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL VETERANS TODAY AND EVERY DAY!!! If not for you and your sacrifices, we may not be here today...

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  12. Thanks to Tina and all Veterans. Without our military men and women our country would not be what it is. They cannot be thanked enough!

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  13. Serenity and water seem to go hand in hand, don't they? It's raining like it's never going to stop here. The paths are flooded and I can't even get to the pond. Enough with the pounding rain! Love the thunder though! Boy, there went a crackle that made me jump!
    Brenda

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  14. beautiful reminder to be very grateful for our liberty and freedom that so many have paid a hefty price for. thank you

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  15. Another big thanks to all vets AND to their families!!

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  16. Thank you, Tina & all the Veterans. My family has been very lucky in that the only veteran in my family was 1 of my grandfathers, in WWI. My husband's only veteran relative was his grandpa, who served in WWII. Both of our grandparents served without injury to return home whole & healthy. We honor those who served, especially those who were not as lucky as our grandfathers.

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  17. 12 mile march while overloaded, ugh! Happy Veterans Day!

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  18. Absolutely, our military makes our wonderful American life possible. Thank you, every single veteran past and present.
    Marnie

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  19. A fitting tribute to all veterans--they could use some peace and serenity. Thank you to you, Tina, and your family for your service to our country. The freedoms we enjoy today as Americans would not be possible without the sacrifices of millions like you.

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  20. Happy Veteran's Day Tina to you & your family. I am proud of all our service members like you & my husband who have sacrificed alot for the freedoms we enjoy daily.

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  21. Hi Tina, words cannot express the feelings of gratitude we have for the veterans, living and passed. A special thanks to you and your family too, it never fails to bring tears to my eyes to begin to comprehend the sacrifices made for our freedoms.
    Frances

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  22. Thank You, Tina, and your family for all the sacrifices that you all have given. If it weren't for all the military we would not be living in a world as we do today. We would not have the freedom that we so enjoy.
    THANK YOU.

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  23. Skeeter, Dave, Mom, Marmee, Marnie, Rose, Frances, Lola-Thanks!

    Brenda, Do send some rain my way as we are dry-as always.

    MMD, It is so great your grandfathers served-and safely too. So many today are not so lucky.

    Dawn, I still ache, oh wait a minute-now it is from the garden. Okay. No more flashbacks:)

    Racquel, Happy Veterans' Day to your husband and to the families like you! I hope he is enjoying a nice and well deserved day off.

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  24. Tina, are you a service woman? If so thank you for all that you are doing(or have done,) it is truly a wonderful thing!

    God Bless America
    ~Zach

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  25. Hubby and I each have members of our family in the military. Roger was a Cobra pilot in Nam. We have been there and done that as they say which makes us even more grateful for your service.

    With all respect on Veterans Day,
    Donna

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  26. Zach, I retired from the Army after 20 years. A short time really. Now I can garden and blog about it too:) Thanks!

    Donna, Thanks! And hats off to Roger. My husband's name is Roger too:) He doesn't fly the helicopters, just works on them. I used to be an air traffic controller in the Army-so I got to tell them where to go:) Thanks and Happy Veterans Day to you all!

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  27. Some are at the ranges today. That is what my husband does, and he had to work today. Not even holiday pay for any of them.

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  28. I went to the parade,by accident, today as it was marching down the main road as I was on my way to work. I decided to enjoy the flags and think about all our veterans with thanks. So, thank you!

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  29. Happy Veterans' Day! Your serenity is exactly what we all need.

    Cindy

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  30. Thanks to you and your family for your service, and for the gift of freedom you gave us all!

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  31. Tina ~ Yes, John Wayne is one of my all time favorites. He has so many good films, every time I think of one, I think, oh and there was that one too. I don't believe I've seen The Longest Day but as luck will have it, I saw it was on today (half over) but it is repeated tomorrow morning. So I will be recording it to watch later and I can zip through the commercials.

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  32. Sarah, I have seen they have been quite busy out there lately. No holiday pay is criminal.

    Layanee, Thanks!

    Cindy (RC), Thanks and I agree for sure!

    Nola, Thanks!

    Cindy, Yes, do watch it. It is one of my favorites, probably because we watched it on the bus on our way to Normandy. I sure explained everything. You can see the fortification in the ocean, just like in the picture. And the massive bunkers! OMG!

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  33. Tina ~ Thank you to you, your family and all those who serve and have served our country, so nobly. What a beautiful, peaceful water feature. ~ Deb

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  34. Deb-Thanks! This water feature was at the restaurant where Walk2Write and I met called The Red Geranium. It was so peaceful on this day I couldn't help but videotape it.

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  35. Oh, Tina, I'm such a dope, how could I have missed wishing you the best on Veteran's Day! Hope you'll accept my belated wishes--I'm coming out of my writing cocoon so maybe I won't be such an airhead (I'm always an airhead, but more so when I'm spending 8-10 hours writing . . .)

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