Harry Krause wrote:
JimH wrote:
"Bill" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jul 2, 2:37 pm, "JimH" ask wrote:
August 13, 2007. One day before our 25th Wedding Anniversary our
son leaves
for Paris Island. He is slotted for Military Police training after
completing basic training and *earning* his right to officially call
himself
a Marine. He originally planned delayed entry in mid September but
the MP
opportunity came up if he went in earlier.

Even before his decision to join the Marines he has been
concentrating on
his physical condition, recently completing a community event 5 mile
race
and finishing in 2nd place.

He will continue with the physical preparation but will now start to
mentally focus on the fact that he will be leaving for Paris Island
in 6
weeks.

We are very proud of him and his decision to join the Marine Corps.
Tell him Sempre Fi for me. It's really an amazing thing to do and a
difficult choice but a wiser man than me once said that anything in
life worth having doesn't come easy. Your son is going to know what
those words mean real soon. I've never met him but I'm proud.

Bill


Thank you Bill.

I will be printing this entire thread for him to read prior to him
leaving.

On the behalf of my son, thanks for all the support!



I'm still at Virginia Beach (fishing vacation, as it were), so I will
keep this brief. As I stated before, I hope your boy comes home to you
safe and sound.

I think this damned war stinks and that Bush and his boys lied us into
it, but my thoughts about this incompetent administration have nothing
to do with your son's or anyone else's decision to serve their country.

Bon chance to your boy. The worse that happens to him, he and his
company should plough their way through a harem.

Back in town tonight sometime, if the weather holds. Man, did we catch
fish, including five huge keeper stripers right at the damned slip. We
tossed them all back, though. A commercial boat next to us was prepping
its bait for a run, and the mate kept tossing what he wasn't going to
use overboard. Apparently the stripers know about this, they hang
around, and they lunge for the scraps. We baited up a couple of hooks
with the same sort of squid, and they went for it. Dumb fish... :}

I too do not want any more soldiers to get hurt, and have complete
respect for those who want to serve our country in the military, but I
can't figure out why anyone or anyone's parents would want to or
endorse/support sending their children to Iraq. It is similar to
sending your children to Viet Nam the last year of the war.

I hope all of our soldiers are out of Iraq soon, but if it was tomorrow
it would not be soon enough.

On Jul 2, 3:28?pm, "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote:
"RCE" wrote in message

...







"JimH" ask wrote in message
.. .

"Chuck Gould" wrote in message
roups.com...

Congrats to him.

I'd like to hope the situation in Iraq improves and stabilizes or even
gets resolved before he's eligible to be deployed.

Thank you Chuck.

We will be getting a first hand report on the *actual* conditions there
well before he is slated for deployment to Iraq as 2 of our best friends
sons (US Marines) are soon scheduled for redeployment to Iraq.

Ironic. Your son is starting his duty. Mine, (Eisboch Jr.) was just
discharged yesterday after 4 years and two deployments to the Persian
Gulf.

Life goes on.

Eisboch

Did your son ever mention which of the list of vaporous invasion reasons he
clung to in order to remain sane in Iraq?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

(dusting off soap box.....apologies for this lapse in self discipline)

If JimH's son sincerely believes that he is defending America by
serving in Iraq, then that belief and the decision it precipitated
deserves to be honored and respected. You and I and perhaps the
majority of Americans
probably feel that invading Iraq was a bizarre response to 9-11. We
may wonder if we're *really* better off with a chaotic Iraq lacking
effective leadership than we were with an a-hole dictator at least
keeping some sort of approximate (even if heavy handed) order there.
JimH's son knows full well that he's very likely indeed to wind up
serving in Iraq and is willing to risk his life to do so,,,,,

And that's the difference, Doug. You, I, and lots of others can pee
and moan about Bush, Iraq, bogus stories about WMD and Nigerian
yellowcake, etc. We can even (and shouldn't) inject this subject into
a newsgroup dedicated to non-political issues like recreational
boating. What do we risk? Getting flamed by the Bush supporters and/or
war mongers? Wow, I'm trembling at the thought....(not)

JimH's son obviously believes in the mission or he wouldn't volunteer
to participate in it. What does he risk? His life and limbs. That's no
small thing. In fact, that's a pretty huge thing. Two things that
separate the anti-war crowd from those who volunteer to serve in it
are (1) a difference of opinion about the foreign policy decisions
being made at the highest levels in Washington DC and (2) a
willingness to bet ones' very life that his or her opinion is correct.

Opinions are like a-holes. Everybody's got one. And while I haven't
made an up close and personal study of the situation, I'd venture to
guess that no two of them are exactly alike. Most of the people living
today may well be dead from old age before the lens of history
ultimately reveals whether our invasion of Iraq was a strategic
masterpiece and Bush has shown incredible political courage in
"staying the course" despite the outcome to this point or whether it
was possibly the disastrous beginning of another world war.

It's entirely possible that the opinion that our country is well
served by
occupying Iraq may prove to be the more accurate opinion in the end.
A lot of those who hold this opinion risk no more than those of us who
opposed the invasion and regret the costly, unending, and possibly
unendable occupation there. Others who support the mission do so with
such a passion that they are willing to put their very lives at risk
to participate. That's a courageous move.

If my own son were to volunteer, I'd certainly disagree with the
foreign policy decision he was supporting but I would have to admire
the courage of his conviction.

JimH is justifiably proud of his son's courage. I don't know how JimH
currently feels about the war in Iraq, (he wrote several months ago
that his support for the war had eroded), and in actual fact that
doesn't matter.
Anybody who raises a son who is willing to stand up for his principles
and beliefs despite personal inconvenience or perhaps even mortal risk
has a justifiable right to be darn proud. Opinions may be like a-
holes, but courage to take a stand is a rare commodity.

(returning soap box to dark closet)

On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 08:15:28 -0700, Chuck Gould
wrote:


(dusting off soap box.....apologies for this lapse in self discipline)

If JimH's son sincerely believes that he is defending America by
serving in Iraq, then that belief and the decision it precipitated
deserves to be honored and respected. You and I and perhaps the
majority of Americans
probably feel that invading Iraq was a bizarre response to 9-11. We
may wonder if we're *really* better off with a chaotic Iraq lacking
effective leadership than we were with an a-hole dictator at least
keeping some sort of approximate (even if heavy handed) order there.
JimH's son knows full well that he's very likely indeed to wind up
serving in Iraq and is willing to risk his life to do so,,,,,

And that's the difference, Doug. You, I, and lots of others can pee
and moan about Bush, Iraq, bogus stories about WMD and Nigerian
yellowcake, etc. We can even (and shouldn't) inject this subject into
a newsgroup dedicated to non-political issues like recreational
boating. What do we risk? Getting flamed by the Bush supporters and/or
war mongers? Wow, I'm trembling at the thought....(not)

JimH's son obviously believes in the mission or he wouldn't volunteer
to participate in it. What does he risk? His life and limbs. That's no
small thing. In fact, that's a pretty huge thing. Two things that
separate the anti-war crowd from those who volunteer to serve in it
are (1) a difference of opinion about the foreign policy decisions
being made at the highest levels in Washington DC and (2) a
willingness to bet ones' very life that his or her opinion is correct.

Opinions are like a-holes. Everybody's got one. And while I haven't
made an up close and personal study of the situation, I'd venture to
guess that no two of them are exactly alike. Most of the people living
today may well be dead from old age before the lens of history
ultimately reveals whether our invasion of Iraq was a strategic
masterpiece and Bush has shown incredible political courage in
"staying the course" despite the outcome to this point or whether it
was possibly the disastrous beginning of another world war.

It's entirely possible that the opinion that our country is well
served by
occupying Iraq may prove to be the more accurate opinion in the end.
A lot of those who hold this opinion risk no more than those of us who
opposed the invasion and regret the costly, unending, and possibly
unendable occupation there. Others who support the mission do so with
such a passion that they are willing to put their very lives at risk
to participate. That's a courageous move.

If my own son were to volunteer, I'd certainly disagree with the
foreign policy decision he was supporting but I would have to admire
the courage of his conviction.

JimH is justifiably proud of his son's courage. I don't know how JimH
currently feels about the war in Iraq, (he wrote several months ago
that his support for the war had eroded), and in actual fact that
doesn't matter.
Anybody who raises a son who is willing to stand up for his principles
and beliefs despite personal inconvenience or perhaps even mortal risk
has a justifiable right to be darn proud. Opinions may be like a-
holes, but courage to take a stand is a rare commodity.

(returning soap box to dark closet)

Excellent thoughts. Couldn't have said it better myself.
In fact, I couldn't have come close.

--Vic

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
In the past, you've said it was just an honor to serve in uniform, but
that's too general a statement at this point in history.

To general of a statement?


Who says every solder in the US armed forces goes to war in Iraq???

who says Jims son will?

Maybe he will, maybe he wont.

"Tim" wrote in message
oups.com...

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
In the past, you've said it was just an honor to serve in uniform, but
that's too general a statement at this point in history.

To general of a statement?


Who says every solder in the US armed forces goes to war in Iraq???

who says Jims son will?

Maybe he will, maybe he wont.


That's right.

"JimH" ask wrote in message
...
August 13, 2007. One day before our 25th Wedding Anniversary our son
leaves for Paris Island. He is slotted for Military Police training
after completing basic training and *earning* his right to officially call
himself a Marine. He originally planned delayed entry in mid September
but the MP opportunity came up if he went in earlier.

Even before his decision to join the Marines he has been concentrating on
his physical condition, recently completing a community event 5 mile race
and finishing in 2nd place.

He will continue with the physical preparation but will now start to
mentally focus on the fact that he will be leaving for Paris Island in 6
weeks.

We are very proud of him and his decision to join the Marine Corps.


While my wife and I were out on the boat today my son read through this
thread.

His comments to me:

1. Please thank everyone for their kind words of support.

2. Who is that JoeSpareBedroom? He is a real jerk.

Happy Independance Day everyone. We would not be celebrating that day if it
were not for our brave men and women taking up the cause and then continuing
to fight for and defend our Country over those past 231 years. ;-)

JimH wrote:

Happy Independance Day everyone. We would not be celebrating that day if it
were not for our brave men and women taking up the cause and then continuing
to fight for and defend our Country over those past 231 years. ;-)

Amen!

On Jul 3, 2:40 pm, "JimH" ask wrote:
"JimH" ask wrote in message

...





August 13, 2007. One day before our 25th Wedding Anniversary our son
leaves for Paris Island. He is slotted for Military Police training
after completing basic training and *earning* his right to officially call
himself a Marine. He originally planned delayed entry in mid September
but the MP opportunity came up if he went in earlier.

Even before his decision to join the Marines he has been concentrating on
his physical condition, recently completing a community event 5 mile race
and finishing in 2nd place.

He will continue with the physical preparation but will now start to
mentally focus on the fact that he will be leaving for Paris Island in 6
weeks.

We are very proud of him and his decision to join the Marine Corps.

While my wife and I were out on the boat today my son read through this
thread.

His comments to me:

1. Please thank everyone for their kind words of support.

2. Who is that JoeSpareBedroom? He is a real jerk.

Happy Independance Day everyone. We would not be celebrating that day if it
were not for our brave men and women taking up the cause and then continuing
to fight for and defend our Country over those past 231 years. ;-)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well 232 technically if you are talking about Marines. They were
officially comissioned in November of 1775. Before the Navy was
officially commissioned I might add.

"JimH" ask wrote in message
...

"JimH" ask wrote in message
...
August 13, 2007. One day before our 25th Wedding Anniversary our son
leaves for Paris Island. He is slotted for Military Police training
after completing basic training and *earning* his right to officially
call himself a Marine. He originally planned delayed entry in mid
September but the MP opportunity came up if he went in earlier.

Even before his decision to join the Marines he has been concentrating on
his physical condition, recently completing a community event 5 mile race
and finishing in 2nd place.

He will continue with the physical preparation but will now start to
mentally focus on the fact that he will be leaving for Paris Island in 6
weeks.

We are very proud of him and his decision to join the Marine Corps.


While my wife and I were out on the boat today my son read through this
thread.

His comments to me:

1. Please thank everyone for their kind words of support.

2. Who is that JoeSpareBedroom? He is a real jerk.

Happy Independance Day everyone. We would not be celebrating that day if
it were not for our brave men and women taking up the cause and then
continuing to fight for and defend our Country over those past 231 years.
;-)


Perhaps he'll be stationed in Great Britain where they are dealing with the
terrorist that were "stopped" by our presence in Iraq.

On Jul 3, 2:56 pm, Bill wrote:
On Jul 3, 2:40 pm, "JimH" ask wrote:





"JimH" ask wrote in message

...

August 13, 2007. One day before our 25th Wedding Anniversary our son
leaves for Paris Island. He is slotted for Military Police training
after completing basic training and *earning* his right to officially call
himself a Marine. He originally planned delayed entry in mid September
but the MP opportunity came up if he went in earlier.

Even before his decision to join the Marines he has been concentrating on
his physical condition, recently completing a community event 5 mile race
and finishing in 2nd place.

He will continue with the physical preparation but will now start to
mentally focus on the fact that he will be leaving for Paris Island in 6
weeks.

We are very proud of him and his decision to join the Marine Corps.

While my wife and I were out on the boat today my son read through this
thread.

His comments to me:

1. Please thank everyone for their kind words of support.

2. Who is that JoeSpareBedroom? He is a real jerk.

Happy Independance Day everyone. We would not be celebrating that day if it
were not for our brave men and women taking up the cause and then continuing
to fight for and defend our Country over those past 231 years. ;-)- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well 232 technically if you are talking about Marines. They were
officially comissioned in November of 1775. Before the Navy was
officially commissioned I might add.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sorry I need to recant before I get smashed by the squidies. Marine
Corps founded officially one month after the Navy but is still not a
part of the Navy.