Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas, Twenty-Eleven

Merry Christmas!

Our family, like many will have an empty chair at our Christmas dinner table. John is spending Christmas in a country, where he is not permitted to celebrate the birth of our Savior. So many of our Troops will be far from family and friends on Christmas Day, please join me in prayer for them.

My heart is filled with gratitude for all warriors who have made huge sacrifices for generations!

Merry Christmas!
(please pause my playslist on the right sidebar)

Friday, December 23, 2011

Somebody's Son


U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Blake Landry, a 374th Airlift Wing loadmaster, gazes out of a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft checking to make sure the pallet that was just pushed reached the island safely Dec. 12, 2011. Operation Christmas Drop will deliver care packages to more than 50 islands within the Micronesian States during the next two weeks. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Carlin Leslie)
source: militaryphotos.net

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Friday posts are random photos of our Soldiers.
We must remember each and every Airman, Soldier, Sailor and Marine have a face.
Our brave Heroes have family and friends who love them so.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

His Star Has Turned From Blue to Gold



Maj. Samuel M. Griffith, 36, of Virginia Beach, Virginia

A Marine Reservist, killed in action in Afghanistan. He is the 1857th Troop to die in Afghanistan since 2001.

1857 families will look at an empty chair this Christmas.

Griffith's mother said her son had a passion to serve his country and his community. "He was doing what he loved. That was his gift. That was his passion," she said.

Sam Griffith's hometown is Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, near Camp LeJuene, where his father still lives. Sam was an Eagle Scout who grew up dreaming of becoming an astronaut, and going to flight school and being a military pilot. He graduated from Enloe High School in Raleigh in 1993, and joined the Naval ROTC program at Penn State University.

When Sam Griffith graduated from Penn State in 1997, he was commissioned in the Marine Corps, where he trained as a pilot. He met his future wife, Cassandra, as a student at Penn State University. They married shortly after he returned from flight school Pensacola.

Maj. Griffith flew F-18s with All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533 based in Beaufort, S.C., and also worked as an instructor for forward air controllers. Griffith was promoted to the rank of major in 2009. He deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan while on active duty.

Maj. Griffith received a series of awards and decorations, including two Air Medals and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal. About two years ago, he became an inactive reservist in the Forward Air Control Unit for 4th Anglico.

Major Griffith arrived in Afghanistan less than a month ago with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He volunteered earlier this year to go to Afghanistan as a forward air controller, identifying enemy targets and calling in aircraft. He was one of 17 members from his 230 member Marine Reserve unit deployed in Afghanistan.

He leaves a wife and two sons.

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May Almighty God Bless this brave warrior.
May Almighty God bring comfort to his family and friends.
May Almighty God protect all who serve.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Monday Update...

A quick, 'Hello' to all my peeps!

It's been a zany several weeks. I am beyond exhausted, working 6 days/week... many of those days have been 10 & 11 hour work-days. But it is all good! I have a job which I truly enjoy, with a team of fun and energetic people! Where else can you wear jeans, Uggs and a Santa hat...and get paid? Funny story... last weekend (our busiest weekend) we had a bit of a lull in the shop, so the elf I work with ran off to her lunch break. A customer steps up with approx a dozen ornaments...she placed them all on the counter to decide which she wanted. A second customer stepped up, so #1 decided she had better hurry her decision process. So I begin to ring up her sale...at this point #3 is now in line. I glance at the computer screen...duh. nothing scanned! Had to start all over! So we quickly removed all ornaments from the pretty tissue and I re-rang the order, with #5 now in line. I get on my radio, to call in for some help... no reply. So...#1 begins to sing, 'Hark the Herald Angels'...and every visitor sang along! No grumpiness! No impatience! True Christmas Spirit!
One more Christmas Spirit story.... I am so grateful the owner of Good Earth is kind enough to allow our customers to donate gifts, which I mail to our Soldiers! This year, we once again gathered over a dozen boxes of items, which I packaged up and took to the Post Office. I was trying to quickly unload my Wrangler of boxes and the clerk at the Post Office desk asked for the custom forms. I dug into my bag and handed her the forms...of course the line was building behind me! A little while later an elderly gent approached me and told me he thought I lost something... He handed me a $100 bill, which I had in my bag and must have fallen out while I was rustling with boxes and forms. All in the Post Office cheered and wished each other a Merry Christmas. I was grateful he returned the money to me, it had been donated to offset shipping costs!!!
So... the moral of this post: Be kind to each other. Give without expecting to receive. Sing a Christmas Carol when you feel a little stressed. Take a deep breath and enjoy all of the little things our world has to offer. Yes, times are hard and people appear ugly... but if only one person at a time, showed gentleness and kindness...we could change it all.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Wednesday Hero 12/14/2011

Marguerite Gene Arenesen, George Warren & Thomas M. Sugg
Click Image For Full Size


Marguerite Gene Arenesen (left) a member of the Coast Guard in World War II, George Warren (standing), a Canadian-born immigrant who became a naturalized American citizen at age 17 and joined the Army Air Corps shortly after the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and Thomas M. Sugg, a Navy veteran, share a moment in front of a Christmas tree at the Veterans Home in Barstow, California.


Photo Courtesy United States Marine Corps Taken By Keith Hayes

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Wednesday Hero Logo


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Warm thanks to Christopher Lee for his dedication to our Troops!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Somebody's Son



ARABIAN GULF (Dec. 3, 2011) Seaman James Odell stands watch as an EA-6B Prowler from the Wizards of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 133 flies above the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). John C. Stennis is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations and support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Will Tyndall/Released)
Source: militaryphotos.net

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Friday posts are random photos of our Soldiers.
We must remember each and every Airman, Soldier, Sailor and Marine have a face.
Our brave Heroes have family and friends who love them so.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Wednesday Hero 12/07/2011

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Mrs Xoke

Sgt. 1st Class Bryan E. Hall
Sgt. 1st Class Bryan E. Hall
32 years old from Elk Grove, California 1st Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division April 10, 2009
U.S. Army

Bryan Hall received three Army commendation medals, as well as good
Army achievement, good conduct and war on terrorism medals. But his
family didn't learn about them until after his death. "He was such a
humble man," said his mother, Betty. "He was a special person, he
never boasted about his accomplishments or was arrogant and pompous,
he did his job," his sister, Kristi, said. "When he was done with his
job, he came home and he was a father, a husband, a son and a brother.
He embodied what I think every soldier would want to be."

Sgt. 1st Class Hall was a junior in High School when he signed up for
an Army early entry program. After he graduated he attended one year
of college before enlisting.

Bryan Hall, and five other soldiers, was killed on April 10, 2009 when
a suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives at a police
station in Mosul, Iraq. Betty Hall said an Army commander told her
that by ordering his soldiers to fire on the suicide bomber's truck,
her son probably saved many lives by preventing the attacker from
entering the police compound.


You can read more about Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Hall here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so
others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them
Hero.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more
information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on
your site, you can go here.

Wednesday Hero Logo

Monday, December 5, 2011

Happy Birthday, Sarge!!!

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."
~ Elmer Davis
Please stop by and wish one of our finest, Sarge Charlie a very Happy Birthday!!!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Somebody's Son




SAN DIEGO (Nov. 30, 2011) The son of Electrician's Mate (Nuclear) 1st Class Randall White, assigned to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), waves to his father's ship as it transits San Diego Bay after departing Naval Air Station North Island on a scheduled deployment to the western Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Trevor Welsh/Released)
source: militaryphotos.net

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Friday posts are random photos of our Soldiers.
We must remember each and every Airman, Soldier, Sailor and Marine have a face.
Our brave Heroes have family and friends who love them so.