Veterans Day

[The Jackson]

Good morning, all

I wanted to take the time to thank all those men and women in uniform for their service to my country and its people. I appreciate it all. Thank you.

- Jackson

[JCalkin]

I never served due to a health issue (heart related, barely serious enough to make me undesirable to the military), but my grandfather was in the Army during WWII (and was stationed at Hawaii during Pearl Harbor) and my father served in the Air Force during Vietnam.

God bless all those serving and who have served.

[Dan Schultz]

Okay, y'all. 'Fess up. Give your history.

US Army 1985-1988
Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY
US Army Band of New York City
02F10C1 Tuba Player
Sp4-P

United States Naval Security Group 1965-1971
Great Lakes Naval Training Center
NCTC Pensacola Florida
RAF Edzel, Scotland - 1966-1968
TAD all over most of Europe for rest of duration
Tuba with various command bands and several brass bands while in Scotland

I've always wondered why the public schools in Southern Indiana take the day off and place the burden of finding childcare on the Veterans who are usually working on that day!

[TUBAD83]

Okay, y'all. 'Fess up. Give your history.

US Army 1985-1988
Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY
US Army Band of New York City
02F10C1 Tuba Player
Sp4-P

US Army 1984-1991
1st Cavalry Division Band
Ft Hood, Texas
6th Infantry Division (Light) Band
Ft Wainwright, AK
02F20 Army Bandsman Tuba Player
SGT E-5

[Carroll]

I can wholeheartedly echo the sentiments posted thus far! After this evening I will have played, sung, or conducted 7 ceremonies and celebrations of the fine men and women who selflessly protect our way of life. Thank you all, so much.

[chhite]

Okay, y'all. 'Fess up. Give your history.

US Army 1985-1988
Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY
US Army Band of New York City
02F10C1 Tuba Player
Sp4-P

1994-96 Ft. Lee Army Band, VA
1996-97 8th Army, Seoul, South Korea
1998-2002 Army Ground Forces Band, Atlanta, GA
2002-04 10th Mountain Div. Band, Ft. Drum, NY
2004-present US Army Europe, Heidelberg, Germany

[bearphonium]

My thanks to all who serve/have served, in whatever capacity.

My Dad: WWII USAAC
My Father-in-Law 20 years USAF, Korea and Viet Nam
My cousin: 4 years USMC, peace time and battle ready

I could never get past question 20, besides, I'd tell, even if they didn't ask.

24.5 years civilian law enforcement instead.

[tubatooter1940]

I served a three year hitch in the Marines during the Vietnam disagreement.
I auditioned for the Washington Marine band but they sent me to A&E school instead.
I never got shot at but I fixed a lot of broken airplanes.
Does that count?

[Brucom]

I served five years, seven months and 20 days in USAF field bands.

1974 - 1976 in The Band of the Gulf Coast at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS.
1976 - 1978 in The Band of the Americas at Howard AFB and Allbrook AFB in the Panama Canal Zone.
1978 - 1979 in The Band of Flight at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH.

Every day I struck a blow for freedom.
I played for Gerry Ford, Jimmy Carter, and a variety of Latin American dictators and diplomats.
Never get on a C-130 without your ear plugs.

My son just got out of the US Marines in September.

[Nick Pierce]

My father served in the Marine Corps in the late eighties and early nineties. I second all that has been said already: thank you all for everything you do for us.

[The Big Ben]

I served a three year hitch in the Marines during the Vietnam disagreement.
I auditioned for the Washington Marine band but they sent me to A&E school instead.
I never got shot at but I fixed a lot of broken airplanes.
Does that count?

Yep. You did what they asked you to do so you served.

My father spent WWII in a hospital in Farragut, ID. Not as a patient but as a pharmacist. He didn't have battle stories but he did serve.

[lgb&dtuba]

U.S. Navy 1965-1969
Crewed on P2V-7 Neptunes and P3 Orions hunting Russian submarines all over the Atlantic.
Spent most of my overseas deployments in Iceland and the Azores.

[pwhitaker]

U.S. Navy : 1959-1963 (including blockade of Cuba on a troop transport in 1963)
195th Army Band - Maine Nat'l Guard 1981-1990

[Tundratubast]

1973-77 NAS Norfolk, Crewed SH-2F LAMPS helicopters from the decks of the
U.S. Pharris, FF1094; tracking Russian submarines, Mediterranean Cruise '75;
Indian Ocean Cruise '76-'77;
1979-83 ND Army Nat'l Guard; TUBA Player
1983-94; NAVY Reserves - NAS GLENVIEW, CHICAGO, VP90-CAC3; P-3 Orion's, Acoustic Sensor Operator, still tracking Russians sub's, worldwide on long weekends and extended active duties to the Azores, Venezuela, Philippines, Japan, Bermuda, Spain, Sea of Okhotsk & Kamchatka Peninsula; Great part-time adventure.

Bill Clinton, retired me in 1994 with the Base Realignment Commission and, at that time, the demise of the Russian submarine fleet. We became an obsolete hunter. It was a long commute from Fargo to Chicago anyway. I was retired with 19 years 3 months of total service. At least, with the forced retirements, I will receive a retirement benefit at age 60 based on my 19 good years.