Veterans Poems and Stories 2
I PLEDGE
ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
AND TO THE REPUBLIC,
FOR WHICH IT STANDS,
ONE NATION UNDER GOD,
INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY
AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!
The Sands
of Christmas
I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh,
and looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.
The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix,
My stocks were down another point, the Dolphins lost by six.
And so with only minutes till my son got home from school
I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.
The burdens that I carried were about all I could take,
and so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.
I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust,
No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.
And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh,
eight hummers ran a column right behind an M1A.
A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his
teens,
Their eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.
They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,
their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night.
Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind,
To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again.
There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease,
They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MREs.
They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see,
They didn't need an ornament--they lacked a Christmas Tree.
They didn't have a present even though it was tradition,
the only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition."
I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side,
He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.
I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near
and kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear.
There's nothing wrong my little son, for safe we sleep
tonight,
our heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,
to worry on the things in life that mean nothing at all,
instead of wondering if we will be the next to fall.
He looked at me as children do and said its always right,
to thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write.
And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note,
to thank the many far from home, and this is what we wrote:
God Bless You all and keep you safe, and speed your way
back home.
Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone.
The gift you give you share with all, a present every day,
You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay.
Author Unknown
Murphy's Military Laws and Military Humor
Professionals are predictable, but the world is full of dangerous amateurs.
There is only one rule in war. When you win, you get to make up the rules.
It is a fact that helicopter tail rotors are instinctively drawn toward trees,
stumps, rocks, etc. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some
of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be
prevented. It's just what they do.
Letters from home are not always great.
If rear echelon troops are really happy, the front line troops probably do not
have what they need.
Biggest lies you have heard before...
1. I put it in distribution...
2. Your pay will be straight at the end of the month
3. I know I left it right here on the top of my desk
4. Of course I can read a map!
5. It's on requisition
6. He's in the motor pool
7. I have to back to the rear
8. I don't give a #@*! If the general hears about this!
9. I need this for the old man right away!
10. I was here until midnight last night working on this.
Friendly fire.............isn't!
It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.
If the enemy is in range, so are you!
The quartermaster has only two sizes, too large and too small.
If you really need an officer in a hurry, take a nap.
If it moves, salute it; if it doesn't move, pick it up; if you can't pick it up,
paint it.
Navy Law: If you can keep your head when all about you others are losing theirs,
maybe you just don't understand the situation.
Radar tends to fail at night and in bad weather, and especially during both.
If the enemy is in range, so are you.
Tracers work both ways.
The one item you need is always in short supply.
"Aim towards the enemy" - Instructions on US Army rocket launcher.
Any ship can be a minesweeper - once.
There are more airplanes in the ocean than there are submarines in the sky.
Never share a foxhole with someone braver than you.
Professionals are predictable, but the world is full of dangerous amateurs.
Military intelligence can be a contradiction in terms.
Flashlights are tubular containers kept for the purpose of storing dead
batteries.
Remember - the lowest bidder made your weapons system!
If you see a bomb disposal technician running, try to keep up with him!
Humor in Uniform
Does anybody around here remember if I did anything this year?" An LTC preparing
his Officer Evaluation Report support form.
Embedded media means "a report that is blown out of proportion"
Rules for dating a Drill Sergeant's daughter:
1. If you pull into my driveway and honk, you'd better be delivering a package,
because you're sure not picking anything up.
2. You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long
as you do not peer at anything below her neck. IF you cannot keep your eyes or
hands off my daughter's body, I will remove them
3. As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter, and more than an
hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a
process that can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of
just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like changing the oil in
my car?
Modern Military Terms:
Engage the Enemy means "to blow something up"
Surgical Strike means "to blow up something small"
Decapitate means "to blow up their leaders"
Collateral Damage means "to accidentally blow up something of theirs"
Friendly Fire means "to accidentally blow up something of ours"
Target of Opportunity means "to blow up something on a whim"
An Asset is "something that can be blown up"
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Sunday, December 02, 2007 06:51:03 AM