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TO ALL MY FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST JESUS:
I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart and express my deepest gratitude and admiration to all of you, for your bravery and patriotism.
You unselfishly put your lives on the line, many of you, having been injured or suffering from PTS.
Many of you may have been in WW2, while I was either not born yet, or an infant, I was defenseless and you went out in the line of fire to protect our country.
Thank you for your bravery.
Thank God for men and women like you.

Thank you for this thread, sister and thank you for remembering and honoring those that have made it possible for us to have the freedoms that we so enjoy today. It is because of these wonderful unselfish people that we are able to worship our Lord and Saviour openly in this country yet today. Without their bravery and sacrifices the probablities of what our country would have fallen to is numerous.

I would like to take the time to also thank those that are currently serving Active Duty. Carrying on the proud tradition of fighting for our freedom and the protection of so many where others of us are no longer able to do so.

 

AMEN My brother, they are there every day in harms way. My prayers are with them all.

Brothers and Sisters,

I give thanks for the courageous men and women who protect our country EVERY DAY! I pray that God watches over them and gives them the strength and wisdom to carry out one of the most important and critical duties of our time. In my heart and mind, I know that their dedicated service is the reason why we haven't had another 911. So, we should think of them and thank them for every moment of peace and safety that we enjoy.

I give thanks from the bottom of my heart for every effort and every drop of sweat and blood. I am a proud Navy dad, so my son is on the list of the people I thank. ONLY BECAUSE OF THEM, we live in a country where the terrorists are not free to kill innocent men, women, and children. Our best and bravest PATRIOTS are putting the terrorists OUT OF BUSINESS around the world, and I am PROUD of them. They represent another generation of our BEST who have given of themselves and served to preserve our way of life, our freedom, and our safety. Every child and adult in America owes them a debt of gratitude and RESPECT! Further, many millions of people in other countries are getting to taste freedom for the first time ONLY BECAUSE OF THEM!

The members of our Armed Forces are the best in the world, and:


Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 27:14 NASB  Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

Speaking of 9/11, I would like to take this time to pay a special tribute to someone that I personally know. I was stationed on Guam with Him and his wife where they both worked as one of "My Troops".

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/randers/gregg2.jpg)


July 30, 1957 - September 11, 2001

Was Looking Forward to Civilian Life

Gregg Harold Smallwood was six months away from finishing his 20-year career in the Navy when he was killed in the Pentagon attack Sept. 11. The chief petty officer and father of three girls planned to retire in the summer, move to Texas with his wife, Lisa, and begin a new life as a civilian.

“We have decided on Austin,” he wrote in his last e-mail to his sister, Laura Smallwood. “The transition has already begun.”

On Sept. 11, the 44-year-old chief information systems technician for the Navy was working in his newly renovated first floor office when a hijacked American Airlines jet slammed into the Pentagon. He was buried with full military honors Oct. 6 at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Like so many others whose lives were cut short by the tragic events of Sept. 11, my brother Gregg was an average guy,” Laura Smallwood said in her eulogy. “He was probably at his desk, doing his job and, knowing Gregg, recalculating the days to his retirement.”

Gregg Smallwood grew up in Houston and Dallas and enlisted in the Navy after completing high school in Pittsburgh.

He met his wife, Lisa, when both were in the Navy and stationed in Texas, and they were married on Jan. 25, 1979. Smallwood left the Navy in 1981, but re-enlisted after seven years in the private sector.

His Navy assignments included duty aboard a guided missile destroyer, the Henry B. Wilson; at the Navy Communications Area Master Station in Guam; aboard the frigate Reasoner; at the Naval Telecommunications Station in Diego Garcia; and in San Diego and Kingsville, Texas. In July 1998, he joined the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon.

Born in Oklahoma, Smallwood was -- like his father, an electrical engineer for Westinghouse -– a tall, lanky, mild-mannered man, according to his brother-in-law, Tommy Meers.

“Gregg was the sort of fellow you could underestimate if you judged him solely by his speaking demeanor,” Meers wrote in an e-mail to family members. “But he was downright eloquent with pen in hand.”

Letters Smallwood sent to his family while he was stationed away from home, Meers said, reveal “a profound, very pragmatic concern for his family -– as though each letter contained some kernel of carefully thought out advice for one or each of his three daughters.”

Smallwood is survived by his wife and daughters Wendy, 18, Lynn, 17, and Valerie, 16, all of Woodbridge, Va.; his parents, Harold and Florence Smallwood, of Overland Park, Kan.; and sister Laura Smallwood of Stone Mountain, Ga.

A fund has been set up to benefit the daughters, the Gregg Smallwood Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 2258, Decatur, Ga., 30021-2258.

Since his assignment to the Pentagon, Smallwood was enjoying having more time with his family –- even though he was working long hours, his sister said.

“He was one of those people who, if he didn’t get something done by the time work was over, he stayed at work until it was done,” she said.

When his assignment at the Pentagon was drawing to a close, she said, he managed to pull some strings to be able to stay there until his retirement.

“He was not somebody who loved the military,” his sister said in an interview. “He was a military sort in his demeanor and his speech. But he stayed in it mainly as a necessity. He couldn’t wait to be done with it.”

In her eulogy, Smallwood concluded that her brother “wasn’t such an average guy after all.

“In a time where more marriages fail than succeed, he not only had a successful marriage but, despite some hardships along the way, a loving one . . . In a time where most people’s priorities have been skewed toward material gain, Gregg’s most prized possession was his family.”

 
Gregg Harold Smallwood

Gregg Harold Smallwood's Navy career took him across the United States and the South Pacific. The 44-year-old information systems technician first set sail on the Henry B. Wilson, a guided missile destroyer, in November 1976. He then served in San Diego and Kingsville, Tex.

Smallwood, who rose to the rank of chief in his specialty, moved to the Navy Communications Area Master Station in Guam in October 1979 for two years. He then left the Navy for seven years, returning in 1988 to serve on the frigate Reasoner. After a couple of stints in California, Smallwood traveled to the Indian Ocean to work at the Naval Computer Telecommunications Station in Diego Garcia. In July 1998, he joined the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon.

The Navy lists his home as Overland Park, Kan.

Pastor Roger,

Brother, it's still almost impossible to imagine that there were 3,000 accounts of sacrifice on 911, the biggest and most deadly attack by foreign attackers in the history of our country. There is no doubt in my mind at all that the terrorists of this world would love to inflict dozens more 911's in our country IF ONLY THEY COULD. So far, the terrorists of this world who hate us beyond our imagination are being kept so busy on their own soil that they haven't been able to attack us again. This has nothing to do with luck - rather the HARD and DANGEROUS work of the most professional Military in the world.

It really makes me angry when anyone does something or says something that disrespects their service, especially for those who gave their lives in service and their families who are dealing with the loss. Their purpose was in keeping with the FINEST TRADITIONS of service to others, and not a single drop of sweat or blood was shed in vain.

Those who fail to show their appreciation or show any sign of disrespect are ignorant of what's being done and why. We take so many things for granted, even those of us who show the proper appreciation and respect to members of our Armed Services. In all REALITY, many paid for every freedom we enjoy and every second of peace and safety our families have.

I really have some pretty harsh feelings toward anyone who shows disrespect to those who are serving now and those who have served in the past. As a Christian, maybe I shouldn't, but I do. For those, I really wish they had the experience of living in a country without the freedoms and safety that we enjoy here. I doubt that it would take very long for them to gain some understanding and appreciation for what so many brave men and women actually did to keep this country safe and free. I must add that many other countries also owe them a debt of appreciation and respect.

I don't want to start a debate, but I feel that I must say something about Vietnam. Through no fault of their own, our Vietnam Veterans were not shown appreciation and respect, rather the opposite. As far as I'm concerned, this must never happen again. The fault in the Vietnam war rested on the backs of our leaders and the American people. Many were led astray by liberal whiners and complainers, and it resulted in a loss of backbone for our country to properly support our military and fight to win. That loss of backbone and failing to finish what needed to be done resulted in:

1 - The loss of over 3 million innocent people who were counting on us to finish what was begun.

2 - Disrespect for an entire generation of courageous American men and women who served their country and the world.

So, I'm also thinking right now:

Brother, I join you in your sentiments. As you know I also served in Viet Nam and knew many that lost their lives or were severly injured there. Many of them I cannot remember by name but I will never forget what they did nor how we all were treated when we got home. I too thank them for their service and for tolerating the indignities that they had to go through afterwards.

To me they are true heroes indeed.

 

You are 100% right I agree with you and our Vietnam Vets deserve a SALUTE!
Thank you Vietnam Vets.