To our vets....

[GeauxLSU]

I'm in the fortunate position of working with an unusually high number of veterans. Many have become true friends. Most of them do not wear it on their sleeve and you would never know unless you asked. Unfortunately, we have an extremely high percentage in our veteran population that are also combat vets, with all that entails. But combat or not, you signed on the line and took the oath. I'm always amazed as I find out stories from others about some of my coworkers and I'm truly humbled and appreciative. Just the latest example was this gentleman yesterday. He came to my workplace for a pre-dawn PT session with a group I'm training with. The below link doesn't begin to tell what he's been through both in combat and previously in training. I shook his hand and told him I appreciated him and you could just tell despite being incredibly humble, he was just cut from different cloth.
God bless the American vet. During service, after, and always.

Navy Cross presented to MARSOC Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman

Heroism; bravery; valor: these are qualities which are defined and made familiar to Marines and Sailors alike upon entering the service.

allhands.navy.mil

 

[Torn]

BRAVO ZULU!

 

[fattboyzz]

 

[testdepth]

One of the reasons I liked going to visit my father at Magnolia Manor assisted living facility here in St Marys GA was that I was able to talk to and hear stories from the Vets of wars. that lived there. They are a living history book.
My father was an Electrician in the Sea Bees and then was picked up for nuclear power school in Alaska. He also did a year in Operation Deep Freeze McMurdo Station Antartica 1963 to 1964.

Mr. Woodrow Wilson "Woody" was 96yrs old. Mr. Woody at the age of 16 was the school bus driver for the little town in Georgia he was from. He stormed the beaches of Normandy with his brother. He said his brother went into the beach first and the only thing that scared him was after jumping into the ocean he might step over the dead body of his brother. Both made it back home. He was a ladies man at the Manor and would often sit in the middle seat of a 3 seat couch located at the entrance. When I asked him why he sat in the middle he said 'So I can get a girl under each arm". He passed at 97 and I miss that old guy.

Mr. William Berger "Wild Bill as I called him" was a pilot in Vietnam. He flew the Cesna Bird Dog as a spotter plane flying at tree top and canyon level taking small arms fire locating the enemy. He received the bronze star for valor after he landed his Cesna to save some special forces guys. He flew B52s as well and told me another story about Queen Elizabeth buying his crew a beer at a pub they visited while laying over for a flight. Mr. Berger continued his adventures into his 80's after coming to the Manor to live. A female resident and himself fell in love and were married at Magnolia Manor.

 

[patches]

One of the reasons I liked going to visit my father at Magnolia Manor assisted living facility here in St Marys GA was that I was able to talk to and hear stories from the Vets of wars. that lived there. They are a living history book.
My father was an Electrician in the Sea Bees and then was picked up for nuclear power school in Alaska. He also did a year in Operation Deep Freeze McMurdo Station Antartica 1963 to 1964.

Mr. Woodrow Wilson "Woody" was 96yrs old. Mr. Woody at the age of 16 was the school bus driver for the little town in Georgia he was from. He stormed the beaches of Normandy with his brother. He said his brother went into the beach first and the only thing that scared him was after jumping into the ocean he might step over the dead body of his brother. Both made it back home. He was a ladies man at the Manor and would often sit in the middle seat of a 3 seat couch located at the entrance. When I asked him why he sat in the middle he said 'So I can get a girl under each arm". He passed at 97 and I miss that old guy.

Mr. William Berger "Wild Bill as I called him" was a pilot in Vietnam. He flew the Cesna Bird Dog as a spotter plane flying at tree top and canyon level taking small arms fire locating the enemy. He received the bronze star for valor after he landed his Cesna to save some special forces guys. He flew B52s as well and told me another story about Queen Elizabeth buying his crew a beer at a pub they visited while laying over for a flight. Mr. Berger continued his adventures into his 80's after coming to the Manor to live. A female resident and himself fell in love and were married at Magnolia Manor.

Thank you for sharing the story of your dad and Wild Bill. They will live on through our memories. Makes me want to be a better American.