Honoring our Veterans, not just on Veterans' Day...

[DarkSkies]

(I found out Tom was in the service and thanked him for his service to our country. He looked at me and said: "Hey you don't have to thank me, it was no big deal. I did what I had to do. I consider myself one of the lucky ones. A lot of guys in my outfit didn't come back alive.") Wow. :thumbsup::thumbsup:


"I was in the 82nd Airborne, and saw action in the war. A lot of my friends didn't make it back.
I came back, went to work, got married in 1948. We got divorced, and I met the love of my life in 1962, her name was Elizabeth. She was my best friend, and I still miss her. She died 20 years ago, on 5/28/90.



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All my friends fishing and otherwise died off over the years. I buried my last fishing buddy last year. It is very sad getting older and outliving your friends.

But, I made new friends. I joined the NYSF club and have a whole bunch of new friends now. I mostly still fish for cod and bottom fish, but I have been out on striped bass trips too.

I fish with Capt Bob Rochetta, one of the best striper captains on the East Coast. I have a great time with these new friends.

I take each day as it comes."

9922

[DarkSkies]

Veterans' Day is special, not only for NJ but Nation-Wide....

It's one of the few days during the year we get to honor those who have made sacrifices to keep our country safe....and many of those who have given their lives as sacrifice....

Nonetheless, we choose Veterans Day to Honor those still living, who have come back from various wars...we owe these guys a lot....gov't subsidies just don't cut it sometimes.....


So, if you can, please think about additional ways you might be able to help these folks, and please do what you can, from a contribution to getting personally involved....

Thanks for reading, folks....

Sent in by Finchaser....


http://menendez.enews.senate.gov//images/user_images/Vets%20Video%20Capture_edited-1.jpg (http://menendez.enews.senate.gov/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=2100080157.62993.14&gen=1&mailing_linkid=4320)
Dear Friend,
This Veterans Day, it is time to recommit ourselves to helping every military family across the Garden State.
We need to help businesses help veterans and their spouses build careers, make sure that our schools are doing all they can to help military kids, and all of us need to do what we can to help military families in our local communities.
But truly honoring our veterans means providing jobs. It means job training, and giving every job opportunity possible to unemployed veterans.
In New Jersey we have 453,498 veterans -- 12 percent of them are unemployed. That's why I am proud to be a co-sponsor of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act that gives businesses a tax credit for hiring returning veterans, and more of a tax credit if they hire a wounded veteran.
As our troops begin coming home from Iraq, our duty to them is not just remembering their service, not just saying thank you on Veterans Day, it's delivering on the promise of a grateful nation every day.
New Jersey's hero-sons-and-daughters did not wait to sign up to serve this country, and they should not have to wait to get the benefits they have earned defending it. And they should not have to come home only to stand on the unemployment line after putting themselves on the line serving this nation.
That's why the Veterans jobs bill encourages employers to hire veterans, ensures that disabled veterans who have exhausted their unemployment benefits get the training and rehabilitation they need, the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment benefits they need and job assistance tailored to today's job market.
The bill provides a competitive grant program for nonprofits that provide mentoring and training programs for vets. It allows employers to be paid for providing on-the-job training to veterans and it would provide Work Opportunity Tax Credits for businesses that hire veterans -- and more for businesses that hire disabled vets.
We made a promise to veterans, and it's a promise we must keep.
Happy Veterans Day to all.
May God bless our troops. And may God bless America.
Sincerely,

http://menendez.enews.senate.gov//images/user_images/SignatureRobertMenendez.jpg


Please do not reply to this e-mail as this address is not monitored. To contact my office, please use the contact form found on my website at http://menendez.senate.gov/contact (http://menendez.enews.senate.gov/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=2100080157.62993.14&gen=1&mailing_linkid=4321).

[DarkSkies]

Pebbles and I took my Mom out to breakfast last week.
We ran into a Veterans Group from Lyons Hospital...


great group of guys, my Mom and I had a chance to hear some of their stories.....
Made me proud to be an American, and know some of the things these guys did to protect our country....:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

I'm trying to coordinate a meeting with their Recreation Director, and see if I can't get some of the guys living at Lyons out for some surf fishin...:fishing:

I'll be posting specific theads about that as the opportunities develop....

I will also be encouraging folks to copy my words here, and post on other sites about helping these folks if they can.

As some of them were battle-injured, they can't be expected to do the walking in the surf that I do on an average trip.

I'll be posting on other sites in the "Take a Soldier Fishing" threads that this is a group of NJ Vets who would love a day on the water, if possible.

Just to get a few of these guys out for some hours of fishing, would be a God-send in their lives as they struggle to get adjusted back to civilian life....

So stay tuned to more posts, and anyone who is in a position to helpn these guys, please do...

We also have a "Take a Soldier Fishing" thread here. The program is run by Mike Nashif, the original founder of the "Take a Soldier Fishing" concept.
http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?1628-Take-a-Soldier-Fishing&highlight=soldier+fishing

I'm registered on that site as well....

[nitestrikes]

Thanks to all the veterans out there.

[captnemo]

Yes and thank them for all the service.

[DarkSkies]

What Veterans have fought for, a simple School Lesson...


I thought this was pretty moving, maybe some of ya's will agree......






I like this teacher.

A lesson that should be taught in all schools. . And colleges....

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

'No,' she said.

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren’s classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

By the way, this is a true story.
Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by Veterans

[DarkSkies]

Some of the old timers....

David Siegel, he's 80, saw combat in the Korean war.....
Even though he's 80, his friends at the table were busting balls big time....lots of good fishing stories.....
Thanks for your service to our country, David. :clapping: :thumbsup:


16379

My Dad was a Korean war vet as well.

[DarkSkies]

In addition to the plugs, reels, rods, jigs, sinkers, etc, there was sitemember Tropics....who I understand has stopped making sinkers, and is now selling hand tied rigs from $1.25 to $2.....nice to run into you Richie, and your lovely wife Aurea.......:HappyWave:




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^ Pic of a decent cod Richie got on a MA trip.

16406





** Richie is also a Vietnam Vet....thanks for your service to our country, Richie.....:clapping: :thumbsup: :HappyWave:

[cowherder]

That is beautiful dark. Thank you to all.:clapping:

[clamchucker]

Thanks and good job.

[storminsteve]

What Veterans have fought for, a simple School Lesson...


I thought this was pretty moving, maybe some of ya's will agree......






I like this teacher.



Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'



:clapping::clapping::clapping::clapping: Thank you!