Rejoice in America's Birthday, and consider the thoughts below, so very appropriate to this day.Bud Link"Happy, thrice happy shall they be pronounced hereafter, who have contributed any thing, who have performed the meanest office in erecting this stupendous fabrick of Freedom and Empire on the broad basis of Independency; who have assisted in protecting the rights of humane nature and establishing an Asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and religions."~~ George Washington, General Orders, April 18, 1783"Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment."~~ George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796"Our own Country's Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions — The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth."~~ George Washington, General Orders, July 2, 1776
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The mission of Let's Say Thanks is to provide a way for individuals across the country to recognize U.S. troops stationed overseas. By submitting a message through this site you have the opportunity to send a free personalized postcard greeting to deployed servicemen and women.The postcards, depicting patriotic scenes and hometown images, were selected from a pool of entries from children across the country.All you have to do is click on your favorite design and either select the message that best expresses your sentiment or draft a personal note. The postcards are then printed on the Xerox iGen3® Digital Production Press and mailed in care packages by military support organization Give2TheTroops®.Each of us have so much to be Thankful for due to the effort of our Fine Young Men and Women of the U. S. Armed Services. The least we can to is say Thank You for what you do.Please check out this Web Site and use it often.http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.htmlHooYah U. S. Armed Services.
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I can't decide who enjoys the mail more, Karen or Liz and I. Since her mail goes out on Sunday, Wednesdays seem to be incoming mail day, although we got a late one today. Karen says she is VERY busy, but doing VERY well.Here's a sampling from her latest letters:- She loves getting mail! She loves getting mail! She loves getting mail!- She gets mail Monday through Friday, but can only send letters out on Sunday.- She has a very limited amount of free time during which to write, catch up on sleep, or socialize, and she can't send out all the letters she would like to. (I've read where they get busier the last couple of weeks of BC, and the letters become fewer. We'll see...)- She wants everyone to know how grateful she is for their support!- She's passing all of her fitness tests, will get to carry a flag during her graduation, and she is her Division's PFC, whatever that means. (I'm trying to find out, but to no avail so far.)- She says the food is terrific - a variety of menu items and it's all good.- She had her first inspection and was one of two or three women who passed the inspection without losing any points. The inspection consisted of standing at attention for two hours while getting quizzed on a variety of topics, having all of her things and her bunk inspected, etc.- She said it's getting easier to handle BC every day. This week is the beginning of weapons training - the computer simulated weapons. (Check out "New Navy Boot Camp Video 2".)- She said her Division is starting to really perform like a team, and that makes everything better.- She got her dress whites uniform issued, and it's being tailored. (I'll bet she thought that was cool!)- She's made a few good friends among the girls in her Division. They're from various parts of the US.When I find out what the Division PFC is, I'll post the answer!
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I'm a little behind on the blog. I worked a lot of hours last week, and then Joy and I went on a weekend mission trip to Indiana. So here's the latest news on Karen:We received two letters from Karen last week, and today she got to call home for about 20 minutes. She was able to talk to Liz on her cell phone, but I was driving home from Braidwood and was in a cell phone dead spot. She said she's doing great in her physical fitness and gets to carry a flag in the front of the group as they march. She said she'll get to carry it during her PIR also, which should make her a lot easier to pick out amongst all the other sailors. She said she's only gotten singled out for a yelling once - for having a piece of pineapple on her fork! She tried to explain the "why" of that to Liz today on the phone, but I'm still not sure I understand it. In any case, she seems to be adapting well to her BC environment and is liking it more every day. She said she's just REALLY busy, hustling all day long from morning until bed time. She may only get one more lengthy call, so I've got to keep that cell phone close by!She said she loves getting mail, so write often. If you don't already have it, here's her address.SR EVETT, KAREN, ASHIP 13, DIVISION 267RECRUIT TRAINING COMMAND3420 SAILOR DRIVEGREAT LAKES, IL 60088-3520(The "SR" stands for "Sailor Recruit", because she's not really a Sailor until she passes her Battle Stations test in her 7th or 8th week of BC. It's the BIG deal of BC, because that's when they really become official Navy sailors.)She can receive photos with your letters, too, as long as they fit into a regular envelope. One of the other Navy dads here suggested not writing silly stuff on the envelopes, though, since their leaders get to see the envelopes and it's better not to potentially embarrass them.
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