Thank you Kyle, and the same to you. My family, friends, neighbors, our nation, and myself are very proud, thankful, and grateful to you.
True story: I ETS'd from the Army a few days before Thanksgiving 1985. Flew into Ft. Dix from Mannheim, Germany, out processed, flew into Chicago, caught a bus home to Indiana. My family knew that I was coming home, but not exactly when because I wanted to surprise them. It was very cold and we had a lot of snow, early...just a few days before Thanksgiving. I get to town, bus lets me off at the Holidy Inn, and I start calling Mom and step-dad, no answer. Brother, sisters, no one answers. I intended to surprise them, but they all surprised me and no one was home about 8:00 at night, so I picked up my duffle back and started hoofing it in the snow down the main drag into town from the interstate, wearing my dress greens and jump boots for the last time ever.
I pass a restaurant/bar called Gubi's that wasn't there when I left home, but was there now so I set my duffle bag down in the snow outside the door on the side and went in. Now Ronald Reagan was our president, and he was telling Gorbachev to "...tear down the wall...", the iron curtain around then West Germany, and at the same time I had been reading in the Army Times about the anti-GI, anti-military stuff going on back home here in America while I'm overseas. So, its cold out, my family isn't home anywhere, my duffle bag is outside in the snow, and I walk into this place that I've never seen before to get warm, and I'm not sure whether I'm going to get my brains beat in because I'm in uniform.
I walk in and take off my cap and stand there at the door looking around. Its a nice looking place packed full of people eating and drinking, and now most of them are looking at me. Is one of them going to take a run at me? At the closet table was an elderly couple then, probably passed on by now. He looks at me, sets his flatwhere down, wipes his hands and gets up. His wife sat her flatwhere down and sat looking at me. He takes a few steps over to me, looks me in the eye, reaches out to shake my hand,, and thanks me, and then goes back to their table, sits down and picks up his flatware and starts eating. She gives me a wink, picks up her flatware and continues her dinner as well.
I looked around at all of the faces looking at me, some of them I had known in years past, and made my way to the bar, and the owner, Craig Gubi told one of the bartenderess' to get me a beer. He and I talked as I drank my beer, I told him what had happened, and asked if I could bring my duffle bag in, which he did and sat it behind the bar, and I asked if I could use the phone to try my family again, which he let me. I called home to my parents, and one of my sisters answered. Now my parents were home, and my brother and all of my sisters were over there.
"I'm home, I'm here in town" I told her. I heard her tell them, heard a cheer, they all faught over the phone asking me where I was, but I wouldn't tell them, but told them that I would be home soon. After I finished my beer, Craig had one of the bartenderess', Dawn, drive me and my duffle bag home.
That was the best Thanksgiving that I ever had. Till this very day, if and when I see one of our brave soldiers in uniform, I don't dare hesitate to walk over and reach out a hand to shake, and thank him, her, them just like that elderly gentleman did me. It made and makes a difference. You make the difference. God bless each and everyone of you, protect, watch over, and guide you.
Kyle...thank you so very much, and happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your fellow soldiers. God bless you from the bottom of my, our hearts.
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Today's Featured Article - Listening to Your Tractor - by Curtis Von Fange. Years ago there was a TV show about a talking car. Unless you are from another planet, physically or otherwise, I don’t think our internal combustion buddies will talk and tell us their problems. But, on the other hand, there is a secret language that our mechanical companions readily do speak. It is an interesting form of communication that involves all the senses of the listener. In this series we are going to investigate and learn the basic rudimentary skills of understanding this lingo.
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