WWI seems to have become a theme this week at doubleplusundead, and that's not a bad thing, its a war that is all too often forgotten about in America, so we continue with it.  Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day, to mark the end of WWI, but was expanded to remember all veterans of foreign wars later on by Eisenhower.  It seems appropriate to also remember those who November 11th was originally set aside for,



You may have seen this statue or a similar version of it, it became a popular design for WWI memorial statues, and many copies were made of it.  Its called The Spirit of the American Doughboy, doughboy of course later replaced by G.I. as the slang term for servicemen.

So now that we've done our quickie history lesson and remembered the origins of Veterans Day, let us remember all the others who have served their nation, and most importantly, those who are serving now, in particular those who are in combat as I write this, God bless you guys, you are the best of the best.



Today, and particularly on Veterans Day, we salute you!

Hmmm...needs something extra, Oh!  I know!  Great pictures!

For our Navy,



Sure, the SEALs are awesome, and nuclear subs and aircraft carriers are pretty damn cool, but there anything more better than a battleship firing those off those main guns?  This is a pic the USS Iowa, a bigger pic, you ask?  Sure, right here.  And to think, those fools in San Francisco actually gave up the opportunity to have this great ship docked and turned into a museum there.  Wish we could have it, but in North Central PA, it ain't happening, Susquehanna's too shallow in spots for small riverboats!

For our Army,



Because what Army guy doesn't love a huge fucking tank?  They rule, and the Abrams easily is the most badass tank in existence.  I also love the shiteating grin on Saddam's face in that pic as our guys roll past.

For the Marines,



Sometimes, you just have to go with the classics, I doubt there's a retired Marine anywhere that doesn't get that tingle when they see this pic.  Gives me that feeling, anyway, and I haven't served.  There's so little to say, the picture is the perfect representation of what the Marines are.

For the Air Force,



I coulda gone with a fighter, and I'm sure some Air Force guys would prefer that, but this is just badass.  Its a time-exposed picture of either an AC-130 or an AC-47 gunship laying down what is called "The Cone of Fire", where the plane circles in the air, laying down massive amounts of fire from 20mm gatling guns, and sometimes a bigger 105 mm cannon. Those streaks you see?  Tracer rounds, four normal rounds from the gunships cannons preceded each one of those.  Not something you want to be on the receiving end of.  I'm sure a few jihadis have learned that the hard way lately.

For the Coast Guard,



You guys make some of the craziest rescues.  This is a Coast Guard crew practicing rescues in Alaska.  Anybody else would say forget it, and assume the crew of a ship was a loss.  Not you guys.  Beyond that, the Coast Guard has taken on more importance now that we have to watch our ports for attempts at terrorist attack. 

So that's my extra tribute to our Armed Forces.  Again, God Bless you guys, my prayers are with you, particularly anyone in theater or heading to theater, those who are out do to injury or the recently retired, thank God we have you, and God Bless America.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 02:02 PM | Comments (35) | Add Comment
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