Veterans Day 2009

[John_AZ]

[cgarr]

This has been here before but it needs to be said again and again!


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.'

[Rot 911]

Never seemed like a sacrifice to me. It was just the life I chose.

U.S. Army 1973-2000

[rcecale]

Originally Posted by Kurt V

Never seemed like a sacrifice to me. It was just the life I chose.

Well said, Kurt!

U.S. Marines 1980 - 2000

Randy

[Skytrooper]

+1 Kurt

Navy 1978-1982
Army 1988-present

[RNajarian]

I always say it is my generation's turn to pay the mortgage on our Nation's freedom.
It is a tremendous responsibility and an even greater honor.

Todays military stands on the shoulders of GIANTS, those men and women who preceeded us in uniform.

November 4, 1995 - present
Air Force

[Rikao4]

it was a privilege to serve...

or as Tina T would say..
'simply the best'

Rika

[BillyT]

To all that serve and the 24.9 million military veterans in the United States I will take this opportunity to say thank you

Bill

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Rikao4

it was a privilege to serve...

or as Tina T would say..
'simply the best'

Rika

Hard to improve on the above.

Joe A

US Army

[Rot 911]

"It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country ... in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for their country, for us. All we can do is remember." --Ronald Reagan

[mike55]

+1MM Thanks to all that have served and are currently serving. We've all heard stories, directly or through friends or family. Some here have lived them. We do owe allot to veterans, and not just on this one day......

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but for those that haven't stopped by, check out the Troops Calls thread above or visit the website and view the testimonials. We're trying to continue the good work we started in '07 and with the help of some Pelicans, we'll do just that. We need all the help we can get.

[Oh Haha]

Not much to add but a hearty thank you to all of our service personnel for giving us the freedom that we enjoy.

I was never brave enough to enlist but I admire those that have and those that will, especially my Pelican friends here at home and around the world.

THANK YOU and be safe!!!!!

[DanielDudley]

Thank you all.

And thank you for reminding me what this day is all about.

[MikeD930]

I want to say to the veterans and to all who are active in the military...THANK YOU.

There are too many unthankful civilians and politicians in this country that it's a shame.

[Vonzipper]

[cstreit]

Damn Right. Thank you.

[azasadny]

Originally Posted by Kurt V

Never seemed like a sacrifice to me. It was just the life I chose.

U.S. Army 1973-2000

Yep, same here. US Navy Corpsman '82-'91.