Veterans Day

[E40FDNYL35]

Today is Veterans Day.

I would like to THANK ALL of our Veterans. I know what you do for us everyday. It does not go unnoticed here in New York.

[FlyingKiwi]

Seconded.

Kia Kaha to the Vets.

Without you, we would live in a very different world.

[Dickey]

DITTO


Keep your head down and your powder dry.
_____________________
Lt.Jason Knecht
Altoona Fire Rescue
Altoona, WI

[E229Lt]

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

[FiremedicMike]

As some utilize their right to free speech to protest what they feel is an unjust war, nearly 400 men and women have given their life to try and bring peace and the luxuries that we take for granted to an area that has never had them.

God bless our heros overseas.

[ffexpCP]

Thanks to all who have served...

[DaSharkie]

This will remind us all of what our men and women are giving up while they serve us across the globe.

http://www.gcsdistributing.com/WeSupportU.htm

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE.... THANKS TO ALL OUR VETERANS AND ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY PERSONNEL.

[E40FDNYL35]

Seventh-grader Robert Forsyth had Veterans Day off from school, and he spent the late morning writing a letter:
Dear Mrs. Sweeney,

On Nov. 8, 2003, I attended your husband's funeral with my father and other New York City firemen. That day, I felt so proud to be part of a true American hero's life. That day impressed me so much that someday I would like to be part of the Army's Green Berets to protect the innocent people of the world and fight against terrorism. Then later on in my life I would like to be a New York City fireman to protect New York City.

Thank you for letting me be a part of Staff Sgt. Paul Sweeney's life.

Robert Forsyth
Age 12

Robert is the son of Warren Forsyth, one of a dozen New York City firefighters who traveled to Pennsylvania on Saturday to bid farewell to 32-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Paul Sweeney of Alpha Company, 3rd Special Forces Group. The firefighters had come to consider Sweeney one of their own.

Last summer, Sweeney arrived in New York with an American flag the Green Berets carried from Afghanistan to Iraq. Sweeney originally had been given the flag by his father-in-law's cousin, Fire Department communications electrician Thomas O'Neill.

On Aug. 9, Staff Sgt. Sweeney and Sgt. 1st Class Blake Horst presented the flag to the firehouse near O'Neill's Staten Island home, Engine 167/Ladder 87. Sweeney brought his wife, Kristen, and their sons, 3-year-old Sean and 2-year-old Ryan. The two boys seemed to be the focus of Sweeney's life.

"Holding his kids, hugging them, kissing them the whole time he was here," O'Neill would recall.

The firefighters gave the boys a ride on a fire truck. Sweeney donned bunker gear over his Army uniform. He and Horst slid down the fire pole.

"The two biggest kids out of everybody," Firefighter Craig Chille would say.

At one point, O'Neill had a quiet word with Sweeney.

"I said, 'What happens if you get shot over there?'" O'Neill recalled. "He said, 'I'm doing this for my country. I'm doing this for my family. I'm doing this for my kids, so they don't have to do this. I want them to grow up to be doctors and lawyers.'"

O'Neill has a collection of memorial pins from Sept. 11, 2001, and he offered Sweeney his pick. Sweeney chose the Maltese Cross with 343 in the center, this the number of Fire Department personnel killed at the World Trade Center.

Sweeney returned to war an honorary firefighter. The 343 pin was affixed to his uniform on Oct. 30, when his unit was ambushed in Afghanistan.

When O'Neill appeared at the firehouse with word Sweeney had been killed, the firefighters reacted as if the pin should now bear the number 344. They all attended too many funerals after Sept. 11, but Sweeney was a true brother.

Firefighter Warren Forsyth brought his son to one more funeral. Robert Forsyth was with the firefighters who filed into St. Thomas More and St. Mary's Church in Lake Ariel, Pa.

The boy sat beside his father with an FDNY sweatshirt under his blue overcoat. He studied a holy card such as those for the Sept. 11 dead that the firefighters gave Sweeney. This card reported Sweeney died Oct. 30.

"Dad, that's my birthday," Robert said.

Two Green Berets escorted Sweeney's body home, and dozens more made the 600-mile drive from Fort Bragg, N.C. A captain spoke to the mourners of the passion that guides a true defender of freedom.

"All you have to do is see a picture of him with his family to see an illustration of love," Capt. Jack McClain said.

At the graveside, Robert donned an FDNY cap and stood with the firefighters facing the family. The wind was icy-cold, but Robert insisted on maintaining a barehanded salute as the Green Berets slowly folded the flag they had raised from the coffin.

"You don't have to do it," his dad told him.

"Dad, I want to," Robert said.

Yesterday, the firefighters were back in New York, hoping to drum up for the Sweeney family generosity such as was shown the rescue workers after Sept. 11. Their ultimate hope is for the Sweeney boys to become doctors or lawyers or whatever else they might want to be.

Meanwhile, a 12-year-old from Staten Island spent Veterans Day writing to Mrs. Sweeney that he wants to become a Green Beret like her husband before he becomes a firefighter like his dad.

[distchief60b]

E229LT...Very well said my friend.... God Bless them all....

Ray....Thanks for sharing that wonderful story with us. Sad that we have to read those words, but a very nice tribute to a brother of wearing a different type of uniform into battle. It truly brought tears to my eyes.

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Ray, that was awesome, thanks for sharing that with us.

Dasharkie, thanks for the link, very powerful.

[E40FDNYL35]

DaSharkie that is a very moving tribute to our Troops. THANK YOU !!!