Bootneck

Lord God, Almighty Father,
creator of mankind and author of peace,
as we are ever mindful of the cost paid for the liberty we possess,
we ask you to bless the members of our armed forces.
Give them courage, hope and strength.
May they ever experience your firm support, gentle love and compassionate healing.
Be their power and protector, leading them from darkness to light.
To you be all glory, honor and praise, now and forever.

Amen.

Fair winds and following seas to all of our soldiers and NATO allies.

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"
It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win."
John Paul Jones

"My Country, May She always be right, but My Country, right or wrong."
Steven Decatur

I'll say what i said to him when he left.

Keep your head down and let the french volunteer.

See you when you are back.

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Non alligned Poster Society to fight the power of the political machines
Most dishonest and opaque Congress in US history.

The Royal Marines are one of the cutting edge groups within the British Army, they have very tough requirements to join them, only joining the Para is harder.

Their's is not to question why.

Their's is just to do or die.

best of British squaddie.

I'm going with the SAS as the hardest bunch to join followed closely by the SBS and then the Para's. All tough outfits to be pulling your load in though.......

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"
It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win."
John Paul Jones

"My Country, May She always be right, but My Country, right or wrong."
Steven Decatur

Oh shit, Zeebub! Bootneck is really going to be pissed with you! Never ever refer to a Royal Marine as a member of the Army. They are Royal Navy. You'll have him blathering on about Pongoes now!

You also raise another issue guaranteed to get his blood up...the Paras! Actually, as an ex-Para myself, I have to begrudgingly admit that gaining entry into the RMs is slightly more difficult than getting into the Paras. Our PARA CIC and P Coy training, which has to be passed before becoming a Para, was 28 weeks. RMs have to go through another month of torture as their course is 32 weeks!

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be thankful that we can sleep peacefully at night whilst men and women we may never know stand ready to give their lives without question
for us and our loved ones knowing they may never see their loved ones again. These are my heroes.

God Bless all who serve. Without them we would not be free!

you cannot enter either the SAS or SBS if you are not serving in the regular army.

I used to love a nice yomp up Pen-y-Fan when younger.

Ps the guys that scared me and most people were the Ghurka's, 3 together blades drawn

yes but that 4 weeks is learning the sailors hornpipe

Erm, SBS is Royal Navy, not regular Army:

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be thankful that we can sleep peacefully at night whilst men and women we may never know stand ready to give their lives without question
for us and our loved ones knowing they may never see their loved ones again. These are my heroes.

From what little I know of Boot. I know he would appreciate this, I know that I appreciate the service and sacrifices of all who fight for freedom.


May peace and protection be his shadow now and always

I am not sure who said this but

"Those who have not known war will never understand the true definition of peace" ~unknown~

My sincere Prayers for your safe return Bootneck

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Tu es un nouveau conard.

sorry my bad, its about 42yrs since I served, I have spent those yrs trying not to think about that period.

Godspeed Bootneck...you are not forgotten

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"
It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win."
John Paul Jones

"My Country, May She always be right, but My Country, right or wrong."
Steven Decatur

Gee, I wish someone had told me that repping Bootneck was NOT going to keep him safe. Boy, do I feel a fool now. I though rep points provided an invisible sheild against incoming rounds.

EZ and Colin are, I think, already aware of my thoughts towards Boot, I have no need to express them to the board.

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Government is not reason, it is not eloquence — it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. George Washington

Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth. George Washington

I don't think that that by repping boot or gving one another encouragement that anyone was under the illusion that it would keep him safe. If they were, no matter how well meaning , they were sadly mistaken. Now, by offering a rep. as a way to remember his service and one another for doing so is in my opinion is in a small way showing your support for someone that is deployed and in harms way. It doesn't matter if you know the man or not and can tell you that Boot was one of the first people I met on here and consider him to be an honorable and decent young man and even if I did not know the man, to show your support for these young people is not something to ever be ashmed of. Now while I agree it did get a little out of hand in terms of passing around the rep. and I admit to doing that just as much as anyone else. Repping Boot is just another way of remembering that sacrifice he is making. Gunny's point is well taken and of course rep. points are not a shield for incoming rounds nor are they more rounds in a magazine. Anyone who takes the time to remember these young men and women and I say young because, when you start to see the Ships and Aircraft that you served on mostly in museums you can assume most of those now are young lol, anyone who does take the time however should continue to do so because I know in whatever way you are taking the time to do so if you know them or not, in the end it is appreciated.


God Speed Boot and Come home Soon.......

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God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.
Chester W. Nimitz