Author Topic: Veterans Day  (Read 782 times)

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Offline ocala

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Veterans Day
« on: November 11, 2018, 08:24:00 AM »
To all of you who have served, a big thank you!
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The blues had a baby and they named it Rock & Roll

Offline rdsman

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Re: Veterans Day
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2018, 11:18:41 AM »
A year ago today, Veterans were allowed to began shopping online in the Exchange system.  You get free shipping for purchases over $49 and no Sales Tax.  How many of you
were aware of this and have at least checked it out?

Ray

Offline vreihen

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Re: Veterans Day
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2018, 11:27:43 AM »
Today is also the 100th anniversary of the end of WW-I, and yesterday was National Donut Day.

For those who don't know the great story behind the holiday, I learned about it when appearing at a Federal Trade Commission panel about 10 years ago.  A gentleman named Orson Swindle was FTC Commissioner at the time, and his staff organized a huge National Donut Day celebration on November 10th for everyone at the event.  Here's the story behind the holiday:

https://blog.usni.org/posts/2009/11/10/today-is-national-donut-day-a-funny-pow-story

The Marine Corps' Birthday.....and National Donut Day - VetLikeMe

Quote
November 10, 2004   (by Angie Williams)

“…my husband, Orson, was a Prisoner of War in Hanoi for 6 years and 4 months.  Ironically his shoot down date is Veteran’s Day, November 11, 1966.  So this is a big week for him.

As we all know, being a prisoner is a tough experience, but the POW’s also have some funny stories to share, and the following is one of them….

In September 1969, after Orson had been a prisoner three very hard years (the early years were by far the worst), Ho Chi Minh died. Orson was at Son Tay with about 55 other men. One day in October he was called in for an interrogation… which he said was more of an “English lesson” for the interrogator as opposed to one of the beatings they received when Ho chi Minh was calling the shots.  The interrogator began by bragging about his country and its 4,000 year history and belittling the USA… saying, “Your country is very young, it doesn’t even have very many heroes or holidays.”  Knowing that the Marine Corps birthday was coming up on November the 10, Orson began to spin a story…….

He pretended to take umbrage, saying… “No, no, no…. you are quite wrong… we have many holidays in our country, as a matter of fact, one is coming up very soon.  There will be festivals and children will dress up in costumes and it’s very important to us.”  The interrogator became interested so Orson proceeded that it was called, “National Donut Day”….donut

Before you can really appreciate this you need a bit of background. Before Ho Chi Minh’s death, the prisoners were practically starved to death. They were eating nothing but rice and swamp grass soup (as they call it) and sometimes pumpkin soup. Orson says they estimated that he went down to a little as 120 pounds… and now he weighs at least 225. At shoot down he was something like 175 and 6’2″. So this is unbelievably thin. The men were hungry all the time.  Very hungry.  About twice a year they would get what they considered an incredible treat… it was nothing more than old French bread.. that had become hard and moldy, but the cooks would deep fry it and roll it in sugar and the prisoners called the result “sticky buns” and to them it was mana from heaven….

So when explaining National Donut Day, Orson told his interrogator that, “Donuts are a lot like your sticky buns; they are sweet bread, and on National Donut Day everyone has one or more of them.”  Not sure what the outcome might be, Orson was sent back to his cell, where he immediately started tapping through the wall to all the other POWs saying, “Hey guys, you gotta back me up.  I just invented a new holiday and if they find out I was pulling their leg, there will be hell to pay.  Tell all the guards that National Donut Day is on November 10!   Don’t let me down!  Pass it on!”  A few weeks went by, and to everyone’s great surprise, on November 10, the prisoners at Son Tay prison, well known for being one of the worst, and also for the failed rescue attempt, were served sticky buns!  Orson was the hero of the day!

Orson had forgotten all about this story, and I had never heard it, but in March, 2003, a fellow POW, Bob Stirm, an Air Force Col, was interviewed in a San Francisco paper (article is copied below), and in it he described the origin of  “National Donut Day”.   I only accidentally came across the story and asked Orson to tell me more, which is what you just read.

So, please come by for a donut and help me celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday and Veteran’s Day.”

November 15, 2004


Happy ‘Donut Day’

As a retired Marine colonel heard it from a retired Air Force officer who had been a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, Marine Capt. Orson Swindle “was the toughest Marine” he’d ever met. The Vietnamese guards would torture and beat Swindle, who constantly complained to the jailers about the bad food, vermin and insect-infested cells.

But one day before reporting to a prison officer for his monthly“attitude check,” Swindle told his fellow POWs through code — tapping on the walls — that he was planning a party for the Marine Corps birthday, on Nov. 10, 1969.

The other prisoners thought Swindle had lost his mind.

But no. There was method to this madness. And when he was ordered to his monthly “attitude check” with a prison official, he owned up to why he was so down on everything.

“I miss National Donut Day,” he said. “It’s a big holiday in the States, and I’m getting tired of missing it.”

The prison official wanted to know more. What is a donut?

Swindle told him, but the closest thing the official could think of was dough boiled in pig’s fat, sprinkled with sugar: a kind of sticky bun. The official asked Swindle the date of National Donut Day. Swindle’s answer: Nov. 10.

Back in his cell, he tapped out the news to his fellow inmates. They would be celebrating the Marine Corps’ birthday. Again, the other POWs could only shake their heads.

But sure enough, on Nov. 10 the Vietnamese guards handed out sticky buns to all.

Today, talking on the phone from his Washington office, retired Marine lieutenant colonel and Federal Trade Commissioner Swindle laughs as the story —in its latest incarnation — is told to him.

The story is “a bit of an exaggeration,” he said.

But much of it is true.

Swindle had been shot down while flying his last scheduled mission on Nov. 11, 1966. He ended up at Son Tay, a POW camp near Hanoi where prisoners were subject to brutality and punishments. But in September 1969, with the death of North Vietnam President Ho Chi Minh, he noticed a change in the way guards handled prisoners.

But they did have monthly “quizzes,” he said, when a prisoner would be brought in to meet with a prison official or interpreter for a question-and-answer session. Swindle thinks it was the way officials used to learn and practice their English.

“A couple of weeks before the Marine Corps birthday in 1969, I was called in to one of these English-language quizzes,” he said. The official decided to lecture Swindle that day on Vietnam’s 4,000-year history, culture, traditions and holidays.

“He made some disparaging remarks about us having no history … no national celebrations,” Swindle said.

The official then challenged Swindle to name one national American celebration and a new “holiday” was born.

Swindle tapped out a message to the other prisoners: “If any of them asks you about National Donut Day, here’s the story …”

“A couple of weeks later, on Nov. 10, they came around and gave us ‘sticky buns,’” he said. “I guess I conned the Vietnamese into helping us celebrate the Marine Corps’ birthday.”

Happy Donut Day, devil dogs!
WU Gold Stars for everyone! :lol:

Offline SnowHiker

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Re: Veterans Day
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2018, 01:53:36 PM »
A year ago today, Veterans were allowed to began shopping online in the Exchange system.  You get free shipping for purchases over $49 and no Sales Tax.  How many of you
were aware of this and have at least checked it out?
I wasn't aware, thanks! 

But I have just started getting emails from the "Veterans Canteen Service".  I clicked on to shop online and it said the website wasn't up and running yet, but gave me an option to call or fill out a form to order tires for 10% off for Veteran's Day (I didn't as I don't need new tires right now). Also said something about a free meal or something if I go to a canteen, but I don't know of any without a couple hundred miles or so.

Thanks for the heads up!  I'll have to check it out.  I assume the "Canteen Service" is somehow related?  I never thought about buying tires at a "canteen", but I'll definitely check out the Exchange.

Offline rdsman

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Re: Veterans Day
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2018, 02:44:37 PM »
Veterans Canteen Service (VCS) is for veterans enrolled in the VA healthcare system.  PX/BX shopping is for all Honorably Discharged veterans.

Here are the links:

https://www.shopmyexchange.com/

https://www.mynavyexchange.com/

Veterans can sign up for either or both.  I signed up last year and got instant approval - even though I had been out for 37 years.  Although everything isn't a deal, you can run into some significant savings from time to time.  Beginning in 2020, veterans can shop in person at the exchanges and commissary. 

Ray

Offline SnowHiker

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Re: Veterans Day
« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2018, 03:37:09 PM »
Thanks again Ray!

I just signed up for both exchanges and also got immediate verification and approval.

Offline SnowHiker

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Re: Veterans Day
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2018, 04:47:37 PM »
To all of you who have served, a big thank you!
 =D> UU
Also thanks to those on active duty who are serving now, including those who are serving at home in law enforcement and such!

Offline Bunty

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Re: Veterans Day
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2018, 10:46:34 PM »
How the Veteran's Memorial looks like in my home town.  A closer look and description of it here:  https://www.legion.org/memorials/236743/payne-county-veterans-memorial-freedoms-flame

« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 01:31:49 AM by Bunty »

Also the 2nd home page using modified AltDashboard 6.95 at http://stillwaterweather.com/2ndhome.php

Offline Glenn

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Re: Veterans Day
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2018, 07:48:10 AM »
Thanks to all that have served!
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