• Veteran's Day-What'sUP November 11 - 08:28 pm

I want to thank Mary Schmitt for sending in today's photos, taken by Jerome DeRoche at meeting night for the Lake Linden American Legion, Post 90.

But the real thanks, goes to our servicemen and women on this Veteran's Day, including the four generations of servicemen from the Schmitt family, pictured here in the top photo. From left to right they are, Kyle Bartell (great-grandson), Bernard I. Schmitt, Sr. (great-grandfather), Ron Schmitt (son of Bernard, Sr.), and Chad Schmitt (son of Ron). This family has quite a history of service to our country, which was supplied by Corey Aittama and goes as follows...

"Three served in the Army (Ron and Chad Schmitt, Ron Aittama), two in the Air Force (Bernard I Schmitt Sr., Corey A. Aittama), and two in the Marines (Bernard I. Schmitt Jr., Kyle Bartell), spanning 4 major wartime eras."

Looking at the second photo, in addition to the four already listed from the first shot, there are: Jack Koivisto, the 12th District Commander from Crystal Falls, Ron Aittama (Grandfather of Kyle) and 5th from the left, Jerry Heikkinen, Post 90 Commander. In case you're wondering why Kyle is in full dress Marine uniform, he recently graduated from Bootcamp and was home in the U.P. briefly, before heading out yesterday for duty at Camp Pendleton. Good luck Kyle and Semper Fi! What a perfectly fitting subject for this 2009 Veteran's Day, to help remind everyone that they should thank a Vet today.

Thanks to those who have served or are serving this county.

God bless our servicemen...

A Prayer for Our Veterans


Eternal and Loving God, we are so thankful for the men and women that You have raised up to serve our country with honor, dignity and commitment in the past and present, in war time and times of peace, in combat or on the home front.

We remember them today and ask You to bless them in the sacrifices they have made to give of themselves for the cause of freedom. We ask You to surround them and their families with your love and protection as many continue to serve on the front lines.

In their times of loneliness and despair, we ask You to be their unseen hand that will lift them up to see a brighter day. We remember those who have lost their lives in service, and we applaud their selfless acts as well as their families that released them to serve. As You have blessed this nation as the land of the free and the home of the brave, we extend this blessing to every branch of our military, and ask that your continued strength and power be with us in the days ahead.

Believing that You are willing and able to hear and answer, we ask in Jesus Name, Amen.

Amen

My thanks and prayers go out to all of our service men and women and to our veterans! I am sending special thoughts and prayers to those affected directly or indirectly, including both the wounded and their families and the families of the deceased, by the massacre at Fort Hood last week. As many of the soldiers have said, they thought they were safe here on their home post, at least, after months overseas, but that sense of security was shattered in just a few minutes last Thursday afternoon. That massacre brought out the best in some, including some civilian police and military soldiers and medical personnel, when their training kicked in, so they jumped into action, greatly reducing the number of casualties from what could have been. As bad as it was, it could have been so much worse. Thank you for your service to our country, you all!

I have no other words than thanks to those who have served in the past and those who are right now. It seems so trivial, but thank all of you men and women for your efforts.

Thank you to all of our service men and women. Your efforts and sacrifices are appreciated!

Numbers 6:24-26

The LORD bless you
and keep you;

the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

God Bless our servicemen and women!

Mary, this is my nephew Kyle, that I was talking about that just finished basic training and whose ceremony my brother and Kyle's father Dan went to see in San Diego. My brother Ron, Kyle's grandfather, is in the second photo, second from the left. We are so VERY PROUD OF KYLE AND ALL who have served and are serving this beautiful country of ours.

Thank you both Mary's, Jerome, and Corey for today's write-up.

Thank you for giving us so much!

I am in tears...thank you Service men and women.

May we all see the day we don't need you in those shoes, and we get to have you all home, safe and sound, happy, joy-filled, loving and LOVED.

THANK YOU!!! Hat's off! Blessings, Blessings, Blessings!

A sincere Thankyou and God's Blessings to all Service Men/Women past and present! For they make me Proud to be an American and Buy American!

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

MY 102 YEAR OLD MOTHER HAD 9 CHILDREN, 8 BOYS AND 1 GIRL. OUT OF THE 9 OF US 7 OF US BROTHERS ARE VETERANS OF ONE SERVICE OR OTHER STARTING AT THE KOREAN WAR. GOD BLESS ALL OUR VETERANS

I posted this on What's Up but want to share it here also. In honor of Veterans and Active Military personnel, Applebees is offering them a free meal, all day,today, including carry out service. This offer is nationwide and I know you have an Applebees in Houghton and Marquette. You do need to bring some identification, such as discharge papers but even a photo of yourself in uniform will do. It is just a small way to say thank you to all of our men and women who have served.

I may not have served in the military, but my Father did for over 30 years, including engineering work near Vietnam during the war. This weekend, we're going to visit and take him to dinner as a gift of appreciation for his military service.....

Happy Veterans Day all and especially thank you to all who have served and are serving our country. The photos are sooo nice ! They show a wonderful family tradition of patriotic service!

From a non-war veteran, thank you and God bless you to all our past and present service men and women.

I would like to remember Sergent Ed Kolka , a neighbor and classmate of mine who died in the Vietnam war. Also Dale Moilanen , the valedictorian from the class ahead of me at Dollar Bay. He died after he finished college. Both are sorely missed.

Oftentimes, the Vietnam vet is overlooked or not recognized as veterans of other wars.

My sister, Pam , who heads the volunteer section of the VA hospital in the poorer section of St Louis learned that Christmas sweaters were to be passed out by the auxilliary to Iraq veterans. My sister protested that it was not fair to exclude any veteran especially the Vietnam vet who was chastised when he came home from Vietnam. She was in tears .

It seems we don't always learn lessons that we should have learned. The Vietnam Vet deserves our salute .

Blessings to ALL WHO HAVE SERVED! Also blessings TO ALL who have suffered because of those who had served that were NEVER able to RETURN to their loved ones. It is a true sacrifice, to loose ones life for their country.

Through out our history of wars there are many many thousands who have lost their lives. Each one of those lives are connected to so many others who have suffered as well. PEACE TO ALL.

I'd like to remember all my friends and classmates who served in Vietnam.

And God comfort the families and friends of the soldiers and civilians injured and killed in the
terrorist attack at Ft. Hood. May no more of our people have to come home from serving overseas to be killed on American soil by evil fanatics!!!!