Well said, IwoCPO.

Well said.

by Gustafsson

note, we had a comment issue, so I added this myself and the issue is fixed.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 09/11/08 at 09:15 AM ET

A-frigging-men. The elephants n donkeys can all shuddap or go find something CONSTRUCTIVE to do with their time and money. The next 2 months of he said she said are falling on deaf ears here.
I have to say, I feel a great sense of pride when my 6 almost 7 year old salutes any & every person in uniform of the Armed Services. Then again anyone with a machine gun is cool in the little dude’s book…..
Security wording… 17country. Huh.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 09/11/08 at 09:17 AM ET

If you want to do something for a member of the military deployed overseas, here’s a suggestion for you. My neighbor and I recently purchased a prepaid calling card for another neighbor who’s husband is on his way to Iraq.

It didn’t cost much, but I can tell you our neighbor was choked up when we gave it to her. And there might have been a few lumps in my throat as well.

You can purchase cards designed expressly for use by troops overseas from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.

posted by OlderThanChelios

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 09/11/08 at 09:29 AM ET

*hoists a cold one* I’ll hail that, Chief.

Posted by The Acid Queen from Raleigh, NC on 09/11/08 at 11:17 AM ET

Also - Don’t forget the veterans who have come back with serious injuries, PTSD, or traumatic brain injuries.  It’s sometimes easy to send good wishes the way of the whole, healthy, and photogenic - but they still need compassion when they are broken and hurting.

Even just to say hello and offer to listen if they want to talk might be all they need.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 09/11/08 at 11:19 AM ET

Beautiful words all around.

Posted by yawt from norcal on 09/11/08 at 11:32 AM ET

Politics mean nothing today.

  Today we need to honor those who unselfishly put themselves in harms way to keep all of us safe.
 
  I pray for the safe return of the brave women and men that are serving wherever they are stationed, and for those that have made the ultimate sacrifice, and for their family’s.

Posted by Kate from Pa.-made in Detroit on 09/11/08 at 12:22 PM ET

God Bless America and all the soldiers kicking ass overseas.  Keep doing you duty and we’ll welcome you all home when you get here.

Posted by Chris from Hockey Hell (Columbia, TN) on 09/11/08 at 03:23 PM ET

Everyday, and especially today, it shouldn’t matter what you think of the war. I don’t care if you support it or not, support our troops. I don’t have the courage that it takes to join the military, and I am grateful for those that do. They fight in my stead for my freedom. They’re the ones who honestly still feel what we all said on 9/11. They still believe. The rest of us seem to have forgotten all too quickly…

Posted by Megan from Zeeland, Mi on 09/11/08 at 03:28 PM ET

In memory of all who were lost that day and their families.  They are in my heart always.

Posted by hockeychic from Denver, CO on 09/11/08 at 03:49 PM ET

The NY-NY Hotel Casino’s frontage becomes a very solemn ground today here in Las Vegas, Chief.  I can’t go by that site without feeling a lump in my throat for all of those innocent Americans and foreign expats in the NY, DC, and PA.

A hearty KATN to all those fighting the good fight.

My deepest condolences to those who’ve lost much more than we can ever imagine.

Thanks to you, Chief and every single one of our Armed Forces personnel, from a very grateful American.

Posted by SYF from a "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp" on 09/11/08 at 04:16 PM ET

I don’t have the courage that it takes to join the military,

Is it courage, or desperation?

Posted by Kristie from Ann Arbor on 09/11/08 at 08:19 PM ET

God bless them all—those that are there, those that have returned, those that will never return.

Posted by BobTheZee on 09/11/08 at 11:37 PM ET

Politics mean nothing today.

Chief, I’m afraid that on this point I must respectfully disagree.  At this time when we remember the courageous sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, it is an unfortunate fact that this has everything to do with politics.  More specifically, it is to do with those politicians that we the people give our assent and power to, whether elected by party or independent, who issue the orders to those who carry them out in fidelity to the nation and the people.

Albert Einstein, father of the single-most destructive weapon ever used in anger, believed that war represented a failure of diplomacy.  While there are a few notable exceptions to this (the Second World War, the Napoleonic Wars, etc.), it is a sad fact that many wars, especially those of the modern age, have been entirely avoidable.  But it has been the whim of politicians, the vast majority of whom have not one iota of combat experience and who will never fear for the lives of themselves or their loved ones in foreign wars because they do not serve, to use war as a first, rather than a last, resort.  All over the globe, those in comfortable political office callously send their military men and women into foreign wars to get wounded or killed without upright reason or justification.  And instead of happy and healthy ex-servicemen and women, those who return to their people are veterans of foreign wars who are sullen, burnt-out husks and worse, and are often shunned and shame, unwanted reminders of ours and our politicians’ moral failings.

Those who wish to revel in war and bloodshed will always find a place.  Third-world tinpot dictators of banana republics are always looking for a few good mercenaries, and soldiers-of-fortune will fill that gap.  But to those who don’t wish the guts-and-glory machismo, who enlist out of a sense of duty and patriotism, who make up the majority of our forces, we can pay no greater honor than to send them up against an enemy only when absolutely necessary, when there is no other choice.

Liberals will read this as a critique of the Iraq War, or the Vietnam War.  Conservatives will read this as an attack on Russia’s policy in the Caucases, or Obama’s lack of a military record.  Quite frankly, I don’t care what you think I’m saying, so long as you don’t miss this clear and unequivocal point: that the decision to put the men and women of our armed forces into harm’s way should never ever be taken for political expediency.  It is easily the gravest decision a politician will ever make in his or her life, should not be taken lightly without vast thought and consideration, and should weigh on their heart for years afterward.  Until politicians stop using the armed forces as playthings, and start seeing them as the individual brave and selfless lives that together form more than the sum of their parts, then I fear that I cannot see politics as having no link to the armed services.

All that being said…Godspeed, CPO.  Your sacrifice and that of your brothers and sisters is not forgotten.

Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from somewhere amidst the vast global warzone on 09/12/08 at 04:02 AM ET

Make sure you tell any enemy you may ever encounter, Chief, that “That’s how we roll, motherf**kers!!!” as you kick as many asses as possible.  My hats off to you and everyone you work beside day in and day out.

Posted by Chris from Hockey Hell (Columbia, TN) on 09/12/08 at 05:13 PM ET