First of all, to those who recently lost loved ones, you are in our prayers. Hold on to those precious memories and remember the good times you had together. As for veterans, being a veteran with 20 years of active military service, I appreciate all the comments that have been made about honoring those who have served. I served from 1964 to 1984, and, of course, that was during the Viet Nam era. Even though I did not go to Viet Nam myself, I did volunteer to go but there was a shortage in my specialty in Europe and in the states, and there was not a shortage in Viet Nam. Still I endured some of the hate and so on that military members went through, and that was not good. Being the Chaplain for the local Disabled American Veterans chapter, I deal a lot with veterans of that time period, and some of the hardships they endure to this day are terrible. Although I never went into declared combat, I did go to areas a week out of every month for about two years where we were shot at every day by the Communist Chinese, but we could not shoot back Recently there was a SWAT raid just across the street from us and shots fired, and I had a difficult time with that. We did not suffer any problems from it other than not being allowed outside the house, but it brought back some painful memories. Quite often I wear a hat that has something to do with the Army or DAV. I also at times wear my Army retired pin. It is not uncommon for a total stranger to stop me and other veterans, give us a hug, and thank us for serving. We have several veterans in the church, and when we pledge allegiance to the flag I encourage them to render the hand salute, which veterans have been given permission by Congress to do. There is a sense of pride when we do that, and it brings tears to my eyes. I am proud to have served our country and very proud to be an American! As for being a pack rat, I think I am the same way. When we get too many plastic containers around the house we take them to the church for the kitchen. When we have pot luck dinners, which is the fourth Sunday of every month, we give containers to people who would like to take some leftovers home with them. We always have plenty of them for people to use, and they don't need to bring them back unless they want to. Don in AZ

Welcome Home, Don! -----Original Message----- From: padutch-life-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:padutch-life-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Don Churchfield Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 1:31 AM To: padutch-life@rootsweb.com Subject: [PD-LIFE] Veterans and lost loved ones First of all, to those who recently lost loved ones, you are in our prayers. Hold on to those precious memories and remember the good times you had together. As for veterans, being a veteran with 20 years of active military service, I appreciate all the comments that have been made about honoring those who have served. I served from 1964 to 1984, and, of course, that was during the Viet Nam era. Even though I did not go to Viet Nam myself, I did volunteer to go but there was a shortage in my specialty in Europe and in the states, and there was not a shortage in Viet Nam. Still I endured some of the hate and so on that military members went through, and that was not good. Being the Chaplain for the local Disabled American Veterans chapter, I deal a lot with veterans of that time period, and some of the hardships they endure to this day are terrible. Although I never went into declared combat, I did go to areas a week out of every month for about two years where we were shot at every day by the Communist Chinese, but we could not shoot back Recently there was a SWAT raid just across the street from us and shots fired, and I had a difficult time with that. We did not suffer any problems from it other than not being allowed outside the house, but it brought back some painful memories. Quite often I wear a hat that has something to do with the Army or DAV. I also at times wear my Army retired pin. It is not uncommon for a total stranger to stop me and other veterans, give us a hug, and thank us for serving. We have several veterans in the church, and when we pledge allegiance to the flag I encourage them to render the hand salute, which veterans have been given permission by Congress to do. There is a sense of pride when we do that, and it brings tears to my eyes. I am proud to have served our country and very proud to be an American! As for being a pack rat, I think I am the same way. When we get too many plastic containers around the house we take them to the church for the kitchen. When we have pot luck dinners, which is the fourth Sunday of every month, we give containers to people who would like to take some leftovers home with them. We always have plenty of them for people to use, and they don't need to bring them back unless they want to. Don in AZ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PADUTCH-LIFE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message