:: Crotchety Old Bastard ::

Welcome home, soldier, and thank you for your service. If any of you find your way out to the San Francisco bay area, drop me a line and the beers will be on me.

-- Uber Pig (A co. 2/75)

Welcome home trooper. Thank you for your service, well done!

Great news, Sir! From my neck of the woods, please thank him & his buds for their service. Thank you, too, for raising a Patriot!

My daughter came home just a year ago! That made for a great Christmas.

Please tell you son, from a crotchety old Nam vet, thanks for his service, job well done, and welcome home!

And be proud, Dad!!

What a Christmas present for you, your son and the rest of the heroes returning home!!! Please pass on my thanks to them all for their service to our great country.

Here on Sgt. Hook's orders, Sir! ;-)

He posted your happy news, so here I am to say Welcome Home, a hearty HOOAH! and GO AIRBORNE!

And for those reading, don't forget those who won't be home this year. Someone recommended AnySoldier.com to me, and my family will be sending our package over soon.

Welcome home glad you guys will be home for Christmas. Thank you for your service and the great work you are doing in Iraq.

Let Sgt Hook know that even "old bitch" Army Vets follow orders! God Bless you and your son! Thanks for your patriotism and insight of the "real world!"

Sending thanks, appreciation and good wishes to your son and family... via Sgt. Hook!

Glad you made it back Airborne. This blood sucking contractor in K-town Germany supports you all.

Just remember the greeting of the day is not "Airborne leads the Way sorry bout that leg." especially when they out rank you :D

Welcome home, Airborne!

If you're ever in Chicago, I've got the first ten or so rounds.

Welcome back! Met some of your Airborne brothers in Texas this summer.

Welcome home to the crotchety young bastard! I shall hoist a cold one in your general direction. Have a merry Christmas!

USMC '91-'95 Amtracs
YAT-YAS
Washington, DC

Welcome home airborne! Thank-you for your service and now that you are home, tell your stories and let people know we are winning the war because the general population has no idea what is actually going on. If you are ever in northen NJ, dinner is on me.

Welcome back! [1/5th SFG(A)]

From Memphis, TN a hearty welcome home! Your service DOES NOT go unnoticed or unappreciated! The members of this house are grateful to and grateful for each of you and your families.

WELCOME HOME!!!

Thanks for the "heads up" Sgt Hook.

Thank You. It is because of great people like you that my family is safer. I wish you the best. Bless You. Bill Howard

Please thank your son for me. Welcome home.

You have got to be one proud Dad.

Bob from Palatine, Illinois

Welcome home Airborne.

Bco 2/325 AIR
(89-92)

Welcome home and thank you for your service. Please know that, regardless of what you read and hear in the news, America does appreciate what you are doing to keep us free.

Nasty Leg from North Carolina

All THE WAY!

welcome home AA

3/504 (former)

Welcome back, brave soldiers, and a fervent Thank you from a crochety Old Lady who is now too fragile to defend herself. You are all my Heroes. We appreciate and love you for your gallant service.
MarianneM

Welcome home son,god bless you and all you fought with.Former 1/507th crotchety old Black Hat, Ft
Benning 68/70.

I split my time between Berkeley and Stanford and I see these men your son's age, going to school, thinking they have the world by the balls. They look on military service as something performed only by saps, by rednecks, by inner-city negroes, by people too stupid to get into college. They get laid, they drink beer whenever they want to, they complain about having to study, they whine about their tuition bills. But they've never seen the butcher's bill. They don't know the price your son and his paratrooper brothers have paid on their behalf. They've never served anything bigger than themselves. Secretly, they are ashamed of themselves. They may even lash out at people like your son, just as they did in Vietnam, because for these men not to be cowards, your son must be a baby-killer. But there will always be people who know the truth. They cannot hide from the truth, and they cannot hide from us.

Thanks for your service.

Regards,

Fred

Welcome back. Nothing like getting back to FBNC after a year in the sand. All the Way! Airborne.

1/505 Recon Plt 90-93

I don't know if I can thanks enough or show enough pride for the men and women doing their duty. Thanks to them all. Welcome home!!!

Welcome HOME!! Thank you...thank you....
from Vancouver Canada.

WELCOME HOME AIRBORNE

Barry Summers
2/504 1979 - 1983

Welcome home. Thanks to all the folks who are or have served our great nation.
Sincerely,
Joe in Connecticut

"Greet them ever with grateful hearts" Chapter Heading, The Doughboys by Lawrence Stallings

I want to let your son and all the gallant young troopers know that we are praying for them all the time, and that we love and respect each and every one of them.

I was at work a couple of blocks from the WTC on 9/11. Got back in the area the next Monday. Just this AM on the usual LIRR commute, I was remembering how one evening around that time, on returning home, there was a lovely young girl at the RR station playing "America" on her violin. These darned eye allergies crop up at such times.

Again, thank you and God bless you!

From Rhode Island and via Blackfive; Welcome Home, God Bless and Thank You for a job well done.

Welcome home with open arms!!!....Thank you so much for your service to our country, for your sacrifices. Here is a link to a patriotic photo video I made called "Thank you for our innocence."
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7824555161728889045&pr=goog-sl
You are all in our thoughts and prayers,
Christine

Welcome home, AIRBORNE! :)

Can't wait until I'm in that C-130 dropping you guys! Until then, enjoy your beers and your whiskey and being back Stateside!

Looks like I get to be the first swabbie that says thank you and welcome home. Will raise a toast to the Crotchety young bastard and his comrades this weekend.

ET2 Nixon
1983-1989

WELCOME HOME 'TROOPERS!

Thank you so much for your service and the many sacrifces it requires. This country is so very blessed to have men of your character and bravery defending us and I pray that more & more of our citizens come to realize just how special that is.

ALL THE WAY!

Angel

If you or any of your pals are ever in the eastern wilds of Long Island, drop me a line... Beers, a semi-home cooked meal and a warm fire await. Thank you so much for your service.

I remember the bumps on my head from floating and hitting door jambs when our son called to tell us he was home from Iraq after a year there.

May you have many bumps on the head, COB, and please give your son a heart hug and many thanks for his service from this mother who can't seem to stop taking all our soldiers into her heart.

Welcome home Airborne! I've got a nephew in the 82nd and I know my sister is counting the days until he's back in CONUS.

I had the pleasure to attend the 82nd. association meeting in orlando this year. The young troopers (they did a jump for us old farts)were very polite, very serious, well trained and ready to drink. Most had already spent time in both the sandbox and the stan, and were on their way back to Iraq.
So welcome back young warriors, we will raise a round to you at the Hardesty House here in Ashland, Kansas. 91B20 3rd. bgd. 82nd. Airborne Phu Bai-Hue USARV, 1968 - 70.

Welcome home guys and thanks for your service!

Welcome back from an Arizona Seabee!

My son served with the 82nd, 1/319 AFAR, for the past 5 years, deployed once to Astan, once to Iraq. In June he transferred out to Ft. Sill, joined up with a light infantry unit and is now in Afghanistan again, just got there. So, all I can say, other than Welcome Home, Job Well Done, and more Thank Yous than I have room for here to your young hero, is that I hope you'll make it to Green Ramp to welcome him home. Next to the day he came into this world, that was the best and most memorable day for us, just seeing him march in, seeing him safe and being able to hug him is etched in my mind forever. I wish that for you! Prayers remain Airborne for all our troops, no matter where they may be, God bless them all and keep them safe!

thanks and god bless you trooper!!!!!

Welcome home, thank you for your service, and God bless you & your family this Christmas! With love from the West Coast...there *are* some of us out here, even those who have never served, who are behind you all the way. :)

Directed by SGT Hook, reporting in from Chicago.

COB, please extend my "welcome home" and my thanks to your son and to his Soldiers! I remember when my cousin returned last year, it was the best feeling in the world.

Continued thanks and prayers for ALL of our Military and their families.

Welcome back 82nd, you make me proud to be an American. If you're ever in Sacramento, CA the drinks are on me.

Welcome back dear soldier, welcome back. I post here my gratitude and rejoice in your return. I come by way of Blackfive where I learned about this wonderful news. May all blessings from God be bountiful and miraculous for you. You and your entire family has my enduring loyalty and love, forever.

Came here by way of Blackfive, we live in San Antonio, Texas and we are a family of very grateful civilians.
You have obviously made your Daddy very proud-and rightfully so. God Bless you guys, have a peaceful Christmas.

Welcome home Eighty-Deuce!! Thank you for your service. I pray for you guys all the time. Came here by way of BlackFive to congragulate COB on the outstanding job he did as a dad. Well done all you younguns.
We're getting the word out on you guys and the good you've accomplished.
AIRBORNE
B Co. 509th ABCT (73-75)

As a fellow Airborne parent may I say Thank You and Welcome Home to your son. Wish I could be at Green Ramp giving out hugs to the returning heroes.

Welcome home Airborne and thank you for all you have done in service to the USA. What a wonderful Christmas present for your families!
Renee in North Carolina

This will remain singular in your life's story. Keep a positive attitude. Avoid pity praise and the pitfalls of the professional veteran. You have earned your place in a proud history. You will never be forgotten. When Americans see the our flag they will be looking at the sacrifice made by soldiers like you. Set the example. Raise your children to understand why we fight. Welcome home Paratrooper.

Thanks very much from the Heartland by way of Blackfive - we honor daily the fact that "freedom is not free" and that you and your fellow soldiers pay that price for all of us. Just so you know it matters even to our 9, 12 and 15 year old kids, you might be happy to know they spend their own money to contribute to Soldier's Angels and other projects for the soldiers - thanks again from the bottom of our hearts.

Welcome home!! If and when you find yerself in Germany The beer will be on me.

there will be more than one brew raised to your and your unit's honor this weekend at our VFW Post meeting.

Your service and sacrifice will not be ignored or ever forgotten.

Steffen

Greetings, welcome, and deepest gratitude from a lonely outpost in the People's Republic of Maryland.

Welcome home Airborne. Thank you for all you've done to keep civilians like me resting easy. When you see your other boys... pass it along.

And COB. Thank you for your sacrifices as well.

Happy Holidays!

My son, also an 82nd trooper, returned the week before Thanksgiving from his second tour. Welcome home to all of you troopers from this old Marine. You guys are truly All American!
Semper Fi and All the Way!

Welcome home trooper. Thank you for your service to our country. You and the other troopers and soldiers make us all so very proud.Thank you to your families for all their sacrifices too. God Bless you all.

devildog6771
richmond, va. by way of Blackfive

U.S. Paratroopers provide the enemy with the maximum opportunity to give his life for his country! All the way! Welcome home! B/2/505

Tell your Son welcome home and a huge Thank-You from Buffalo NY.

Long time lurker at Blackfive here...
Welcome home, thank you & God bless your son and his fellow paratroopers.
With deepest gratitude & respect from Connecticut.

Welcome home safe and sound, Airborne! I live near Bragg, and just love it that I get the chance to see you guys all the time, to hear the boom-boom of artillery practice, to watch Blackhawks and Chinooks overhead - all signs that the guardians of freedom are nearby. Thanks for your service and I hope you don't have to buy your own beer for a long, long time!

Always a pleasure to welcome home another son (or daughter) from over seas duty....Glad to know you will be having a face to face Merry Christmas...for now we are still "dreaming of when all will be home for Christmas" WELCOME BACK and THANK YOU for a job well done!

I salute you and your service to our great Nation! This weekend, I'll toast you and all our brothers still in harms way. Semper Fi.

Just wanted to say welcome home and thank you for all that you have done and cometinue to do for our country and the world! HOOAH!! Words can never express the gratitude my family feels for your service. Stay safe and welcome home!

Welcome Home solider. Thankyou for your service.

Alberta,Canada,USA sphere of protection

I just read about your good news, via Blackfive. I am so happy for the returning soldiers and especially you and your son! Please convey to him how much I appreciate his sacrifices and service and thanks to you too for raising such a fine young man. My own son is with the 101st Airborne and returned from Iraq so I am so excited to be celebrating Christmas with him this year. I am just so grateful he made it out of Iraq with all ten toes and all ten fingers. I pray daily for those still in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. As a class project my Kindergarteners and their families just sent almost a hundred pounds of goodies to the soldiers at Fob Summerall for Christmas. That was where my son was stationed and his replacements are 82nd Airborne. I got to know a mom whose son was in Iraq with my son thru an Army website. Her oldest son, who was coming home with the 101st met up with his younger brother who was in the replacement group for the 101st. So I have "adopted" this 82nd soldier and a couple of his buddies. I feel so badly for those families like this momma who get no relief from the stress and worry because she has more than one child serving. Anyway, my heart goes out to all of you excited 82nd families. God Bless you and enjoy the holidays!
Tessa Harvey

Congrats Trooper. We old SF guys salute u young warriors and say, "Git er done!"

Welcome home and THANK YOU!!!

Welcome home trooper(s)! The hearts of men of good will everywhere were, and are, with you.
Good luck and good hunting in future endeavours and please accept the thanks of an old hairy-assed jumper from the Great White north for your service to all of us.

Run fast, stay low and tuck in your nuts! AIRBORNE!

Just thought I would add this for your son and his comrades;

Airborne Toast

I have ridden the skies in great machines, hooked up and jumped with the best of men. I have fought long and hard, and when I felt I had no energy left, I have been fired by the fear that if I stopped fighting, my comrades would die. And when I was in danger, enemy all around, I heard the thunder from my left and my right, as my life was defended. I have never been alone. I live, jump, fight and battle to victory with the greatest assemblage of men on earth.

Gentlemen, to the brotherhood of the Airborne.

To the Airborne!

As a former "Red Falcon", Welcome home and thank you for a job well done!

Bob Rolling
Cco 1/325

Welcome home stud - I'll keep some Shiner real cold in case you ever get down to the TX Hill Country.

Tom G.
New Braunfels, TX
509ABCT/325AIR

A Soldiers Angel Welcomes You Home.

Welcome home! Thank you for your service to the United States of America--for keeping us safe and free, for being big, bad and brave! God bless!

I am very sorry to hear about Tom he was my friend so tell you son to be very careful when he gets back to iraq and i will pray that God will bring him back home safe and sound

Welcome home soldiers of the 325th. To all of you I say a heartfelt thanks for your service and duty to our country. From this old soldier who served in Operation Enduring Freedom I salute each and every one of you.

Now get that Crochety Old Bastard a beer and make him happy!!!! :)

Hi,
I found your blog via google by accident and have to admit that youve a really interesting blog :-)
Just saved your feed in my reader, have a nice day :)