Happy Memorial Day

[Innkeeper]

To all who served and gave the ultimate, and well as those who just served, and also to those wanabees but couldn't. Today will see much more brew than vino.

[hotwine]

Will second IK's comments. Just pulled some burgers off the grill..... had to use the smoker sideways due to high winds blowing into the firebox. Planning on lubricating with Spoetzl Brewing Co.'s "Light Blonde" from Shiner, Tx.

[Innkeeper]

Just got back from the store with burgers, rolls, salad fixings, and a half case of Magic Hat Wacko Summer Seasonal. Magic Hat is a Vermont brewer that using the same English Ale yeast that was originally brought into Portland, ME breweries, and has spread throughout Northern New England. Good stuff. See my BTN over on Robin's board. Too bad we can't do something like that here.

[Kcwhippet]

Third what IK said. This is a special day. It's an opportunity to honor all who served to keep this country the bastion of freedom it has always been and will always be. I've lived in 7 other countries around the world and non can compare to the USA. Thanks to all who have worn the uniform, including my dad who served in the USMC from 1938 until 1958. Talked to him this morning, and at 94 he's slowing down a bit, but he can remember so much from back then. He did finally admit that, as rumored, he flew his Lockheed PV-1 Ventura upside down under the Huey Long Bridge in New Orleans. He was there foe advanced flight training after getting back stateside from the Pearl Harbor attack.

Judy left this morning for Las Vegas to do a trade show for HP, and won't be back until June 12. So, I've resisted the urge to make all seafood (she won't eat any). Instead, I'll be grilling up some hanger steak and some beef ribs. Already made some of my world famous potato salad to go with.

Can't buy any beer here in MA today. No liquor sales (by law) on Memorial Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Oh well, I'll just have to make do with the Yuengling I have left. Also a sip (or two) of Rittenhouse Rye.

[winoweenie]

Pulled my beer of choice today.. 2002 Scherrer Old & Mature. Without CB decided to give my biz to Honey Bears BBQ jernt. BIG mistke... The beef reminds me of 14 year-old leather high-tops that been left in the rain fer two Oklahoma summers. Too bad as the sauce is superb. WW

[TheEngineer]

Will raise a glass to those who had represented their country as soldiers, both past and present. We wouldn't have what we enjoy without someone else fighting to ensure it.

[andrawes76]

A special weekend indeed. A lot of prayers go to the ones who come home a different person, wishing them inner peace, good health and a long and happy life.

[hotwine]

Nice sentiments. Thanks.

[Thomas]

Last February the final WWI U.S. veteran died. I read in this week's NYTimes Book review section that a few months ago, just 1.5 million WWII U.S. vets remained.

Left me to wonder how many of us Vietnam era U.S. vets are around.

I salute all who do what they believe is their duty, without whom concepts and ideas like the founding of this country would not be possible--but I still hate war and remain saddened that various humans have yet to figure out how to co-inhabit the earth.

[Kcwhippet]

Thomas, I anticipate that we'll be losing our WWII vets with increasing frequency. My dad will be 94 in two months, and he's really staring to go downhill way too quickly. We spoke the other day and he's sad that there are none of his friends still alive. He's the last of his compatriots still alive!!

[winoweenie]

Know the feeling! ww

[Thomas]

KC, six of us on my block went into the service at about the same time--1965 and 66.

I am the only one alive today.

Two of the others were killed in Vietnam, one was hurt so bad that he suffered pain until he died a few months ago, one other became a major alcoholic and died of liver disease, and the last died of heart failure (he had been an MP in Vietnam and he never would talk about it after his return).


I HATE WAR!

[Kcwhippet]

Thomas, Never been a fan myself, and was able to avoid being an unwilling participant back in the day. That said, I'm a firm believer that everything that is now, is a direct product of what was then. Had my dad not been at Pearl Harbor, he most likely wouldn't have applied for pilot status. In which case he most likely wouldn't have met my mother while he was home on leave before flight training. It apparently was love at first sight, and the rest is history because here I am.

[winoweenie]

I think my 5 could say the same about me, 'cept I met their mother after the cessation of hostilities in college at the U of Mo. WW

[wondersofwine]

I was a war baby, born in 1944 when my father was stationed in Wyoming as an Army logistics officer. Had he been sent overseas I might not have been conceived, but he was an ROTC instructor when the United States entered the war. All three of his brothers were in combat in Europe but Dad's only overseas assignment was in the Philippines after we had retaken the islands. My sister and I used to play with a grass skirt and some fans he brought home from the Philippines or Hawaii.