Home View VetSignias by War: WW II Korea VietNam Persian Gulf War On Terror Expeditionary Peacetime View VetSignias by Service: Army Navy Air Force Marines Coast Guard Merchant Marine Sticker Order Form Mag/VetSignias Magnetized Vehicle Plaques Mag Order Form Contact VetSignia Praises Scuttlebutt

President Truman wrote in his commendation to WWII Veterans: "As one of the Nation's finest you have undertaken the most severe task one can be called on to perform." All U.S. Veterans are worthy of these words, and should be continuously recognized for their service. "I look at young men in the military today, and sometimes I envy them, because I was never prouder, I was never in better shape, I was never more sure that I stood for something in my life than when I wore the uniform" SSgt Nicky Bacon, MOH Vietnam '69. ... We've seen varied reports about the number of U.S. Vets that are leaving this earth every day. Whatever the number, it's a lot. A couple of guys have put a great tribute together - song, pictures, verse. If you are a WWII or Korean War Veteran, or know some of them, you should see this, and pass it on any way you can. There is also a moving version for Vietnam Veterans. It's Free. Before You Go Veterans should be visible in their communities 'every-day', not just on a few special holidays. To this end, for the past 20 years, our small group of retired Vets has been making Veterans Recognition Window Stickers, and now Magnetized Vehicle Plaques. We call them VetSignias. This is something a for- profit business could not do. VetSignias have been sent to tens-of-thousands of proud Veterans in all parts of the country. Newspapers, magazines, Veterans publications, etc. have been running information about VetSignias. Examples, excerpts, and comments appear on the Praises page. Our effort was nicely described when a Midwest newspaper wrote ... "One group of retired veterans decided it was high time people should be made aware of the veterans in their communities." Got a note from a WWII/U.S. NAVY Vet. He was requesting additional VetSignias and wrote: "I have Life Member DAV and 50 Yr VFW decals on the window but have never had a comment about them - your sticker however - I've already had 4 guys see it and say - I was in the Navy - Where were you? What ship? etc., regular shoot the breeze about the service." A Vet who was requesting new VetSignias said, "Had my stickers on my old car for over 9 years - they were still bright and shiny when I gave her to Purple Heart." Another Vet wrote, "Bravo Zulu to you." when he received his VET/VIETNAM/U.S. AIR FORCE stickers. At the request of Veterans, and Veterans groups, we began looking into magnetic vehicle plaques in 2004. We spent a year looking for high quality materials and a method of putting them together in a way that would provide our fellow Veterans with a distinctive plaque showing their service to our country. We began making the plaques, we call them Mag/VetSignias, in '05. Mag/VetSignias, look exactly like the Window Stickers, and we make the same wide assortment. They are larger, 5.75" X 2.5", black print on a bright silver metallic background. They cling firmly to most metal surfaces, and can be easily taken off, moved to another location,or another vehicle. The Mags are holding up very well for about 5 years. We want the public to know who has served them, who's been protecting them, who sacrificed for them. We want the public to know the Veterans in their communities. We make special cost arrangements for Veterans groups. VetSignias have been sent to groups as small as 30 and as large as 2500. Go to the Contact Page and type in Group Prices. We will send complete information. WE SAW IT SOMEWHERE... "Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." Adlie E. Stevenson, Jr. We were a very patriotic nation right after 9.11.01. Flags flew everywhere - from the family car, the big rigs, apartment balconies, front yards and porches. Don't see many today. Was it just 'a short and frenzied outburst'? Not for everyone. Here is what one true patriot writes:"As a blinded Vietnam Veteran, I can only hear Old Glory whispering in the wind as it proudly waves in front of my home. In my mind's eye I can still visualize our sacred symbol covering coffins of fellow Vietnam Veterans and being ceremoniously handed to their grieving loved ones as the bugle echoes "Taps". And, in my heart, I know this flag unifies our country and symbolizes the blood that runs through the veins of our nation." These are comments from Sgt. Shaft (John Fales). Sarge writes a Veterans Interest column for Military.com. His fine columns can be seen on the web Sgt. Shaft Page President Woodrow Wilson said it in 1917 - "This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation." LET US ALL KEEP THOSE FLAGS FLYING - PATRIOTISM KEEPS AMERICA STRONG. ... It is hard to imagine what it would be like to live in a country without freedom . . . without the right to wave a flag . . . assemble peaceably or speak our minds. Thanks to our nation's Veterans, our freedom has been protected, but not without a price. When called to serve, they left home and family for remote and desolate places. They put their lives on the line to preserve our precious heritage and freedom, and the freedom of countless other nations. It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us the FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. It is the VETERAN, not the politician, who has given us the RIGHT TO VOTE. It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL. It is the VETERAN,not the poet, who has given us the FREEDOM OF SPEECH. It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us the FREEDOM TO ASSEMBLE. It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us FREEDOM OF RELIGION. Hershel Frazier, Dequincy LA, ends a brief poem with the following stanza. "So when you see a Veteran speak to him with pride. Remember for your freedom many thousands died. Shake his hand and salute him, have a kind word to say, for when you see a Veteran you see the U.S.A." . . AMERICAN VETERANS ARE SPECIAL . . ... "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." From the Inaugural Address by President John F. Kennedy(1/20/'61) "The War On Terrorism will be dramatically different in the sense that it may never end. At least not in our lifetime." - VP Dick Cheney. "September 11 was two pieces of symbolism and a statement of war with the Pentagon. ...No one really remembers the Pentagon at all. ...It was the biggest attack if only because it was the Pentagon. You don't hit our military command center without sending, at least to me, a very clear statement about your intentions." Stephen Gale ... Pearl Harbor is still very clear in my mind. The tragic events of 9.11.01 were much worse. These people deliberately attacked innocent, defensless civilians. Does our country have the will to do what has to be done? Will the country support a long and dangerous mission? We are hearing and reading more and more from the peacniks and doubters. There were pacifists and doubters after Pearl Harbor too. Fortunately, clearer heads prevailed and we were able to make the world a better place. We can do it again, if we have the stick-to-it-tive-ness. - Bob Kline WWII/USMC Excerpted from an article by Thomas Sowell, former U.S. Marine and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford, CA. Pacifists versus peace One of the many failings of our educational system is that it sends out into the world people who cannot tell rhetoric from reality. They have learned no systematic way to analyze ideas, derive their implications and test those implications against hard facts. "Peace" movements are among those who take advantage of this widespread inability to see beyond rhetoric to realities. Few people even seem interested in the actual track record of so-called "peace" movements -- that is, whether such movements actually produce peace or war. Take the Middle East. People are calling for a cease-fire in the interests of peace. But there have been more cease-fires in the Middle East than anywhere else. If cease-fires actually promoted peace, the Middle East would be the most peaceful region on the face of the earth instead of the most violent. Was WWII ended by cease-fires or by annihilating much of Germany and Japan? Make no mistake about it, innocent civilians died in the process. Indeed, American prisoners of war died when we bombed Germany. There is a reason why General Sherman said "war is hell" more than a century ago. But he helped end the Civil War with his devastating march through Georgia -- not by cease fires or bowing to "world opinion" and there were no corrupt busybodies like the United Nations to demand replacing military force with diplomacy. There was a time when it would have been suicidal to threaten, much less attack, a nation with much stronger military power because one of the dangers to the attacker would be the prospect of being annihilated. "World opinion," the UN and "peace movements" have eliminated that deterrent. An aggressor today knows that if his aggression fails, he will still be protected from the full power and fury of those he attacked because there will be hand-wringers demanding a cease fire, negotiations and concessions. ....The most catastrophic result of "peace" movements was WWII. While Hitler was arming Germany to the teeth, "peace" movements in Britain were advocating that their country disarm "as an example to others." British Labor Party Members of Parliament voted consistently against military spending and British college students publicly pledged never to fight for their country. If "peace" movements brought peace, there would never have been WWII. Not only did that war lead to tens of millions of deaths, it came dangerously close to a crushing victory for the Nazis in Europe and the Japanese empire in Asia. ....For the first two years of that war, the Western democracies lost virtually every battle, all over the world, because pre-war "peace" movements had left them with inadequate military equipment and much of it obsolete. The Nazis and the Japanese knew that. That is why they launched the war. "Peace" movements don't bring peace but war. From CPL Aaron M Lusk, USMC - about Iraq ... "We settled in and then took a ride over to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines (3/5) to deliver some communication wire and I will never forget what I saw on the way; the Iraqis cheered for us. I felt like a famous actor and it reminded me of WWII when the Allies liberated Paris. I had never experienced anythink like it in my life. It was difficult to believe the news that reported most Iraqis did not want us there. I also remember the pure poverty that most Iraqis live with; the worst neighborhoods in Detroit looked better than the neighborhoods I saw in Iraq, and the children did not have proper clothing or shoes. Seeing the Iraqi people was reason enough for why the Marine Corps fought this war. It did not matter if there were terrorists; giving the Iraqi people the help they needed was enough reason for the United States to get involved." Excerpts from an article written by Tim Kane, Ph.D., U.S. Air Force Academy graduate. THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST ...a review of recent enlistee data shows the wartime volunteers are better educated and slightly wealthier than their civilian peers. It really is true: America's best and brightest are signing up for duty. ...During a time of war, when an Army enlistee signs up knowing that the mission is combat instead of college, the call of duty is working best in the middle and upper-class nieghborhoods. The average American enlistee is more educated - not less - than the average civilian, especially young civilians. Did you know that the average reading level of new soldiers is roughly a full grade level higher than civilian peers? It's also true that the high-school graduation rate of enlistees was 97 percent in 2003, 2004, and 2005. The civilian graduation rate is 17 percentage points lower. ...The modern military is built more on brains, less on brawn. Active-duty troops will be the first to tell you that unless they pursue continuing education, their chances of promotion are slim. ...The transformation to an all-volunteer force has been designed around the concept of a more lethal, more nimble, less vulnerable soldier. ...The U.S. military has always prided itself on the independent judgement and intelligence of it's fighting force. ...Unlike the heirarchies of other militaries, U.S. forces were and are empowered to think for themselves. That tradition continues today, more than ever. Lee Greenwood sings it...we should all live it! FROM THE LAKES OF MINNESOTA, TO THE HILLS OF TENNESSEE. ACROSS THE PLAINS OF TEXAS, FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA. FROM DETROIT DOWN TO HOUSTON, AND NEW YORK TO L.A. WELL THERE'S PRIDE IN EVERY AMERICAN HEART, AND IT'S TIME WE STAND AND SAY. THAT I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN, WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW I'M FREE. AND I WON'T FORGET THE MEN WHO DIED, WHO GAVE THAT RIGHT TO ME. AND I GLADLY STAND UP, NEXT TO YOU AND DEFEND HER STILL TODAY. 'CAUSE THERE AIN'T NO DOUBT I LOVE THIS LAND, GOD BLESS THE USA. ... Former President Ronald Reagan said it like it is. "Here's my stategy on the Cold War: We win,they lose." "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." "Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U.S. was too strong." "I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress." "If we forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." "The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program." "It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first." "No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women."