--pappy van winkle's family reserve 20 year old...

[ron l edmiston]

---- just received the unopened bottle from a widowed mother that i wrote a letter home, along with dog tags..
she is in final stages of cancer at hospice and wanted me to have this "wait for his return.."
i lost her sgt e-5 son in a firefight back in 1968..
he is inscribed on a wall in washington and in my heart & memory forever..

wish i could go back to that evening on hasting's pond years back with brothers/sister& pal for a very fond memory & smile..
deb, buddy, richie, vince, steve, david, josh, darren, jon & all other bros welcome to toast with me with the most awesome distilled
to/for a awesome man..

let's stop this war shit..,

ronnie

[Too Tall]

Let's stop this war shit indeed. Save me a sip for your guys. Salute.

[ron l edmiston]

Let's stop this war shit indeed. Save me a sip for your guys. Salute.

------------------------------------------------

-- you are a "man's man..," josh..

ronnie with respect

[one2velo]

I managed to slip my 20 years of active duty in between being eligible for the draft (lottery number 312) and 9/11. My short time in Gulf I, Somalia and Bosnia isn't squat when I think of what our brothers and sisters have endured these past 15 years...often through multiple tours that they survived in various degrees. . .or didn't. I raise a a glass to them and to my near age-peers who went to VN.

[rydesteel]

My heart goes out to his Mother and You, proud to be a part of this place we call home. I'll raise a glass and thank you all for your service and sacrifice.

[abbeyQ]

I'll pour out a splash of my pappy for him and our other vets when I get home on Friday. Thanks to all that laid it out for the stars and bars.

[AngryScientist]

very touching ronnie. i thank god i've never had to write a letter like that. cheers.

[ides1056]

I agree. It's good for absolutely nothing.

[dogrange]

Thanks for the post Ronnie, this evening I'll think of this lady's son and all the others who have served and will toast my father in law, green beret in Vietnam, now disabled vet.

[davids]

Heartbreaking. The lost lives, lost innocence, lost peace of mind. I thank God that I have been untouched by that chaos and trauma.

I'll raise a Michter's here tonight, for you and the lost sargeant.

Peace and love, my friend.

[mnoble485]

Ronnie, you and I have talked about that time in our history. The sight of open cargo bays filled with flag drapped coffins is a memory not forgotten. War sucks.
A raised glass to you and those others who had to collect dog tags.
Mike

[holliscx]

-----a poem for you brother----

Happy Warrior by William Wordsworth

sip that pappy till it's smooth while you read about the ideal "man in arms"

ps my dad was in the navy for 21 years but never spoke of war

he wrote letters home to his dad that i hope to read one day

he's only shared that they fed a dog in their boat in vietnam first with food sent from home, he said the dog kept them alive in the canals -- i understood alerting them to danger upstream