I enjoyed this post, with the great pictures, that I found at TMH’s Bacon Bits. I asked The MaryHunter for permission to cross post it here.

May God bless and protect the men and women who protect us and keep us free. Jim

Cross Posted From TMH’s Bacon Bits

by The MaryHunter

To the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, and National Guard: THANK YOU for your profound sacrifice, in order to keep this nation and the world free.

Visit Woman Honor Thyself for a fine tribute.

In honor of Armed Forces Day, I’ve excerpted from my post last year commemorating one of our nation’s platforms of freedom, the USS Midway:

I’ve always been impressed with the aircraft carrier as a profound symbol of our country’s strength and global reach in times of peace and war. Aircraft carriers insinuated their way into my personal life when my young daughter became fascinated with them. This was entirely my fault. You see, during the Afghan War, I would launch a then-2 1/2 year-old F-18 pilot off of the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan (which looked remarkably like her crib), on her mission to seek That Bad Man who Knocked the Two Buildings Down. (Nevermind that the RR still has not seen combat. We just like Reagan around here.) A year later, she was building aircraft carriers with blocks at her day-care center. So when I mentioned to her that I might visit an aircraft carrier during a recent business trip to San Diego, it should have been no surprise that she’d plead with me to “Please take pictures of the aircraft carrier, daddy, that is so cool!”

The Midway served this country for 47 years with distinction and even some “Midway Magic”. It is now proudly docked in San Diego Harbor as a floating museum, under the loving care of volunteers — many of whom actually served on her in times of conflict. She is undergoing constant renovation and new exhibits are under development. She’s truly a top-notch military museum and more: a living memorial to those who served and died with her.

To celebrate Armed Services Day 2005, I present a few more of those pictures my young daughter, the aspiring Annapolis midshipman, asked me to take.

The flight deck, with San Diego skyline in background.

The island, looking up from the dock.

The capstan (for lowering or raising the anchor) within the forecastle.

A look from her flight control center at her younger siblings, the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz, just across San Diego Harbor.