#1 2008-11-30 06:07:59
Meet Bert St. Germain, my best friend of 40 years.
Former marine, former patrolman, former police chief, and most recently a mental health evaluator for the state of Massachusetts, Bert is the same age as me, just turned 54. He watched Saigon fall in 1975.
Bert just deployed to Iraq but do local media outlets care? It took Boston's TV Channel 5 to lead its evening newscast with a profile.
Six kids, two of them preschool and a 97 year old mother here in Wareham, Bert's an MP tasked to convoy duty and training of Iraqi police.
For what it's worth, the local school we both attended didn't give a rats ass about wishing him a safe tour, either. Here's the news story.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/1 … ml?taf=bos
Auto-edited on 2020-08-11 to update URLs
Last edited by billw (2008-11-30 06:15:57)
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#2 2009-09-13 14:00:54
Any relation to Lilly St. Germaine? Brother "Butchy" St. Germaine, former Mass. State Police Officer? Butchy also served in Viet-Nam, U. S. Marine Corps.
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#3 2009-09-13 14:24:18
Good luck to Bert! and safe return!
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#5 2009-09-13 14:39:31
thank you bert and the other 179 troops.. also thanks to thier families and wishes for a safe return home...
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#6 2009-09-13 16:49:38
By the way, I know what school Bill W speaks of.
Used to be a proud place to attend and graduate from, until they started believing their own bullshit.
Bert is a former Marine.
But, Bert knows that once a Marine, always a Marine.
I hope I have the privilege to meet him some day.
I will personally sponsor him as a member of the Marine Corps League.
As a matter of fact, Bill, send me his info and I will make him a member as soon as I get it.
I will pay his lifetime dues, and he will be sponsored by me through the National Headquarters of the Marine Corps League.
Please tell him I thank him for his service,as well as many others on this site that have expressed the same, and I am proud to do whatever I can for him and his men he serves with.
There are no lines drawn between Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Air Force members, etc.
I pray to God that they find Osama and get the hell out of there.
Bring him and our kids home.
Enough is enough.
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#7 2009-09-13 18:03:22
When Bill wrote this Bert was in Iraq.
He is now in Afghanistan in harms way every day, and he has lost some men.
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#8 2009-09-13 22:11:35
danoconnell wrote:
When Bill wrote this Bert was in Iraq.
He is now in Afghanistan in harms way every day, and he has lost some men.
Bert's in Iraq, his tour ends in 3 weeks and I don't know his unit's losses. Bert's oldest son is in Afghanistan.
My personal opinion, both conflicts were unprovoked, driven by greed and ignorance alone.
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#9 2009-09-14 08:35:20
I am sorry for the mistake. I knew that Bert was overseas but thought that he had gone to Afghanistan.
Is this the Lilly and Butch St. Germaine family I asked about?
I agree about the conflicts, as you and I have discussed.
My offer is still open for my sponsorship of Bert to the Marine Corps League.
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#10 2009-09-14 12:08:26
Bert sounds like a man of character, bravery, and loyalty who is sacrificing his personal comforts so that we have the freedom provided by our Constitution and the sacrifices of our founding fathers and those of our military men and women throughout history.
Compare this Marine to the horrble characters running Wareham and the recent letter published in the Wareham Courier and authored by Michael Schneider. Shame on these "horrible cahracters" for soiling the American Flag with their abuses of the freedoms in our democracy. May they be brought to justice swiftly.
Thank you, Bill, for this opportunity to vent and please thank your friend, Bert, for his service.
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#11 2009-09-14 12:54:31
danoconnell wrote:
Is this the Lilly and Butch St. Germaine family I asked about? [...] My offer is still open for my sponsorship of Bert to the Marine Corps League.
I'll mention it. About the first question, I don't think so but I'll check that, too.
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#12 2009-09-14 12:56:48
Thank you, Bill.
Please pass on all of the messages left here to him.
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#13 2009-09-14 13:21:09
waterview wrote:
Bert sounds like a man of character, bravery, and loyalty who is sacrificing his personal comforts so that we have the freedom provided by our Constitution and the sacrifices of our founding fathers and those of our military men and women throughout history.
Compare this Marine to the horrble characters running Wareham and the recent letter published in the Wareham Courier and authored by Michael Schneider. Shame on these "horrible cahracters" for soiling the American Flag with their abuses of the freedoms in our democracy. May they be brought to justice swiftly.
Thank you, Bill, for this opportunity to vent and please thank your friend, Bert, for his service.
Thank you, Bill. I am a flag waving, red, white & blue blooded American. I was touched by this news clip. How hard it must be for a father and son to be so far from home at the same time. We have a young friend from Wareham who is in Afghanistan for one year, only 20 years old. I pray constantly for him and the entire American Military family. Not to take away from this, I agree with Waterview about these "horrible characters" abusing our freedoms in this, our democratic country. And....I mean this from the very top, trickling down to our little town. They need to be held accountable for their actions...........every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
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