Thursday, November 11, 2010

Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Welcome to my little part of the Land of the Free, Because of the Brave Blog Hop. I hope you find a way to thank a veteran or many veterans today!

You should have arrived from  Judy's blog and you will go to Groovy Deb's blog next.

John M. Ferguson - Marine Corps Raider

The project I picked to do for this blog hop is a double page scrapbook layout about a man who served our country in the first elite fighting force of the United States Armed Forces - the Marine Corps Raiders. John Ferguson and his wife Avis were our dear neighbors at our last house.  They moved in behind us a year after we moved there and were our neighbors for eleven years. During those years they became our adopted parents.

Until I met John, I had never known about the Marine Raiders. They were only in force for two years during WWII, from 1942 until 1944.  There was controversy about having a group considered the "elite of the elite." In the article I used for my scrapbook page, it says there were about 5,000 Marine Raiders. In an article I found when I Googled Marine Raiders, it said around 8,000.  Either way, when you think of the millions of men who fought in that war, the Raiders were a small group.  Another reason for controversy, many of the men who were trained for this special force were found fighting right along the side Marines they would have fought along side, with or without the special training. So there were those who thought there was not a need to train special forces. That would not be true for John, he saw a lot of action where they sent Raiders in ahead of the rest. He was in a 3-man shooting group with  two men he trained with from the beginning. He spent most of his time with these two men during the war and on the wrong side of enemy lines more often than not. He did missions where just a handful of Marine Raiders would go in, get the information about where Japanese camps were set up, etc. and relay that information back. Then the Marines Corps troops came in with full force.

John is now one of just a hand full of Raiders still living. He is a part of what is called the Last Man Committee, which was formed by younger Marine. Since they were the youngest, they figured they would be ones to outlive the others.  John is 84 now and going stronger than we ever dreamed possible just four years ago, when his doctors gave him 2 to 3 days to live.  What the doctors did not know is they do not tell John when he is ready to die! He will decide that for himself!  He, "still had things at home that needed to be finished."  As he started doing better, a doctor came to talk to him about spending 30-45 days in the rehabilitation unit.  John told him he would stay 30 days. Then he needed to be home.  By staying that long, he would be home just in time for his and Avis' 60th wedding anniversary. They celebrated that anniversary, and on June 1, 2010, celebrated their 64th anniversary.

I am proud to call John my friend and my "other dad!"

Operation Comfort

The other night my husband told me he saved an episode of "Two Guys' Garage" for me to watch with him, because they were showing something he knew I would like.  He was right! They were showing a program that is part of "Operation Comfort" called "Automotivation." The Automotivation program provides a place for wounded veterans to learn about working on vehicles.  In the part they showed the other night, they were learning different welding techniques and making welding tables that would move up and down to be accessible from a wheelchair. It was the kind of show that made you count your blessings and not want to ever complain again. I had tears in my eyes for a lot of it. They were good tears though. I was happy for those veterans for not giving up hope and proud of the attitudes they had. I had written down the web site so I could look at it myself, and later thought of it again when I started to do this blog post.

Blog Hop Order

KarelJ at One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity
Celeste at Touched By a Butterfly
Deb at Tidbit’s Place
Michelle at Peanut Butter and Jelly Designs
Jennifer at ScrappingYoung’s
Diane at Crafting This Moment
Judy at Be Present Be Real
Marianne at Life From Marianne’s Table        YOU ARE HERE
Deb at If It’s Groovy
Christel at One Scrappin’ Sista
Belinda at Queen Bee’s Musings
Colleen at Col’s Creative Corner
Summer and Jennifer at Cricut Diaries
Rachel at Suburban Crafter
Gina at Gina Thornton Stamping
Becky at Sew in Stitches
Rebecca at Creations With Becca
Bobbi Jo at Sweet Sassy Diva
Angie at Gypsy Paperie
Linda at The Tulip Collector

Lots of Blog Candy!

You have two chances to win prizes for completing the whole blog! The prizes have been donated just for this special cause, and come from the generous Marlo, who has donated a Scrap’NTote and Anne, from Paper Patch Craft, who has donated a  Spellbinders Nesties in the Crown Circle Shape.  We all thank them both so much! Without their participation this blog hop would not nearly as much for for the bloggers as it will be thanks to them!
The rules for entering are the same for both prizes: Hop along our path and leave a comment AND a way to contact you on each and every stop. On Friday, November 12, KarelJ will use random.org to choose the winners. She will email the winner and then tt is up to the winner to contact KarelJ at ksjennings(at)gmail(dot)com. If she has not been contacted by Monday, November 15, another winner will be chosen.

My Project


Here are the pages I did featuring John:


You can see I cut out the middle of the papers that were being used as frames, to be saved to use in other places in the project

Double Page Layout
Closer look at left page

Another Chance to Win

I will draw a number from random.org on Friday from the comments left on my blog You do not have to become a follower to win this candy. The winner will receive a little bit of red, white and blue blog candy as a part of their prize from me.

A peak at the Candy from my Blog - There will be something added to this.
 



















In Closing
Now, before you go, please leave a comment to let me know you were here, and then you can go check out what Groovy Deb has for you on her blog!


Thank you again for stopping by my blog!  Good luck as you hop around!  Above all today, REMEMBER, THANK, AND PRAY FOR THOSE SERVICE MEMBERS WHO HAVE MADE IT THE LAND OF THE FREE!!

51 comments:

Summer said...

Your project is so sweet! TFS

Scrappin' Sista said...

Amazing! I love the story and your LO. TFS!

Christel
Blog Hop Sista
www.onescrappinsista.blogspot.com
christel(at)majesticdesigns(dot).net

Anonymous said...

Absolutely beautiful pages...Thank you so much for the chance to win some wonderful candy...

Unknown said...

What an inspiring story. Thanks so much for sharing it...and your wonderful tribute to John. Thanks for sharing in the hop. Karelj

Terri said...

Love the pages...I really like that you included the newspaper article!!!! I want to thank everyone that fight for our freedom in this country!!

Terri
tycole(at)frontiernet(dot)net

Melanie Holzwarth said...

I love your pages and your blog candy is simply yummy. Thank you for sharing with us today.

Melanie
Scrappily Ever After Blog

Tonya said...

I love the lo and the story. Thank you for sharing with us.

Tonya

tleigenheer at yahoo dot com

Hoo's Crafty! said...

I love how you added the article. Great layout!!

Liza
lizahenderson814@yahoo.com

Michelle said...

What a great layout. Thank you for sharing. That program sounds great for our veteran's

mpetrovich23(at)yahoo(dot)com

johnnysgirl said...

Great layout, if only everyone got to know their neighbors they might learn some piece of history.
cheryl
c.antley130@comcast.net

Laura said...

Awesome layout!!!
lauraleed48atlivedotca

B said...

Fab layout and awesome story!

michelle said...

Thank you Maryanne please do not enter me in the Rak .. . Your project is very sweet and so cool . . .

Michelle 3624

Marlene said...

Thank you for participating in this important blog hop. Your pages are amazing. I have never heard of the Marine Raiders until now, so I appreciate you sharing!

Tammy said...

I love John's story, as a Military Wife myself, I know many Marines and finer people you will never meet! Thanks to John and all of our Service Men and Women for the sacrifices they make so we can be safe and free.
Tammy
otrbanks at earthlink dot net

~*Jen*~ said...

What a wonderful story about your friend and chosen family, John!! Loved it. What a wonderful layout you dedicated to him and his fellow Marines. Fabulous!! Thanks!

alaska.girl.24(at)hotmail(dot)com

TR said...

Thank you for acknowledging and honoring
our veterans. They are a brave troupe.


TR

scrapperbecka said...

WOW! That is an amazing story. I have studied WWII a lot, I find this war to be the most interesting out of all of them and I never knew that, thank you for sharing

Angie said...

What a wonderful story! The layout you made tells a great story. Thanks for being in the hop.

Granny Anne said...

Love your story and your layout. Thanks for sharing.

grannyanne16@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

Wonderful LO!! Thanks for the hop!!
miller896042atbellsouth.net

Marionment said...

Thank you for sharing such an amazing story.
marionment@msn.com

Cherylann's "Outta-My-Mind " said...

I loved the story you posted. I live near Enon Ohio where the Honor Flights started. It is so important that we preserve these stories.
Cherylann (prinkles)
prinkles@woh.rr.com

Unknown said...

I love this story. Thanks for joining this hop. I love red white and blue

Burffrau @ aol dot com

pattyk said...

Thank you for sharing Johns wonderful story. Please give him a big thanks from me. great hop millierose651@aol.com

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story. I love the pages you did. I am a followert.
stuff at gt dot rr dot com

jennyplace2 said...

Beautiful job on your projects, TFS! and thanks for the chance to win the blog candy.
jennyplace26@gmail.com

LesleyfromWI said...

Love the LO. I love reading all the stories from everyones blogs.
lfuchs1 at wi. rr. com

CyndiU said...

Wonderful two-page layout and the story was eye-watering good. TYFS and being a part of the hop.

cureta2 at yahoo dot com

Kathy Balman said...

Love that you have a newspaper article adds to your page kathybalman@gmail.com

Unknown said...

love the layout and blog candy..
thanks for sharing..
juicycreations808@gmail.com

Crystal said...

Thank you so much for sharing his story. I had never heard of the Raiders either but it is fascinating. Thank you for honoring him!

ScrappinMomma said...

Love your love and great blog candy
NYGIRL1994 at yahoo dot com

Patricia Hurlburt said...

Love your layouts and the story behind them...As for John....Semper Fi!!

lilbitee1971athotmaildotcom

Josie0602 said...

I have loved reading the stories today...thanks for sharing yours with us!

tracyg398 at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

beautiful!!!

craftymomma
stratus2134@aol.com

Penny said...

Great layout and what a wonderful story. Thank you for doing this and for the opportunity to win.

pennyspad at sbcglobal dot net

ScrappingDeb said...

OMgosh I am so loving these stories. Happy to be hopping with you.

SweetSassyDiva said...

wonderful layout! I'm so honored to be part of this blog hop! i love how you added the article
http://sweetsassydiva-gspot.blogspot.com

Groovy Deborah said...

Let me just say that I REALLY LIKE JOHN! He sounds like a great guy that knows what he wants out of his life here and good for him! Good for you making scrappy pages in his honor too!

Prayers all the time from my side of the USA for all of those who are serving and for those who have served they also desrve our compassion, attention and most definately respect! Thanks to John!

HVD, Groovy Deb♥
groovydeb@yahoo.com

Gina Thornton said...

I love your project! I wouldn't have thought to use newspaper on a LO. Did you have to do something special to it? I mean, to prevent it from yellowing?

Thanks for hopping along with us!
Gina
GRKIDDO at Verizon.net

cdm317 said...

Wow, your tribute took my breath away. What an amazing man! I loved the layout about him. We are all so lucky that he gave so much for us, and he has in a way, touched all our lives. You also chose an incredible organization. I saw that show too, awe inspiring...
Colleen
www.scrappycol.blogspot.com

Clara said...

Beautiful LO. I never knew about the Marine Corps Raiders. Amazing!
TFS
Clara

stefeni said...

Thanks for sharing your story and beautiful layout pages!

spunkycrayon at yahoo dot com

Dana said...

Thanks for sharing. The scrapbook layout turned out GREAT!

dmcarlisle09atgmaildotcom

Stacey said...

Thank you for sharing your story and being part of this blog hop!

shalbgewachs(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

Becky said...

Marianne, love the page you created! Must be some of that Fiskateer magic ;-) I have been hopping through tonight to see what everyone else posted!
I am so amazed at all the cool creations!

Take care,
Becky
Fiskateer #7338

BUZZY BEE DESIGNS and GRAPHICS said...

Absolutely beautiful pages...Thank you so much for the chance to win some wonderful candy. Thanks for doing this hop my husband is a VET. Rebecca Minor
buzzybeedesignsATyahooDOTcom

Vicki said...

Beautiful layouts. Thanks for much for sharing.

vwilson577 at yahoo.com

Norma said...

Great layout!!!Thank you for sharing!!!!

doverdi said...

Great layout & tribute. Thanks for being part of the blog hop. God bless all of the veteran's & military who sacrificed so much for our countries.