Hi ALL... wow... it is 2010 and I have really not put much up on the site because were remaking the site. Working with the Master of Web Site Creation "John Thow" the new site is almost done... As most of you know I work on the large orders that give all of you the chance to see and get the new patches we make for the military. So, becuase of that I dont get to put up all the new patches and yea there are A LOT of new patches to put up...

We will be taking down old patches on the old site until the new one is up and running...

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

'Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq'

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago '

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of the plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life,
wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America'
for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'
That is Honor, and there are way too many people
in this country who no longer understand it.'

--
Melissa Newell

PIN DROP
When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of
empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent
many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom
beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return
is enough to bury those that did not return. You could have heard a pin
drop. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then there was a conference in France where a number of
international engineers were taking part, including French and American.

During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room
saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an
aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he
intended to do, bomb them?'

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have
three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are
nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore
facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000
people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh
water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for
use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We
have eleven such ships; how many does France have? ' You could have heard a
pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals
from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a
cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers
which included personnel from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks
but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many
languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we
always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking
French?'

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because
the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have
to speak German.' You could have heard a pin drop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE... A group of retired American
teachers recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly
gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few
minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.

'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the customs officer
asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted he had been to France previously.
'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.' The American
said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.' 'Impossible.
Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France !'

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he
quietly explained. 'Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44
to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any Frenchmen to show it to.'
You could have heard a pin drop

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Is A Veteran? A Veteran -- whether active duty, discharged, retired,
or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check
made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and
including his life.'

That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country
today who no longer understand that fact.

Some of our GREAT CLIENTS we made OFFICIAL PATCHES for...
This is what makes us so GREAT, these people chose SFSPATCHS to make their items.. and so many other units to come...!!!!!

We have so many more to come.. Yes we are Proud and Honored to have made these patches.

When you meet a Veteran who did as much as
John McCain did for this country, please Thank Him or Her...

Yea we know who we are PROUD of..
And dont you forget it....
Navy Pilot, US Senator

Some Web Sites for you...
Just cut and paste or click the link below.. Great Sites for you

WEB DESIGN, ARTIST, and AVIATION PHOTOGRAPHY, This person is the BEST...

http://www.jthow.com

SLICKPIXELS aviation photos... great stuff....

http://jthow.com/slickpixels/

Live ATC from your computer, Great Site...

New Items
New Items we are very happy to offer to you;
We are back into the custom model business again,,, So many of you still want these beautiful models and we brought them back! The new ones see below are a creation of mine. A custom 1/2 plane and plaque, no more models on the shelf so it can be knocked down. We have this great new idea, I know your gona love this... We can make Airliners, Military Fighter, Heavy's and Private Aircraft. Sorry No Helicopters, they just don't work on a plaque.
We are also re-making our line of Chubby Models... See them all on our Model Pages..

CUSTOM 2D Aircraft Models/ Plaques.

CUSTOM TAIL FLASH PLAQUES:
Unlike anything you have seen in the past..
We will make up the tail of ANY AIRCRAFT .. just send us the photos and it will be done.

CUSTOM TAIL FLASH PLAQUES

Oh yea... did we tell you we make CUSTOM NAME TAGS...
Please note they are for orders of 12 or more name tags at a time....

Our Hats off to the USAF and a GREAT NELLIS Air Show 2007
the following photos were taken by Rick and Kevin
this past weekend Nov 11-12 2007.
NO USE OF THESE PHOTOS WITHOUT DIRECT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF SFS

SEPTEMBER 2008
** Just a side note...
We have to thank this person and the jokes on this web site because after this was put up on line, we have received more business from the military then everbefore.
So, thanks USAF PATCHES for your lies and jokers... it has really helped my business.... 01/17/10

Its not often we find a person so upset that we are making "Official" military patches, (especially ones that are so popular with collectors) we have to write an open letter to them. This open letter is to the owner of USAF PATCHES. COM, just one person who is full of jealously, and hate for me and my company. The reason is because, this person had used his web site to spill out lies and hate, but I am not allowed to leave any messages to state the truth on his web site, so I do it on my web site.

Over a week ago, I received a message on Ebay ( from this owner of USAFPATCHES.COM web site) for an item we made up for the New York Air Guard (under contract). This item was paid for by this squadron with a Govt. Military Credit Card, and I was questioned about this item. On our recent Ebay listings I have been putting the following info... WE OWN THIS ITEM

It was on all of the 13 items listed for that week, but of course he chose just one of the 13 listed patches. We had this info on our Tomcat Patches, our Navy Patches and yes our Air Force Patches. But this person had chose to pick on ONE Patch, because of his jealousy of our shop. How very sad... He asked me how I could own this item, well its easy I made it up and I paid for it, (the few I kept for Ebay ) and when you buy something with your own money, well you own it. We have had so may of our patches being ripped off and made over seas and then found on Ebay; I felt is was time for this response, "We Own it because we Made it!"

We look at it this way... You go to Ford for a new car, when you pay for the car you have the right to say you OWN IT, its not Ford's any more, ( with him he feels Ford always owns it, I am glad he does not work for Ford, I would have to give up driving...) I guess this Air Force Officer does not understand this concept. Again, how very sad... So, with this in mind I answered his question with Ebay and because I had known it was him and with his past record and web site of lies about my little very successful company, I really gave it to him. He then responded back to me with this answer..

.Dear sfspatches,

SFSPatches -- thanks for the answer. BTW, just to let you know, I'm a USAF Weapons School graduate and am in the process of PCSing to Nellis to become an instructor at the school. I'll be sure to spread your answer around the school and the base when I get there -- especially the Weapons School and the base legal folks. And by the way, did I mention I run usafpatches.com?

With this answer we have taken this as a threat.

Now, I have been making patches for the US Military for the past 22 years. Most of you know I am also a Navy Veteran and reenlisted in the USNR and still serve this great nation with Pride and Honor. I have never once used this position to make threats, or even help my little company. I would not do this and "no one" should use their "military position" to make threats, it is unethical and immoral.

I have made up thousands of patches for the USAF and still do. Why? Because they come to me for their patches. Why? Because of the pride in my company and pride in the great men and women of the armed services of this great nation. I give them a great patch with the highest quality and a great low cost. But I guess that is not good enough for this person. I also learned recently that this person has a few friends who are my competition and have web sites also.

He (USAF PATCHES) is doing all he can to tarnish my good name and harm my company and the few employees I have. He ( USAF PATCHES) obviously allows people to Lie on his web site( USAF PATHES. COM) and in his forums and without letting me tell my side of the story and the truth. This shows his lack of respect and freedom of speech that he sworn to uphold in the U.S. Constitution. Is this why he joined our military, for Freedom of Speech and to fight for all of our country, not just the parts he likes? After all he informed me he is a "USAF" Officer.

Being in business for the past 22 years, we have never once filed for any type of bankruptcy (another one of this web sites lies). We make patches under contract for a squadron because they wanted it made up. I think this person would be happy if we closed the doors of this web site shop and stopped selling these patches to you the wonderful and great collectors we have. Well think again, we have weathered people like this in the past and will do it again and again...!

I recently looked for letters for problems with our service to our clients, and all I find is emails with great words of praise. If you do not know the truth don't lie about it... If anyone has any question's just ask me, I will be more than happy to answer them for you, unlike USAF PATCHES. COM. Because, I will tell you the truth and not post lies or allow anyone to lie about this other web site or the owner of this web site. It's just not our way, we don't believe in slander or childish games...

Thank you all for your time and thank you for your support. I will do my best to give you the best quality items at the best cost for the rest of my days on this earth. I also wish the owner of this web site the very best, no threats, just warm prayers and thoughts for him and his family. I would like to show him, and you that we rise above the slander of his web site and rise above the childish and uncalled for words of a jealous person.

I am going do what we have been doing for years, serving you with PRIDE and HONOR... Lets just stop these childish games and lets shake hands and handle this like adults.

God Bless you all, and thank you for all your support and help.

Rick Rizzo
Owner, SFSPATCHES.COM