HOT DOG... Phil...you solved the problem.....
iptables -I INPUT 1 -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT I've been beating my head against the wall for so long that I didn't realize that this command not only stopped reply packets from having to traverse the whole chain, but it would also allow access to replys that were not destined to a specific port. I feel rather silly now because I KNEW that but didn't put two and two together. Thank you all for your help. Jason, Noah, Phil, I really appreciate all your input. I have never worked on a firewall before this one so my learning curve is quite high!!! Thanks again!
