Memorial Day

[WriterDom]

I'll be placing a flag on my father's grave. For his entire life he wasn't considered a veteran. He was in the merchant marines. They had a higher death rate in the war than the actual marines. He came under fire more than once. They made all who served under war veterans in 1988.

All my uncles served during WW2 and all made it back home. My brother went through OCS and went to Vietnam as a second Lieutenant. He never saw combat. 75% of his class came back in body bags. Someone was looking out for him.

Today we have young men and women at risk. People who joined up knowing full well we are a war. John McCain's son just graduated the Naval Academy. No matter what you think about Senator McCain, you have to admire his family's service to the nation.

War is a terrible thing. But at times, necessary. I thank all those who served and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

[goodgirlfl]

I agree WD we should all take the time out this weekend and remember what those brave men and women did for our country. We are all free because of their actions and dedication to defend our country.

I will celebrate with you tomorrow. My Dad served in the Navy on a carrier. He passed away in 91 but I am very proud of him.

God bless to all of those that serve their country today.

 

[graceanne]

My dad was in the army, but he doesn't have a grave. And my grandpa served in both world wars, korea, and (I think) vietnam. I'm hoping to get out to the cometary tomorrow. And of course, K's at the MOB station, getting ready to head to Iraq.

 

[WriterDom]

Found a Texan with my name who died in France. My name isn't very common either. Three in Korea and one was from Georgia. I know he must be related somehow.

http://www.abmc.gov/home.php

can search your name there.

 

[unregistered]

 

[Sir_Winston54]

As the son of a 24-year plus, three-war (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) veteran (no matter what else he may have been), and a vet myself (Nam), it angers me when I see so many stand covered (wearing hats) when the flag passes, and so few knowing even that they should (uncovered) put their hands over their hearts, and some refusing even to stand for the colors and the anthem at the beginning of a baseball or football game, etc.

It also shames and angers me that what most people in this country think when they look at the calendar for this week is "Oh, goody! A three-day weekend!" or "Yeah, the Indy 500 and a three-day weekend! Get out the barbie!"

What ever happened to having pride in and love for one's country, and respect for the many thousands who died to give us the freedoms we have? Sometimes I think we're earning our recent loss of many of those freedoms. Yes, this is a topic over which I get more than a tad cranky.

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." - Benjamin Franklin

 

[WriterDom]

As the son of a 24-year plus, three-war (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) veteran (no matter what else he may have been), and a vet myself (Nam), it angers me when I see so many stand covered (wearing hats) when the flag passes, and so few knowing even that they should (uncovered) put their hands over their hearts, and some refusing even to stand for the colors and the anthem at the beginning of a baseball or football game, etc.

It also shames and angers me that what most people in this country think when they look at the calendar for this week is "Oh, goody! A three-day weekend!" or "Yeah, the Indy 500 and a three-day weekend! Get out the barbie!"

What ever happened to having pride in and love for one's country, and respect for the many thousands who died to give us the freedoms we have? Sometimes I think we're earning our recent loss of many of those freedoms. Yes, this is a topic over which I get more than a tad cranky.

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." - Benjamin Franklin

Everyone stands here but people walk around and that just makes me mad.

A little blonde girl would sing the NA for the girl's basketball team. She was on the team. A cappella. So beautiful it would make my eyes mist up every time. I'll miss her next year.

 

[Shankara20]

As the son of a 24-year plus, three-war (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) veteran (no matter what else he may have been), and a vet myself (Nam)...

My father served in the US Army during WW II - Pacific Islands and was called back for Korea. My mothers brother, my uncle, lived thought the Battle of the Bulge but stayed drank the next 30 years. I did two rotations off Vietnam on Navy aircraft carriers to avoid combat in the Army.

My oldest is full time Kansas Air National Guard.

I have deep respect for those who are and have given military service, and for those family members at home when they are away.

War is used all to often, and care is not truly given to those called to service. I know that there are high school classmates of mine living on the streets today who never recovered after getting those draft letters in the 1960's and being sent in-country Vietman.

 

[WriterDom]

About 20% of people back from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from depression or PTSD.

 

[goodgirlfl]

As the son of a 24-year plus, three-war (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) veteran (no matter what else he may have been), and a vet myself (Nam), it angers me when I see so many stand covered (wearing hats) when the flag passes, and so few knowing even that they should (uncovered) put their hands over their hearts, and some refusing even to stand for the colors and the anthem at the beginning of a baseball or football game, etc.

It also shames and angers me that what most people in this country think when they look at the calendar for this week is "Oh, goody! A three-day weekend!" or "Yeah, the Indy 500 and a three-day weekend! Get out the barbie!"

What ever happened to having pride in and love for one's country, and respect for the many thousands who died to give us the freedoms we have? Sometimes I think we're earning our recent loss of many of those freedoms. Yes, this is a topic over which I get more than a tad cranky.

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." - Benjamin Franklin

I hear ya Sir Winston...it is so very sad when people don't respect our country colors and anthem. It is also very sad when the public address announcer at the sporting event has to tell the crowd to "please rise and remove their hats."

I was at a baseball game and a gentleman a few rows behind us was actually talking on his cell phone during the National Anthem. I turned around the gave him a look and then politely told him to show some respect.

Yes so many people take so much for granted, I myself included sometimes.
This weekend hopefully people will remember why we celebrate. And that we can celebrate because of others sacrifices.

 

[intothewoods]

<snip> I thank all those who served and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Ditto.

 

[Homburg]

My pop is a 24-year Army vet. Served from Viet Nam through the first Gulf War. I can't even remotely begin to list all the veterans I'm related, as both sides of my family have had so damned many. Something about young men from small towns signing up. Given my background, and where I live, it would be even more impossible to list the vets and active duty folks I am friends with. My world is filled with people who have given many of the best years of their lives in uniform.

For the most part, my relatives in uniform have been remarkably lucky in wartime. My grandfather left part of his nose and a few toes in Korea. My dad suffered FAR more damage in peacetime than he did in hot theatres, but he's insanely lucky in those situations. The only ones that suffered were my two great uncles. Both hit the beaches of Normandy, and both left far too much of themselves on those beaches. You could see what kind of men the two of them were before the war. It was echoed in Uncle Ed's kindness, and Uncle Joe's humour, but you just couldn't miss the damage that both of them tried to hide. Neither one married. They lived together til one died, and the other died shortly after. And neither one ever talked about the war.

Men like those two, my friend Chuck that died recently (VN vet), my friend Dick that also died a couple of years back (also a VN vet, and one of the greatest guys I've ever known), and the father's of most of my friends growing up, are why I firmly believe that war should not be considered a tool of politics.

I'll be spending Memorial Day with my dad. Best way I can think of to honour the veteran that is most important to me.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

You have to download and install Google Earth™ to see/use it, but a (now) Google employee has created a map of the approximately 5,700 US and Coalition troops who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, called Map The Fallen that can be downloaded at the link (top right side of the blog). It allows you to choose either the place where they died or check hometowns for all the fallen from a particular area.

I wish every citizen *had* to review the fallen from his/her area tomorrow (Memorial Day)... especially the politicians. Perhaps we might then finally figure out that war is failure.

I especially like his closing quote, and would apply it to the epitaph of each of our fallen, from every war:

"There'll be two dates on your tombstone
And all your friends will read 'em
But all that's gonna matter is that little dash between 'em..."​

 

[ImpishSeraph]

Many members of my family served as well. My uncle was a marine in Vietnam, and, as someone else stated above, was not the same when he came back. My grandpa was in WWII. He passed away in March and in his last days held onto a napkin that he used to write a letter to my grandma and sent her while at war. They had kept it in a photo book all these years. My cousin was a marine in our current one. He isn't quite the same either. He lost many friends over there and several of them were standing next to him when they were killed. I myself grew up as a military brat. My dad was in the air force. I came real close to joining after I received my BSME.

I have the utmost respect for the men and women who serve in our military and could never express enough thanks for all they do.

Thank you

 

[Yasashii_Kaze]

I lost my cousin in this war. I have two military/ex-military brothers, my father was in the Navy, and my instructor in tech school just got back in January from a stint in a very rough area of Afghanistan. My boyfriend is a veteran.

I hate war. I despise it. And that hate made me finally understand why they chose the path they did. It has a lot to do with why I am still working to lose weight. If my enlisting in the Guard means that potentially one less family member or loved one has to go through that, then it's worth it.

http://whatthecrap.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/memorial-montage.jpg

 

[Sir_Winston54]

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x95/Sir_Winston54/arlington.jpg

 

[WriterDom]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWbbo_BfmfA

 

[ecstaticsub]

My heart goes out once again to the wife and children of a very dear friend of ours who was shot down over Iraq about 2 years ago. Along with those my husband has known personally while deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan who didn't make it back. This is a difficult day for my husband.

I am going to work today. Glad that I am able to go to work while my husband and kids go to a Memorial service instead of myself wearing black and going alone with my children. There is a nagging feeling of guilt both my husband and I share today that we are together when so many can not be.

 

[Homburg]

There is a nagging feeling of guilt both my husband and I share today that we are together when so many can not be.

Don't feel that way. Be happy that he is with you. Thank whatever Providence you respect for that.

I know too many men and women that stare off into the dark of night and wonder why this one, and not that one.


Nothing was a more stark reminder of the realities of my father's job than watching families move out after finding out that daddy wasn't going to come home. That, to me, is the cost of war.

 

[CurlyKat]

About 20% of people back from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from depression or PTSD.

Approximately 10-15% come back with a mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury).

 

[Netzach]

Approximately 10-15% come back with a mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury).

I don't like that we have a day off. Sometimes I wish we were more totalitarian and everyone would have to work and donate the profits to vet-related causes or hang out with vets or have something to do with the mess being made.

I don't have a lot to say. I feel gratitude, but also anger and frustration. I think about my stepdad. I also think about my grandfather who never left the shore, partly luck partly being subpar at best as a soldier, but there's a huge huge non-combat machine of people that keep crap moving. A lot of mundane work as well as sacrifice.

 

[Netzach]

post dysfunction

also the rate of homelessness among Iraq vets is frightening, and the rate among female returning vets proportionally out of the ballpark. That is some messed up shit. I may not go to a lot of ball games, but I do write Ellison enough to probably get a lunch invite someday.

It's messed up that poverty policy IS veteran policy, but that's simply the case in too many cases. When I see the way middle class people dialogue about the situations facing the poor out one side of the mouth and "veterans" out the other it makes me ill. For every McCain, honorable as that may be, there are a lot of broken, unattractive, and complicated lives without a photo op.

 

[CurlyKat]

I don't like that we have a day off. Sometimes I wish we were more totalitarian and everyone would have to work and donate the profits to vet-related causes or hang out with vets or have something to do with the mess being made.

I don't have a lot to say. I feel gratitude, but also anger and frustration. I think about my stepdad. I also think about my grandfather who never left the shore, partly luck partly being subpar at best as a soldier, but there's a huge huge non-combat machine of people that keep crap moving. A lot of mundane work as well as sacrifice.

I do agree somewhat with your first statement. Spending the day getting to know the military, the people in it, and what life is like for those of us who live it every day would be much better than most people's current use of the day off. I do wish more people would take advantage of the day as it was meant to.

On the flip side, though, I'm exceedingly grateful for the day off, because it's a chance to spend it with my friends and family and destress. My father is still active duty Army, and since the hours are often much more unpredictable than the standard job, this gives us a chance to see each other and relax. I work with the military, and being an American overseas, by process of default nearly all of my friends are in the Army, too, so this day off gives us time together. We do remember the reasoning for it, and honor the vets, both alive and deceased.

post dysfunction

also the rate of homelessness among Iraq vets is frightening, and the rate among female returning vets proportionally out of the ballpark. That is some messed up shit. I may not go to a lot of ball games, but I do write Ellison enough to probably get a lunch invite someday.

It's messed up that poverty policy IS veteran policy, but that's simply the case in too many cases. When I see the way middle class people dialogue about the situations facing the poor out one side of the mouth and "veterans" out the other it makes me ill. For every McCain, honorable as that may be, there are a lot of broken, unattractive, and complicated lives without a photo op.

It is extremely sad. I have the feeling I'll get a lot of backlash for this statement, but having lived, breathed, and observed this my entire life, please keep in mind I DO know what I'm talking about. I think that a lot of the poverty, homelessness, and broken lives we see in veterans has to do with the reaction of the population in general. Everyone in this thread has said how honorable and heroic the actions of the military are, but you would be surprised at how many people will publicly scorn soliders for what they do, and are honestly blatantly prejudiced against anything to do with the military.

That's not to say that public reaction forms everyone's fate, but there's only so much you can fight. If you've already given everything you can to defend a nation, but then all you hear is the voice of that nation saying they think you're evil, it takes all will to live a proper life right out of you.

There are other issues involved, sure, such as lingering PTSD/TBI/behavioral issues that came from things seem or done in war, but I don't think these things are to take the total blame for the statistics of homeless veterans. The Army at least is doing quite a bit in preparation of a solider leaving the service. You have to go through one year of counselling and training, resume writing and job interviewing, before you can leave. Then, it's many times very, very easy to get a civilian job with the military because of the prior service preferance rules. Even if you want to get away completely, the Army Career and Alumni Program does a very good job of trying to place and care for any solider leaving the Army.

 

[WriterDom]

It is extremely sad. I have the feeling I'll get a lot of backlash for this statement, but having lived, breathed, and observed this my entire life, please keep in mind I DO know what I'm talking about. I think that a lot of the poverty, homelessness, and broken lives we see in veterans has to do with the reaction of the population in general. Everyone in this thread has said how honorable and heroic the actions of the military are, but you would be surprised at how many people will publicly scorn soliders for what they do, and are honestly blatantly prejudiced against anything to do with the military.

.

Some places maybe. They flew a young man remains into here and the town lined the route as they took his body to another county. We might not have a Burger King here but we have ROTC in the high school.

 

[CurlyKat]

Some places maybe. They flew a young man remains into here and the town lined the route as they took his body to another county. We might not have a Burger King here but we have ROTC in the high school.

I've seen the same. And like I said, this isn't every place, but it's prominent enough for soldiers to fear coming home to that reaction. And while the initial homecoming is welcome, the gross misunderstanding of the general population in how a service member needs to deal with it most likely greatly contributes to the pulling away of society and the lack of concern over one's own well-being.

Just my thoughts on society as a whole. The theory holds true for other things, too, not just military.