Nice thought. FWIW I think we, as a nation, have come a long way in remembering the value of our veterans from the times when the Korean War vets were basically ignored, to the Vietnam vets who were disparaged our of hand, to the relatively kind treatment the Iraq and Afghanistan vets have received. We finally learned! I cried when I visited the Wall! I still well up when I think about it and why it came about. I highly recommend a visit, if you can, to honor our Vietnam vets.
Have a reflective Memorial day.
For all the veterans, veteran families and those who support veterans in the US and abroad I want to personally thank you. Thanks for all the courage, sacrifice and honorable things you have done. And please reflect on this day and honor what others have done for you, for your way of life. Say thanks to a veteran and their family...
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Nothing like pissing on the graves of those who died in combat to have their memory twisted and spun for political reasons by an idiot. All the best, |
Let’s face it, hardly anyone really cares about all those who tragically lost their lives fighting other people’s wars, do they? Or those who suffered terrible pain and injuries whilst doing so. Or even think of their loved ones and the impact it had on their lives. The plain fact is these unfortunates have been routinely used as cannon fodder for centuries by some of those who would spend their entire lives cosseted and protected in lives of luxury. Isn’t that what all these wars are really for? To enable a select greedy few psychopaths who have climbed to the top of the pyramid to live in luxury? Great Britain declared war on Germany two times (1914 and 1939) and the consequences of that are still being felt today. Meanwhile, as difficult to believe as it seems, given what we know of war, there still seem to be thousands of people worldwide clamouring for an escalation of the war in Ukraine. A war against a nuclear armed superpower no less. Weren’t the 2 atomic bombs that were dropped on the citizens of Japan enough?
We can do no more to honour the dead and the injured than to do our absolute best to ensure that there will be no more future wars. Didn’t our forefathers say that World War 2 was the war to end all wars? |
@nonoise + 1 - yeah, I reported that horrible post. |
cd318- A very valid and poignant point. And I asked for everyone to reflect. Still, I don't honor and respect those who served, those who fight and those who paid the ultimate price any LESS because they fought in a rich man's war, or for a nation full of privileged leaders making really bad decisions. I am an American and I still have hope for this country. I pray I am not naive. |
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Memorial Day is not a holiday so we as Americans can honor the elite ruling class but the men and women who served and did their duty, at costs some of us will never truly understand or appreciate. It should be clear to all now, that we the masses are just cannon fodder for the interests of global money. God bless those who fought and died, but it would be a just cause to have less of them. |
Do most people really believe that no War is ever fought for a valid cause? @cd318 seems to think that Great Britain declaring War on Germany was unjust. Does he really think that having the Nazis rule the world for the last 80 years would have been a good thing? And does he think that Ukraine should just roll over and let Putin run their lives? Sometimes there are no valid alternatives. |
I live in Washingtons Crossing PA. a couple of miles from where his troops camped and crossed, also there is a National Cemetary an equal distance from my home. Along a bluff overlooking the Delaware are 21 graves of unknow soldiers who froze to death and were buried Christmas eve, before Washington's historic crossing and march on Trenton to surprise the Hessians billeted at the old barracks. From Trenton, they went on to fight the battle of Princeton. Those confrontations turned the wars outcome. The National Cemetary is much different in volume where thousands of veterans are interned. Simple white crosses aligned in orderly fashion mark there resting place. A silent symmetry of valor and sacrifice. If only mankind was smart enough to get along and armies were not needed what a world it could be.
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I would suggest that “supporting the troops” is actually much more demanding than most Americans seem to believe. I would recommend to all Americans these three books to help us to discharge this important responsibility: Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country (American Empire Project)
Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out Against America's Misguided Wars |
cd318- A very valid and poignant point. And I asked for everyone to reflect. Still, I don’t honor and respect those who served, those who fight and those who paid the ultimate price any LESS because they fought in a rich man’s war, or for a nation full of privileged leaders making really bad decisions. I am an American and I still have hope for this country. I pray I am not naive.
You’re right, we must not blame those who were doing what they believed was their duty. However, I’m not so hopeful when it comes to the motives of those who would seek to rule over us. Not when they appear to be 2 faced war mongering psychopaths who hypocritically exploit remembrance events in the same highly public way that some celebrities use charity events. Looking to humanity’s best minds is of little comfort either. Darwin thought that life is a battle for survival over resources and this has been borne out in virtually ever single war. Freud revealed that the human id has a very dark side, and even a cursory glance through history bears this out. Basically human greed appears to be limitless. Whatever someone has, you can bet someone else wants it and will go to extreme lengths to get it. Haven’t most wars been over land and territory, money and resources? How did 1% of humanity end up with 99% of its wealth? How can they live with themselves with the knowledge that they could ease immeasurable hardship and suffering without any perceived financial hardship to themselves?
Stealing someone’s oil is not sacrifice, it is crime. Case in point. Oil is a very valuable resource. We can’t blame those who fought, only those who sent them to fight. A soldier never gets to choose anything. Tony Blair, the ex Prime Minister of the UK is despised by many today for his willingness to send young men and women to their deaths on what proved to be a lie. There never were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Ultimately, who cares when only the winners get to write the history?
If only mankind was smart enough to get along and armies were not needed what a world it could be. A noble sentiment, but one that is also incredibly idealistic. There has never been a war free year in the history of mankind.
In any case, as I already said, if people in power/psychopaths remotely cared for the dead and injured they would do everything in their power to broker peace and prevent further carnage. Let’s not forget that countries like Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal etc remained neutral throughout WW2. Even the US, which later blotted it’s copybook on a truly epic global scale remained fairly neutral til the end of 1941 after France had fallen, much in the same way they joined the party late in WW1 only after events in Russia went against their wishes. Of course prior to that the US was happily lending huge amounts of money to the various warring factions. Billions of people. And yet still no mention of peace talks and/or face saving negotiations. I guess we should be eternally grateful that Kennedy and Kruschev came to their senses back in those dark days of late1962. Here's a Jan 2023 quote from the infamous Doomsday Clock website: "This year, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moves the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward, largely (though not exclusively) because of the mounting dangers of the war in Ukraine. The Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been."
Once again, if anyone truly wants to respect the fallen, and the sacrifices they made and their loved ones must forever live with, then those people, especially those who claim to lead us, should, by all means possible, do their very utmost to prevent future wars. Anything else is empty rhetoric and would be a callous disgrace to their memory.
Let’s just have fun and stick to music and gear. Please. I think we do, at least for 99% of the time. However every rule must have an exception. We are not the band on the Titanic, blind to extremely important external events, are we? |
