Happy Memorial Day

as an american, i'm not always proud of my country.
sometimes i am though.

http://www.npr.org/2013/05/27/186752528/france-pays-tribute-to-first-u-s-fighter-pilots

 

not proud of this contry, but those that serve it sure as hell are doing me a favor, This day's for you!!

 

Memorial Day is a somber day.

The memorializing of the fallen got taken over by the kick-off-Summer celebration and that seems sad. There should be two different days to do these things.

Today, I'm thinking of my 3rd Great Grandfather who was taken prisoner during the Civil War Battle Of Kennesaw Mountain Georgia and died of diarrhea three months later in Prisoner Of War Camp Douglass in Illinois.

One of his buddies, who was fighting beside him, told his wife that he died during battle and was buried there at Kennesaw Mountain. I'm glad that she never knew what really happened to him. Nobody in our family knew this until I found all the info during my genealogy work.

He is one of the soldiers buried in the Confederate Mound in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago.

 

:2thumbsup:

Memorializing and celebrating aren't exclusive me thinks. Maybe you're thinking of the bastardization of the holiday by Madison Avenue?
That is sad but no different than any other holiday...

Thanks for sharing that story and pic Aeri. I try to reflect a bit too.. more on the meaning and significance, and gratitude that I live here and not a real shithole somewhere.

The only close relative of mine that was lost in a war was my uncle in WWII. He was a navigator/bombardier on a B-17, and basically died sitting inside a tin can like this one below, waiting to get off the ground during a japanese air raid.
Guess there's worse ways to go, but people that knew him said he was a really smart dude.

atriot:

 

Yes, Voyage - We can celebrate their brave spirits!

 

this pic says it alll

 

^^Wow.

 

Yeah, that's a pretty cool piece of art.

 

Someone sent me that on facebook

 

And those are British WWII uniforms.

 

A message of this depth transcends nationality.

 

After Vietnam .. Its a Volunteer Military .. I dont even respect myself anymore for the atrocities that I joined in the Gulf War-s. It has most definitely changed my life for the worst, not for the better.. But Id have to add that my social status growing up, being force feed into poverty via corrupt catholic education system, led me down that road of fake ass glory,, with a bunch of half witted gung-ho douchebags, that I wouldnt trust around my sister if I had one..



Nuclear weapon keep everyone in the conus warm and safe at night..

 

Nope....but it doesn't really matter.

 

fuck off warmonger Im not in the mood!!

 

Warmonger?

 

Probably wasn't a happy day for the dead soldiers. Especially when they died and found out they only died for the profits of the military industrial contractors. The last time a soldier died for their country was WWII. Since then they died for Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Grenada, the drug war in Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. But none died defending our freedom. The war machine contractors continue to make a killing on them though. What a stupid thing to die for.

 

The average age of veterans who commit suicide is 59 years old. While suicide attempts have decreased, the daily suicide rate is up, from 18 veterans a day to now 22.

The number is growing because of post-traumatic stress disorder, and there are ways veterans and loved ones can reach out for help through hotlines and local organizations.

When 26-year-old Shawn McIntyre returned from service in Afghanistan, he says he wasn't the same.

"I became short tempered. Had a lot of nightmares. Hard time driving down the road, in crowded places. I hit rock bottom. I had a suicide attempt where I didn't want to live no more," says McIntyre.

McIntyre says he didn't want to fight anymore, so he went looking for help. That's when he found a local program called "Warrior Salute."

Robert Mixon, the VP of CDS Monarch says the organization is, "gravely concerned about the suicide attempts and what they represent. It represents the despair that we as Americans have to do something about."..

thanks for the Oil..

 

So how does covering all the shit most thinking people know about the fucked up government/industrial/military crap that's ALWAYS gone on...

How is that a response to a day of recognition for all the people that died serving... (sorry, US-centric holiday)

It's not about how or why they served, or how you feel about the causes of the fighting in the first place.

This was just a little post of recognition and respect.

Besides, Memorial Day was 3 days ago so Orison hows about you just lock this thread and everyone can go bitch in the political threads.

:banghead:

 

It's pretty stressful to have to live with killing a million innocent civilians for the profits of the military industrial contractors.

 

you're an ass.