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On Veteran's Day

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Cattleman
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On Veteran's Day

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I never had the privilege of serving in our Armed Forces, but my father did, as did at least two of my cousins, several friends, even some of my students. I am compelled to post the following; I found it in Sarah Palin's book "America by Heart." She does not claim authorship, as I recall, she isn't even sure of the author, though she got it via an uncle.

The Veteran

(Copied from America by Heart, by Sara Palin [2010])


It is the veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the veteran, not the campus organizer, who has give us freedom to assemble.
It is the veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the veteran, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.
It is the veteran, who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag,
And whose coffin will be draped by the flag.


To all veterans, living or deceased, a grateful American says "Thank You."
Love what you do, and do what you love. Don't listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. -Ray Bradbury

Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it. -Robert A. Heinlein
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President Camacho

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Re: On Veteran's Day

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I am a Veteran. Please use today to worship me. Effigies of me should be built and sacrificed to. A libation should also be poured during the sacrifice. I will consider all prayers although I may or may not respond favorably as I work in mysterious ways. If your prayers are answered, it's reasonable to build a small temple or place of worship where others may come and bask in my good graces. If I have helped you in a battle, a tenth part of the spoils should be dedicated to me. Bless me and have a happy me day.
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Kevin
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Re: On Veteran's Day

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How is it that the military has become such a PC standout? ...is there anything other than perhaps atheism that politicians (is there even one nationally elected politician who claims to be an atheist?) run faster away from than the suggestion that they don't support "the troops"?

Cattleman, I'm pretty sure Palin saw the quote in a newspaper. "Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead." Pretty good, I think!
The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? - Jeremy Bentham
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etudiant
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Re: On Veteran's Day

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In Canada we have the equivalent, called Armistice Day here. On that day, I empathize with the many who were swept up in history, and had little choice but to endure, and do their best, under appalling circumstances.

However. Each individual must make his or her mind about the validity of the mission governments and military commanders might wish to send them on. Military service can be a noble sacrifice, but it can also be other things.

Offering up one's body as a pawn in a geopolitical game one neither understands, or perhaps cares about, is not all that noble. Many young men shipped to war zones have little real understanding of the events that put them there. They know that their fellows are there, and that there are high expectations of them. It is often only later that a more global understanding arises, and the tragic nature of their actions becomes fully understood.

To the impressionable, military service might seem an adventure; something to lift them out of an otherwise mundane existence. It may be, but it also may have violent and tragic consequences, ones not always foreseen by 17 year olds with exploding hormones, and simplistic views of the world.

As for providing us with all those freedoms, I'm tempted to quote the Bible (probably sacrilege for an atheist): the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. At some points in history, notably WW2 and the cold war, freedom was at stake, and was defended. At many other points in history, freedom was not really much of an issue. Wars were about gaining territory, resources, and similar advantage. Many of these issues mattered little to the average citizen, they were no more, or no less free as a result of the outcome.

Moving to the other end of the spectrum, sometimes the military has actually suppressed freedom. The Indian wars of the 19th century were about taking from the weak- certainly not defending freedom. The military assault on veterans marching on Washington in 1932 was not a defense of freedom. Anything but. The paramilitary RCMP firing on workers during the Winnipeg general strike in 1919 was also, in a very similar vein, not at all about freedom, but preserving the status quo of the powerful.

Veterans, I think, as with all things, should not be immune to a critical eye.
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youkrst

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Re: On Veteran's Day

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"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"
- Eric Bogle

Now when I was a young man, I carried me pack, and I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback, well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
Then in 1915, my country said son, It's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done.
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun, and they marched me away to the war.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda, as the ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the cheers, the flag-waving and tears, we sailed off for Gallipoli
And how well I remember that terrible day, how our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay, we were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well. He shower'd us with bullets,
And he rained us with shell. And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

But the band played Waltzing Matilda, when we stopped to bury our slain.
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, then we started all over again.
And those that were left, well we tried to survive, in that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks, I kept myself alive, though around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head, and when I woke up in my hospital bed,
And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead. Never knew there was worse things than dyin'.

For I'll go no more waltzing Matilda, all around the green bush far and free
To hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs-no more waltzing Matilda for me.
So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, and they shipped us back home to Australia.
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be.
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity.

But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as they carried us down the gangway.
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, then they turned all their faces away
And so now every April, I sit on me porch, and I watch the parades pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore. They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, what are they marching for? And I ask myself the same question.

But the band plays Waltzing Matilda, and the old men still answer the call,
But as year follows year, more old men disappear. Someday no one will march there at all.
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by that billabong, who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG48Ftsr3OI
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Re: On Veteran's Day

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My father, a Navy man, was a veteran of WWII. To the day he died, he never spoke to my siblings or me of the horrors of war that he witnessed, but rather the freedoms we are blessed with in this Country. My late husband, an Army Ranger and disabled veteran of Vietnam, never regailed the exploits of his missions, as I discovered after his death, had earned him numerous medals and commendations. Through the nightmares of war, injuries he carried throughout his life, ten major surgeries and chronic pain that only morphine could ease, he remained strong in his convictions that freedom is worth any price. I am truly proud of our Veterans and all they have endured for us.
Barbara Gordon-Bell
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