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to those member who have served...thanks

solus

Regular Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
9,315
Location
here nc
your service to our country, is noted and certainly appreciated...

ipse
 

Citizen

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
18,269
Location
Fairfax Co., VA
to those member who have served...thanks

Former USMC here. You're welcome.

But, I no longer consider my service deserving of thanks.

Permit me to relate a little something. In boot camp, the USMC made a big deal of one of its most famous Marines, Gen. Smedley Butler. We were required to know about "old gimlet eye" (penetrating eyes). Now, Smedley Butlter changed his stripes. He finally realized that the US military is used not to fight for rights, but to fight to forward the interests of government and big business. He wrote a short book about it, now in the public domain, "War is a Racket." He even proposed the Peace Amendment (google it).

But, boot camp never mentioned those other things. Just "gimlet eye" and the vague impression that he was a very important Marine.

Now, why would your average Drill Instructor or the colonel in charge of training at Parris Island require his recruits to know about Smedley Butler, but without mentioning the rest of his story after he resigned? Butler destroyed most of the US justifications for war. Think about this for a moment, a USMC general repudiated his entire military career, and the government motives for which he fought.

Its almost as though the drill instructors and training officers wanted us to know. There really is no other reason to mention Butler or require knowing about him. He wasn't more effective that Howling Mad Smith or the other famous officers of the USMC. Its almost as though the drill instructors and training commander wanted us to have that little thread those of us smart enough could pursue later.

Alas, I wasn't smart enough. It wasn't until years later that I came across War is a Racket. By this point, I had already read the biography of the most venerated Marine officer, Lt. Gen. Lewis (Chesty) Puller. Already knowing Puller's military postings, Butler's words rang true when he recounted in War is a Racket some of the same campaigns Puller was involved in. That plus my high-school history teacher's implied meanings came back to me.

I was lucky enough to serve during relative peace time. So, I didn't risk any skin. At that point in my youth (stupid) I was willing to take on a whole squad of Russian infantry--and dumb enough to think I could.

But, since then, I've concluded that even my willingness to step into harm's way was misplaced trust in rhetoric, jingoism, and pedagoguery. I didn't fight for anybody's rights, and if Butler is right in War is Racket, by extension neither did most of our nation's war dead.

So, you're welcome. But, I think most of our war maimed and dead deserve not so much to be remembered for their sacrifice, but for the deceptions that induced their sacrifice. They were the good guys believing in what they were doing; it was government's deceptions that got them killed. Remember that this Memorial Day, and I will consider my service worth something.
 
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skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Warning: rant follows.

But first - thank you for your thanks and/or support.

[Rant]The timing of your comment is bothersome. Tremendously bothersome.

Memorial Day, before it was the day swimming pools and amusement parks opened for the summer season, was set aside to remember servicemembers who died while in service.

Those who served and survived get their day of recognition in November.

Confusing the two is bothersome. Tremendously bothersome.[/Rant]

There was a time (no, it was after the dinosaurs died) when Memorial Day was not associated with White Sales, discounts on new cars, or any of the other commercialization that has sprung up and taken over, much like kudzu.

Again, thank you for your thoughts. I'm sure you mean well. I see it as the duty of those who served and survived, as well as those that did not serve but enjoy the freedoms assured by the service of others, to keep the memory of ultimate sacrifice alive if only for one day of the year.

Folks might want to follow the links at http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?129978-This-weekend

stay safe.
 

deepdiver

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
5,820
Location
Southeast, Missouri, USA
"Memorial Day is not a day for us, military caregivers, or any service member or veteran currently living. It is the day that we leave out that extra drink at the bar. Or a slice of lemon on the bread plate at the missing-man table.

Memorial Day is for those who did not make it home. It is for those who fought bravely until their last breath in hospitals such as Walter Reed. It is for those 22 veterans a day who came home physically, but never left the battle and ultimately lost their own private war.

It is a day when many who survived deal with their own survivor’s guilt. When we visit the graves, uniform white tombstones, and nothing else is left.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/21/emily-popoloski-memorial-day-is-for-those-who-did-/

I have never been able to go to The Wall for too many classmates' names and survivors guilt. It's a good essay.
+1
 

golddigger14s

Activist Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
2,068
Location
Lawton, OK USA
Let's not make this a rant, or about politics. Let's give thanks to those who with out question gave the ultimate sacrifice over the years. God speed, RIP warriors!
 
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