Veterans Day Ramblings

[LeonardLawrence]

Attended ourVeterans day parade in the State Capitol of NY (Albany).
I found myself with some mixed feelings as I watched with my two girls and thought I would share them. It is kinda personal so if you are not interested this is a good place to stop.

I put them in bullet form, so feel free to comment or not, however you see fit. I also added a pic of my girls who had the best seat in the house for the parade. The older stood at the POA for the passing of the colors!

Act of Heroism:
The beginning of the parade was the local police. The have a pretty impressive mounted unit. One of the two horses on parade decided to defecate in the middle of the street, in the middle of the parade route, in the middle of the everything. One of the neighbors immediately stated "We can't have that" and he scooped up the mess and saved the marchers, sailors, Marines and dignitaries from the mess. This was the first time that my allergies acted up for the day. Not the act, but the thought that this guy cared enough to clear the way.

Gold Star Mothers:
One vehicle pass in review. Second time my allergies acted up. Should you wave? should you clap? It all seemed so surreal to me, but at the same time VERY real, when you think about the sacrifices made. No action could make up for the loss of a child....


Blue Star Mothers:
Group of fathers and mothers, passing in review. Same surrealness. Same pride, same allergies. A wave and a smile was all I produced. Luckily my oldest saved the day with her princess waves.


War Protestors:
Not suprisingly no allergies here. I initally noticed a couple walking past us to the beginning of the parade. They were holding a sign that said "We support those who are damaged because of the war". Okay, Sentiment was semi-commital, maybe non appropriate. I am a believer that Anti war doesn't mean Anti American...although I wish they would shut up so we could win....and then they could complain. The the parase started and I realized it was a section of Veterans for Peace. I still am working out my feelings on this. I won't tell a former Army LT from WW2 or a soldier that lost his legs that he cannot say his piece. I am definitely for freedom of speech, but why do I wish they hadn't been part of it. It wasn't just the fact that there was an ugly side. Disabled vets were in the parade...without the signs. There was a sign that implied the war was related to 1930's Facism. Lucky the little one's were there....not saying I would have brawled....but.....well.... Irritated, I guess.


Colors:
Um, there were alot of colors passing. We stood at POA for the main, but I am sure we missed a few due to keeping kids out of the road. Is there an exemption for that? I will say three hail mary's and four Chesty Pullers and call it even on that one. Luckily my older girl can spot the Marine Corps Colors from a distance.

Marines...and all the rest.
Was pleased to see dress blues. SSGT and three Lance Cpls. Looked very sharp with bearing. Army was unimpressive, nothing notable, nothing bad. Sailors pulling up the rear were scratching, itching and adjusting their snoopy bowls. Expected. No offense to any Docs here, but is there drill in boot camp, hello?

Women's Memorial.
Sadly women veterans were underepresented. I know statistically and all that, but ladies come on! My only thought was that they were smarter than the men and got out of parade duty. If this is the case I won't be wearing a wig and standing in for you next year. Please say this isn't the case.

http://www.veterans.state.ny.us/womenvetsmemorial.htm

To make up for it we went to the Womens Veterans Memorial (above link) attached to the Korean War Memorial. We spent some time walking around and talking in 4 year old terms about woman Marines ...and the rest....and the Korean war. Would be nice to see a sprinkling next time of more ladies. Maybe with camouflage faces? (J/kidding, kinda).
Ladies. come on. my kids need role models outside the home too!

Anyway...enough rambling. If you read this far I will send you a check for $100 on the second Tuesday of next week. I am sure we lost folks at hello. :)

[HardJedi]

sounds like a good day to me. all i did was go down the Libert Memorial, they were letting people into the WWI museum for free, in honor of Veterans Day. ( I also go there every memorial day) There was a nice colors ceremony, and a few people spoke.

[RVHall]

I walked the eight blocks to where the parade started, promptly at 1100. All those in the parade were well intentioned, but some were a little inappropriate, especially those with advertising on their vehicles. I'm not sure what the Kar Club (or something like that) has to do with veterans.

There were probably more folks in the parade than watching it, and many of the viewers appeared to be veterans or families of veterans or active military. On my block, the three veterans flew flags this weekend, but none of the other 25 or so homes within sight flew the colors.

I've attempted to interest the Tulsa World (now our only mainstream newspaper) in veteran's issues, and recently in the upcoming 40th anniversary of the 1968 Tet offensive. Absolutely no interest in veterans has been shown.

Oklahoma Senators Coburn and Inhofe, and my Congressman Sullivan do not respond to my respectful soliticitations for support for the hundreds of thousands of disabled veterans whose requests for support go unanswered.

It seems to me that the only folks who give a crap about veterans are veterans. But I guess we didn't sign up to defend the people as much as the principles set forth in our Constitution that make us free to be clueless.

Thank you all for your service. I hope that your respective cities and towns feel more appreciative than does Tulsa, Oklahoma. Especially you active Marines, I think about you daily and appreciate your sacrifices.

Semper Fi,

Vance Hall, Tulsa, OK

[LeonardLawrence]

RVHall,

Thanks for your comments.

It is sad that you can't get more media interest in a pretty big event such as the Tetl. 40 years!

Do you think it has to do with priorities of the paper (sales) and the general public (ignorant on most matters)??

[RVHall]

Leonard,

I can only speculate about the reason that the World's editorial staff is not only disinterested but somewhat insulting at the idea of a tribute to the heroism and the sacrifices during Tet. If I were to make a wild guess, I would say that perhaps the editors are among those who either dodged the draft or joined the reserves to avoid combat (times have changed since then). Maybe they still wish the NVA would have wiped us all out, or maybe they still have a difficult time justifying their actions.

The tone of the response really took me by surprise. I guess the deep divide that the Vietnam war caused for my generation may still exist.

[LeonardLawrence]

Leonard,

I can only speculate about the reason that the World's editorial staff is not only disinterested but somewhat insulting at the idea of a tribute to the heroism and the sacrifices during Tet. If I were to make a wild guess, I would say that perhaps the editors are among those who either dodged the draft or joined the reserves to avoid combat (times have changed since then). Maybe they still wish the NVA would have wiped us all out, or maybe they still have a difficult time justifying their actions.

The tone of the response really took me by surprise. I guess the deep divide that the Vietnam war caused for my generation may still exist.

While sad, it is interesting. Maybe not so much as jealousy as embarassment. Puts it in a new light. Not sure what the connection has been for me, but you Vietnam guys have ALWAYS been my heroes and I am waiting for you all to get your due from this nation.:thumbup:

[GunsUp]

Well... It's the same old story for vets... Heroes during wartime, a drain on the taxpayer in peace. A foreign "refugee" has a better chance at getting government benefits than a veteran. I used to work in public assistance and it would drive me up the wall see how much was paid out.

Anyway, I'm on the Slope and didn't get a chance to participate in any Veteran's Day activities but I did get together with a bunch of former Marines on the 10th to celebrate the Birthday. I did call my dad, a retired Army CSM, and my brother (an Army SSgt) and talked for a while about places, people, and events that we had participated in during our service. The 11th always plays a big part in my family's life as every male on my dad's side of the family has served in the Army since before the Revolutionary War.

[LeonardLawrence]

Well... It's the same old story for vets... Heroes during wartime, a drain on the taxpayer in peace. A foreign "refugee" has a better chance at getting government benefits than a veteran. I used to work in public assistance and it would drive me up the wall see how much was paid out.

Anyway, I'm on the Slope and didn't get a chance to participate in any Veteran's Day activities but I did get together with a bunch of former Marines on the 10th to celebrate the Birthday. I did call my dad, a retired Army CSM, and my brother (an Army SSgt) and talked for a while about places, people, and events that we had participated in during our service. The 11th always plays a big part in my family's life as every male on my dad's side of the family has served in the Army since before the Revolutionary War.

That sounds like the coffee table I would love to sit around. I wouldn't share...just sip my coffee and soak it all in.

[sdk87to91]

The Penasco independent school k-12, dedicated the new administrative building to veterans and honored all of us who they could learn of by name.
Public schools get a bad reputation for being liberal and anti military these days, but here in small town northern New Mexico they did indeed put on a ceremony.
I did not know the time so I did not go but a neighbour brought over a certificate and a US flag colored by a 6th grader with my name on it.

I drank beer sawed and chopped wood and flew the flag Friday to Tuesday.

[RVHall]

The Penasco independent school k-12,

That is very encouraging news. Penasco has my respect.

Is that very old Spanish mission still there? That was quite a place. When my two children were young, some 20 or more years ago, I took them to the old Harding pegmatite quarry west of Penasco, and we brought home some lepedolite, spodumine, and calcite (Iceland spar) samples. I still have a coffee can full of small specimens that I give out to little ones on occasion.

Thanks for the upbeat news.

Vance Hall

[Chumley]

Dammit LeonardLawrence, again you come into my town and you don't call or nothin! That's it - I want the $100. :no:
SFi
C

[LeonardLawrence]

Cpl Chumley,

I would have called, but I didn't want to disturb you or the wife in bed while you were singing and stuff.

OH! I just realized Waterford is only 12 miles away....duh. You missed a good parade. We had front row seats to the Albany Police Department horses sharing their thoughts on war protests.

I am down there all the time. We should work out the details!:beer:

[Chumley]

Agreed!
SFi
C