Veterans Day

[thedrifter]

Veterans Day, Part V
Posted By Deebow

Edwin A. Locke has an old piece that rings true regardless of the Veterans Day that it appears on.

"America is the country of freedom. We were the first to declare government exists to serve people; people do not exist to serve government. We were the first to proclaim all people are equal before the law. We were the first to say each individual has inalienable rights - the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of his happiness."

"There is no more precious possession than one's own life. But without political freedom, human life is empty. People cannot exist in any meaningful sense as slaves. The New Hampshire motto says it perfectly, "Live free or die."

A little while back, I was out on the Pakistani Border on a 2 week operation on this day. It gave me a chance to reflect on what Veterans Day meant to me.

I looked around at all the men who were there in our ORP; some older (like me and my partner Captain Jack) who moved with more efficiency and and some of the young men from the 2-87 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division. They were all smiling in one regard or another, and they seemed genuinely glad to be among friends (although, I am certain they all would have joined me had I invited them to enjoy brews and babes at Sandals in Jamaica)

We were all wet, cold, and sleep deprived; a trait that I thought at the time would place us in good company with the men at Valley Forge in those dark days of our own Revolution, the young dough boys in the winters of 1914-1917, our grandfathers in the 2/506 PIR at Bastogne. But no one was there because they didn't want to be. We all had volunteered to be there. My drill instructors were right; misery truly does love company. It all seems a little less so as we polished off our MREs, started our vehicles and got about the business that awaited us.

The Left seems to believe that somehow we have survived all this time to this point and now we no longer have a need for a military and that Veterans Day can now become an antiquated tradition for our grandfathers to celebrate.

I have news for them though; We are at the point in our country's history where they can minimize the sacrifices of greater men and women than themselves because no one has come to take their freedom. Ask any conquered people subjected to the rule of tyrants and see how they feel about our veterans.

The rule of tyrants was what it was about when we started our Revolution; and we have made freedom one of our most sought after and desired exports for over 200 years now.

Days like the one I spent about 300 meters from the Pakistani border like that will forever be etched in my memory and I will not forget the faces of those young men that smiled their way through another dreary day filled with the distinct possibility of death. I hope that as I advance in age, I will not lose those memories.

For those that have defended it, freedom has a taste that the protected will never know...


Take time to give meaning to Veterans Day
By: Edwin A. Locke from the Ayn Rand Institute
Posted: 11/11/03

Irvine, Calif. (U-wire) - Veterans Day arouses three emotions in most Americans: solemnity because it celebrates the veterans who have defended our great country, sadness because so many have lost their lives in the process and pride because they have fought so well.

The supreme value that our veterans have fought and died for, with some tragic exceptions, from the American Revolution to the Civil War to two World Wars is freedom.

America is the country of freedom. We were the first to declare government exists to serve people; people do not exist to serve government. We were the first to proclaim all people are equal before the law. We were the first to say each individual has inalienable rights - the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of his happiness.

There is no more precious possession than one's own life. But without political freedom, human life is empty. People cannot exist in any meaningful sense as slaves. The New Hampshire motto says it perfectly, "Live free or die."

Because human life is so precious, war should never be undertaken unless our rights are threatened.

It is often said our soldiers must sacrifice themselves for our country. This is precisely what we must not ask them to do. A sacrifice entails the surrender of a greater value for a lesser one.

But if a man risks his life on the premise, "I would rather die than live in slavery," it is a tragic loss - but it is not a sacrifice. Such a man is acting in his own interests, to protect his most precious values.

On the other hand, it is a sacrifice to send our soldiers to a country that has no connection to their interests and values. An example is Somalia. Many brave American soldiers died there - for what? To supply food to warlords who were perpetually seeking to kill one another.

Vietnam is another example of a senseless, self-sacrificial tragedy. While it was in our interest to oppose the Communist threat to America, it did not benefit Americans to throw away their lives in defense of a primitive nation whose people did not value freedom.

The mere fact they needed help should not have created a claim on the efforts and the lives of U.S. soldiers.

Our heroic fighting men and women are not to blame for these disasters. It is the politicians who are responsible. It is they who believe our soldiers are sacrificial fodder to fulfill the politicians' desire for "prestige-enhancing" adventures.

They believe our armed forces can be sent to aid Somalia - or Haiti or Bosnia - to be able to show the world how "humanitarian" the politicians are.

But politicians desperate for prestige to assuage their self-doubts should be informed they may not utilize our armed forces as the tool for obtaining it. And they should be told we have no duty to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of any country in need of our assistance. Our soldiers are sovereign beings who have a right to their own lives.

Furthermore, our armed forces should consist only of volunteers. It is an ugly contradiction to claim we must protect freedom by coercing people to fight. If the cause is just and the American interests clear, there will be no shortage of enlistments. In fact, a volunteer force helps make sure our soldiers do battle only when serious threats to our interests are at stake. A volunteer force will prevent politicians from involving us in senseless wars.

We must be proud of our soldiers, but it is equally true they should be proud of the cause they fight for. It is terrible to die in war, but there is one thing worse: to die in a war that has no meaning, a war that offers no reason for risking one's life.

The best way we can honor our veterans and give real meaning to Veterans Day - aside from ceremonies honoring their past and present dedication and bravery - is to promise we will go to war only when America's interests as a free nation are threatened.

The events of Sept. 11 have made it abundantly clear there exist Muslim fanatics whose goal is to destroy our country and the values it stands for. It is clearly in our self-interest to use the full power of our military might to destroy those who would destroy us.

[thedrifter]

Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas embraces Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr. during a Veterans Day commemoration in Dallas. Graunke lost a hand, a leg and and eye when he was injured by a bomb in Iraq last year. (AP Photo)

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Gotta repost Staff Sergeant Dean "The BadAss Marine" and his poem/rap "FREE!". Video and words below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BETZx...blackfive.net/

"Free"
By US Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Lawrence Dean

and She called...
Blacks, Whites...wait
African Americans and Caucasians, Asians, excuse me.
Vietnamese, Philippines, Koreans and Jamaicans or
Haitians, waitin', Hispanics, y'all.


Please be patient
Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Venezuelan, Cuban, Dominican, Panamanian, Democrats
I beg your pardon, you partied with the late, great Reagan?
Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunni Muslim, Brothers and Sisters who never seen the New York city
skyline when the twin towers still existed.
But still She called.

From the bowels of Ground Zero she sent this 911 distress signal.
Because She was in desperate need of a hero,
and didn't have time to decipher what to call 'em,
so she called 'em all Her children.
The children of the stars and bars who needed to know nothing more than the fact that she called.
The fact that someone attempted to harm us
this daughter who covered us all with her loving arms.
And now these arms are sprawled across New York City streets.
A smoke filled lung, a silt covered faced,
and a solitary tear poured out of her cheek.
Her singed garments carpets Pennsylvania Avenue and the Pentagon was under her feet.
As she began to talk, she began to cough up small particles of debris
and said, "I am America, and I'm calling on the land of the free."
So they answered.

All personal differences set to the side
because right now there was no time to decide which state building the Confederate flag should fly over,
and which trimester the embryo is considered alive,
or on our monetary units, and which God we should confide.
You see, someone attempted to choke the voice
of the one who gave us the right for choice,
and now she was callin'.
And somebody had to answer.
Who was going to answer?

So they did.
Stern faces and chiseled chins.
Devoted women and disciplined men,
who rose from the ashes like a Phoenix
and said "don't worry, we'll stand in your defense."
They tightened up their bootlaces
and said goodbye to loved ones, family and friends.
They tried to bombard them with the "hold on", "wait-a-minute's", and "what-ifs".
And "Daddy, where you goin'?".
And, "Mommy, why you leavin'?".
And they merely kissed them on their foreheads and said "Don't worry, I have my reasons.
You see, to this country I pledged my allegiance
to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic.
So as long as I'm breathin', I'll run though hell-fire,
meet the enemy on the front lines,
look him directly in his face,
stare directly in his eyes and scream,
"I AM AMERICA! WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID!
I'LL FIGHT YOU ANY COUNTRY, ANY CONTINENT, ANY TERRAIN.
I'LL FIGHT TO MY LAST BREATH!"

And if by chance death is my fate,
pin my medals upon my chest,
and throw Old Glory on my grave.
But, don't y'all cry for me.
You see, my Father's prepared a place.
I'll be a part of his Holy army standing a watch at the Pearly Gates.
Because freedom was never free.
POW's, and fallen soldiers
all paid the ultimate sacrifice
along side veterans who put themselves in harms way.
Risking their lives and limbs just to hold up democracy's weight,
but still standing on them broken appendages anytime the National Anthem was played.
You see, these were the brave warriors that gave me the right
to say that I'm Black. Or white.

Or

African American or Caucasian,
I'm Asian, excuse me.
I'm Vietnamese, Philippine, Korean, or Jamaican.
I'm Haitian, Hispanic

Y'all, Please be patient.
I'm Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, Cuban,
Dominican, Panamanian, Democrat
I beg your pardon, you see I partied with the late, great Reagan.
I'm Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunni Muslim,

Brothers and Sisters We're just Americans.
So with that I say
"Thank You" to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines,
for preserving my rights
to live and die for this life
and paying the ultimate price for me to be...

Free

Damn right.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Veterans Day - Part II (Mike Royko Style)
Posted By Blackfive

"A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards." - Theodore Roosevelt

Again this year (sort of a Veterans Day tradition), I wanted to offer up my favorite Veterans Day article from the late, great Mike Royko (1932 - 1997) who penned it in 1993. I don't care if you were a paratrooper, cook, medic, grunt, pilot, or ran the laundry and bath point, you have my thanks for serving our country.

I think Mike's got the right idea about how to celebrate Veterans Day, GI-Style:

I just phoned six friends and asked them what they will be doing on Monday.

They all said the same thing: working.

Me, too.

There is something else we share. We are all military veterans.

And there is a third thing we have in common. We are not employees of the federal government, state government, county government, municipal government, the Postal Service, the courts, banks, or S & Ls, and we don’t teach school.

If we did, we would be among the many millions of people who will spend Monday goofing off.

Which is why it is about time Congress revised the ridiculous terms of Veterans Day as a national holiday.

The purpose of Veterans Day is to honor all veterans.

So how does this country honor them?...

...By letting the veterans, the majority of whom work in the private sector, spend the day at their jobs so they can pay taxes that permit millions of non-veterans to get paid for doing nothing.

As my friend Harry put it:

"First I went through basic training. Then infantry school. Then I got on a crowded, stinking troop ship that took 23 days to get from San Francisco to Japan. We went through a storm that had 90 percent of the guys on the ship throwing up for a week.

"Then I rode a beat-up transport plane from Japan to Korea, and it almost went down in the drink. I think the pilot was drunk.

"When I got to Korea, I was lucky. The war ended seven months after I got there, and I didn’t kill anybody and nobody killed me.

"But it was still a miserable experience. Then when my tour was over, I got on another troop ship and it took 21 stinking days to cross the Pacific.

"When I got home on leave, one of the older guys at the neighborhood bar — he was a World War II vet — told me I was a ----head because we didn’t win, we only got a tie.

"So now on Veterans Day I get up in the morning and go down to the office and work.

"You know what my nephew does? He sleeps in. That’s because he works for the state.

"And do you know what he did during the Vietnam War? He ducked the draft by getting a job teaching at an inner-city school.

"Now, is that a raw deal or what?"

Of course that’s a raw deal. So I propose that the members of Congress revise Veterans Day to provide the following:

- All veterans — and only veterans — should have the day off from work. It doesn’t matter if they were combat heroes or stateside clerk-typists.

Anybody who went through basic training and was awakened before dawn by a red-neck drill sergeant who bellowed: "Drop your whatsis and grab your socks and fall out on the road," is entitled.

- Those veterans who wish to march in parades, make speeches or listen to speeches can do so. But for those who don’t, all local gambling laws should be suspended for the day to permit vets to gather in taverns, pull a couple of tables together and spend the day playing poker, blackjack, craps, drinking and telling lewd lies about lewd experiences with lewd women. All bar prices should be rolled back to enlisted men’s club prices, Officers can pay the going rate, the stiffs.

- All anti-smoking laws will be suspended for Veterans Day. The same hold for all misdemeanor laws pertaining to disorderly conduct, non-felonious brawling, leering, gawking and any other gross and disgusting public behavior that does not harm another individual.

- It will be a treasonable offense for any spouse or live-in girlfriend (or boyfriend, if it applies) to utter the dreaded words: "What time will you be home tonight?"

- Anyone caught posing as a veteran will be required to eat a triple portion of chipped beef on toast, with Spam on the side, and spend the day watching a chaplain present a color-slide presentation on the horrors of VD.

- Regardless of how high his office, no politician who had the opportunity to serve in the military, but didn’t, will be allowed to make a patriotic speech, appear on TV, or poke his nose out of his office for the entire day.

Any politician who defies this ban will be required to spend 12 hours wearing headphones and listening to tapes of President Clinton explaining his deferments.

Now, deal the cards and pass the tequila.

- Mike Royko

Amen, Mike, Amen.

Now, where is that tequila?

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Wolf

Here is a story written by our Memorial Chairman, about an incident occurring during the Traveling Memorial Wall that visited Colorado this past summer.

''Tony'' writes:

This past Independence Day the Thornton Veterans Memorial Foundation had the pleasure of hosting the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall in our city. To say the event was extraordinary would be an understatement. Tens of thousands of people came to see this incredible memorial, hundreds more volunteered their time to help at the event and dozens of area businesses supported the event. The effect the Wall has on those who see it is indescribable and as I sit here writing this message I am drawn back to that very special weekend. What we saw during those five days serves as a very poignant reminder of why we set aside one day a year – November 11th – to honor our nation’s veterans.

The Wall honors those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and like many, I had a connection to a couple of the more than 58,000 names inscribed in black on the Wall. We paid them all tribute that weekend but just as importantly we honored all veterans. Veterans Day is set aside to honor those that survived, those that have memories of places and events the rest of us can only imagine, those that even today suffer the hidden scars of war.

For all the events that very special weekend, one brief encounter stands out in my mind’s eye more than any other. Probably one of the hardest things to do was to volunteer as a “Wall attendant.” These were the people tasked with helping visitors find names of comrades, friends and family on the Wall. What a truly heart wrenching experience this was – as you were tasked with showing someone the name of their loved ones on the memorial.

One day a gentleman came to ask for help finding the names of five of his former comrades. I dutifully looked up the names and their locations on the Wall and wrote them down for him. As I wrote, it occurred to me that all five were on the same panel spread across two lines. My heart began to race as I realized what this meant - his friends had all died at the same time.

The old soldier asked me to take him to the names so we walked to the Wall and as we located the panel with the names, I stepped forward to help him locate the exact line with his comrades but he simply could not get any closer. He actually took a step back, staring at the sea of names and began to cry. Soon this “young sailor” was hugging an old Army veteran as the tears streamed from both of our eyes. As we talked with our arms around each other, he explained to me that he was the sole survivor of his scout unit from a fateful day in North Vietnam when they came under attack.

"John" never did get any closer to the Wall and the names of his friends. 40 years later it was just too much. He simply stared at the names from afar, bowed his head in silence for a few moments and walked away into anonymity.

Had I met John on any other day or any other place, I would have never known his story as I am sure it is not one he tells often if at all. There are so many other veterans like John who live amongst us every day never saying a word about the things they have done and seen; never seeking the spotlight; never asking for recognition. It is for these men and women that we celebrate Veterans Day.

As the history of the United States of America is written, it is filled with stories of those who have stood up and made a difference for our great nation. Not a year has gone by since the birth of our country that those that have served in the armed forces haven’t answered the call. This call may have been to simply stand a watch, fix an airplane, drive a supply truck or carry a gun on patrol, but they were all done in service of the greater good, our freedom and keeping the United States strong. Millions have served with the pride, honor, courage, and commitment that have made this nation what it is today.

From the Revolutionary War to Operation Iraqi Freedom, from Concord to Kabul, whether war time or peace, millions of men and women have stepped forth to ensure this nation and other nations remain free. These men and women have paid a high price for our freedom, selflessly sacrificing for an honorable cause. They have done so not for fortune or fame but because they felt a calling to something greater and without hesitation they stood bravely and answered the call. Their sacrifice can never be forgotten as long as we ensure their flame burns eternally at memorials across this nation, in our nation’s consciousness and indeed, in the very souls of all Americans.

George Orwell said, “We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” As you go about your daily routine today, take the time to notice those men – and women – that have stood watch over us and kept us safe. Take a brief moment to say thank you. Those two words, while seemingly inadequate for someone who saved and defended the world, will mean more to a veteran than any award they could be given.

God bless you all, God bless our veterans and God bless America.

Thanks to you, Tony, for sending.

Wolf