Thanks, SD.

Good Morning, When will we ever learn? So much sadness and waste…

Namaste, back at you.

Mornin’, pups

Lyric from a song playing on the radio right now:

“I didn’t give my life for my country
My country took my life away.”

Memorial Day, Tom Pacheco

Hard weekend to get through.

Good morning, everyone. I wasn’t sure the Diner would be open on a holiday, so thanks for being here. I’m happy (that’s not a good word) to join in remembering. Today is more than barbecues and the beach.

We’ll be headed to the cemetary where my son will play taps.

Namaste

TCM has been playing war movies all weekend but they are all of the pro war propaganda variety, depicting the “necessity” and the “glory” of war. The most abominable has to be “The Green Berets” which isn’t about the unit so much as it’s about how evil and despicable the Viet Cong were and how very “noble” the American forces were, selflessly sacrificing their lives for the poor, beleaguered South Vietnamese government. Pffft! No more warz!

My daughter shared this picture yesterday in a Facebook post:

http://i.imgur.com/6Xcq3.jpg?2

Morning folks.

It’s been thirty years since the Vietnam Memorial controversy was settled with the addition of the three soldiers statue. Have to continue the illusion that the US government treats the military as more than names on a wall after all. Have to personalize “heroes”.

Someone said at the time. Where is the monument to the antiwar protesters?

But it’s about the religious rite of “supreme sacrifice” for something like the state, isn’t it? The “way of the seeded earth” Joseph Campbell called it.

Jefferson thought of it differently. “The tree of liberty is watered with the blood of tyrants.”

So did George Patton. “No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”

What we remember is the waste and the folly of war. And mourn those who were seduced or conscripted.

Back when war was an exclusively male occupation, it was considered a way of proving one’s manhood. Why one had to prove one’s gender was never questioned. Nor was the polarity. Real women give birth. Real men kill.

What we are remembering are the victims of social craziness. A craziness that has a strange way of attaching itself to the next generation. A vampire-like craziness. Buried in the rites, the drums, the plaintive brass, and the final rifle shots framed as a salute.

Ranks and files of white stones. Names on a wall.

One thing I noticed when I visited the wall. Very few people paid much attention to that statue. Everybody was at the wall.

The people have outvoted the politicians!

Boxturtle (I remember the debate about the statue and the wall)

Quote from my fathers commander: We’ve won when people like us are no longer needed.

Boxturtle (WWII, not ‘Nam)

There is a whole industry (or more properly whole institutions) devoted to the martial religion. It seeks to divert honest human responses into the lust for the next war.

It seeks to prevent our learning.

That’s very cool. I’ll bet he’s excited, and honoured.

I remember Robert Fisk saying once, and it may even be in his latest tome, “War isn’t about honour or glory. War is about killing.”

That’s what the photo with the post shows, too. I have seen the wall, but I don’t recall the statue.

May I just offer a tribute to a friend from long back in HS;
‘After Jan Scruggs had raised $144.50 for the Vietnam Veteran’s memorial, Jack asked to join him, and they founded the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Fund. They soon recruited a young ex-Marine Captain and author by the name of Jim Webb, the current Senator from Virginia. Jack Wheeler made the Memorial happen. He led the fund raising, the fights, the racial objections of those who maintained that an Asian woman and Yale student Maya Lin should not have been the designer of a memorial to American boys. Martin Luther King would have recognized the objections for what they were. That wonderful Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, whose detractors initially called it “the black gash of shame” happened because of Jack Wheeler. Before he died Jack was working on a day of reconciliation when across the country citizens would work to return ROTC to the college campuses. He was a dreamer who lived his dreams and achieved much. We do not know the causes of his death, but we do know the contributions of his wonderful life. ‘
http://defender.west-point.org/service/display.mhtml?u=26097&i=46271

It’s south of the memorial.

Yep. I only served on the periphery of a war but it was close enough for me to realize what kind of whacky ideas people have about what war is and why those ideas predominate. I think the whole grilling/festival atmosphere is a deliberate attempt to turn a day that was created spontaneously by survivors of the Civil War from a day of solemn remembrance to a day of outdoor fun. That way, you see, when people think of war dead, the image that comes to mind is the suburban white guy in an apron and kids in the pool, not those nasty old images of actual suffering and death. I refuse to participate.
During the Persian Gulf War, I had to shove camera operators and visiting Congressional aides out of the way to do my job. It’s like they tried to turn the war itself into a huge poster for how wonderful slaughter is.

Very touching, Ruth! Thanks for sharing it.

Good Morning, SD and Thanks
Yesterday, Om mentioned that there were flags and a lot of bunting on the porches on her street. I wonder if the bunting is a Southern tradition, ’cause I’ve never seen any up here.

Spudtruck sends his regrets;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBfjU3_XOaA
and he wants me to say that he’s deeply sorry he’s still sucking air.

Maya Lin should not have been the designer of a memorial to American boys.

She did a great job

Really crazy, isn’t it? One of my life’s most moving experiences was visiting the wall at night. I had been at other times…but the darkness is so powerful….as if you are walking thru the disaster and waste of VietNam…And, of course, you know this is not going to turn out well. I could not have known the experiences would be so different.

Waterford Wisconsin 4th of july parade they have morons waving the Confederate Flag in their parade their is a bunch of hero worship for the South in that part of rural America I mention this so the Southerners here don’t get thinking they are weird.
Even us Northern Folk got some crazy we are not proud of.

Funny how this war business resembles past societies casting their children into volcanos to appease their Gods for “peace” ?

So when do we get an Iraq/Afghan war memorial? Any thoughts on its design?

Any thoughts on its design?

I’m thinking a simple depiction of a family being crapped on by an enormous eagle…

Thank you for that reminder. I was thinking about Mr. Wheeler recently wondering if anything had changed (the last I read was that the police chief said somehting like, we’re not going to treat him special, just like any other dead guy). I had nosed around and read he was a big part of making the Memorial Wall happen. I too hate all the war glorification. Two of my friends have sons who have signed up to become killing machines. It’s disgusting that they felt they had no financial alternatives.

I think the wired hooded crucified Jesus would do.

It’s actually very well done. I feel somewhat sorry for the artist, That statue would be worthy of the public square in most cities. Yes, it’s on the National Mall, but it’s mainly ignored.

I wonder what the politicians who were willing to filibuster the money and location if they DIDN’T get their statue feel about it now. Bet those still living won’t comment.

Boxturtle (I wonder what the ‘Nam vets think of that statue. Or if they think of it at all)

We understand.

Richard Nixon Southernized the nation. George W. Bush put it on steroids. Barack Obama is trying to be a black Southern president–reconciliation and all that. (Good luck with that.)

Also, in the 1920s, eastern Indiana was a strong center of the KKK. In the 1960s, Macomb County, Michigan was as well. Northern racism tends to express itself with Southern symbols.

Two of my friends have sons who have signed up to become killing machines.

Almost nobody signs up to “become killing machines” and it’s unfair to portray them that way. People who want to kill are usually weeded out fairly quickly, or were when I was in.

She created an icon. And made the critters who fought against her look like dunces.

If I could do either one of those, I’d consider my life complete and worthwhile.

Boxturtle (Granted, it’s not so difficult to make critters look like dunces anymore)

Those are the pictures the government doesn’t want us to see concerning the war…That picture made me cry. Thank you for sharing this.

Here is a link to one of my favorite ee cummings poems.
Next to of course god america I love you…

Racism is racism and it wears the same mask. After the Civil War, the south wanted all of the freed blacks to move north while the north refused to accommodate them. The real losers in that episode were obviously the freed slaves who still weren’t “free” by any stretch.

Aztecs sacrificed their own and others blood to keep the world from ending something about the birth of Venus almost destroying the world. Asimov’s guide to the bible says the Hebrews on the other side of the world viewed Venus as Satan. I keep waiting for Nasa to determine when Venus was formed as a planet assuming my folk and the Hebrews were not nuts that would give us an idea how old humans really are since legends from both sides of the world seem to indicate a CATASTROPHE.
Granted Human sacrifice is nuts but the Hebrews seem to have a similar tradition of CATASTROPHE associated with Venus and a new planet coming out of the Sun or a rouge planet being hooked by the sun would cause CATASTROPHE on earth.
The kind that would cause weird religions.

It won’t look right unless you include an oil field in the background. And the people being crapped on should be wearing orange jumpsuits.

Boxturtle (With all the trimmings)

Add an oil derrick and a poppy plant and we’re close.

Another anti-war poem by ee cummings…

my sweet old etcetera
By e e cummings

my sweet old etcetera
aunt lucy during the recent

war could and what
is more did tell you just
what everybody was fighting

for,
my sister

isabel created hundreds
(and
hundreds)of socks not to
mention shirts fleaproof earwarmers

etcetera wristers etcetera,my

mother hoped that

i would die etcetera
bravely of course my father used
to become hoarse talking about how it was
a privilege and if only he
could meanwhile my

self etcetera lay quietly
in the deep mud et
cetera
(dreaming,
et
cetera,of
Your smile
eyes knees and of your Etcetera)

Very nice but what says lies for oil as an image and betrayal wars for oil, but also brave sacrifice by our troops?
This does deserve some careful thought. I might be super fast with ideas most of the time but this requires the best we got and thought lots of thought and debate.
But your idea is something we can build on. I won’t let George Bush anywhere near the planning of this cold as the ice in my veins he does not get a say!

Through nothing more than coincidental timing and chance, I have not been obligated to carry a weapon into combat during a war. Yet I do carry a deep burden and shame, for what has been done in my name. I ponder my potential guilt through direct complicity or negligence and/or my sometimes boding trauma through what I describe as a forty-five year victimization by my country. Abuse, love or leave it?

(I think my adult awareness and feelings matured to, “understanding,” around age 15).

You are quite the scholar Demi here is my scholar contribution

Phil Ochs “I Ani’t Marching Anymore ”

Send “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” Ringtone to Cell Phone

Oh I marched to the battle of New Orleans
At the end of the early British war
The young land started growing
The young blood started flowing
But I ain’t marchin’ anymore

For I’ve killed my share of Indians
In a thousand different fights
I was there at the Little Big Horn
I heard many men lying I saw many more dying
But I ain’t marchin’ anymore

chorus)
It’s always the old to lead us to the war
It’s always the young to fall
Now look at all we’ve won with the saber and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all

For I stole California from the Mexican land
Fought in the bloody Civil War
Yes I even killed my brothers
And so many others But I ain’t marchin’ anymore

For I marched to the battles of the German trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh I must have killed a million men
And now they want me back again
But I ain’t marchin’ anymore

(chorus)

For I flew the final mission in the Japanese sky
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burning I knew that I was learning
That I ain’t marchin’ anymore

Now the labor leader’s screamin’
when they close the missile plants,
United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore,
Call it “Peace” or call it “Treason,”
Call it “Love” or call it “Reason,”
But I ain’t marchin’ any more,
No I ain’t marchin’ any more

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/ochs-phil/i-aint-marching-anymore-11442.html

My Dad and granddad would appreciate the mention of Mexico and United Fruit.

For me, it was a mere matter of chromosomes.

Thanks, Things.
You’ve got the tears going now.

No bunting in my neighborhood, but lots of flags. I haven’t been out much this weekend so can’t say whether there’s bunting in downtown areas.

Huh. Sorry, I don’t get the reference.

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

Survivors guilt.

Normally I do anything not to make you cry Demi but today thats what we should all do.
SD ” Were have all the Flowers Gone” ok that gots me misty now.

It’s okay, Things. I need to cry today.

thanks TCU and for demi, too. You found my teen music library, you did.

There but for Fortune

love or leave it?

My dad said he was taught that in school thankfully they stopped doing that when I got there.

Well I never carried a weapon into combat or out. I was an aiframe mechanic and the closest I ever got to a weapon that fired was the 20mm Vulcan cannon which was mounted behind the boarding ladder. I had my hands full with hydraulic leaks and airspeed damages.

Southern Dragon, here’s a question you can most likely answer. Did they ever add the names of the Viet Nam Vets who died after the war was over from agent orange related cancers?

Wishing to memorialize in a fitting way, that’s what spuds wanted me to put up for him.

Chris Hayes played the clip of Joe Biden speaking to soldiers’ families yesterday and it made me weepy.

Good Morning, pupses, and thank you, SD. Some very thoughtful and sobering comments this morning.

Tarheel, yours reminded me of The White Feather campaign in England in WWI.

The notion that masculine identity was so frail was what made the White Feather Campaign so strong. Giving a white feather to a man in civilian dress was truly a brilliant tactic because it worked on so many different levels. Not only did it make men feel shame for not enlisting, but it also made them feel like they weren’t good enough for these women. Both sexual conquest and masculine virility were essential components in allowing a young English male to be secure with his manhood.

Thanks I will try and find this at the library and down load it I’m listening now. Demi we all need to cry today. I admit three day weekend was normally a party. But not now not anymore.

Those serve who also stand and wait Margaret you are as much a Vet as anyone :)

“Almost nobody signs up to “become killing machines” and it’s unfair to portray them that way. People who want to kill are usually weeded out fairly quickly”

I wasn’t saying they WANT to kill, but that it’s what they are trained for in basic training (just my opinion, you may differ). If these two had wanted to kill, they would have signed up in high school instead of in their mid-twenties after a few years in college and struggling to find jobs to make ends meet.

Speaking of walls and friends:

LCPL. THOMAS CARMEN HENRY
Born on June 11, 1948
From Flint, MI
Casualty was on March 29, 1968
in South Vietnam, Thua Thien
Panel 46E–Row 62

SD, it is hard to see him clearly, but I wondered if the man in the photo, walking toward the 3 Soldiers memorial, was you.

Or the nurses? A therapist I knew died a couple years of some rare cancer. She’d been a nurse in VietNam.

Interesting but sad piece in NYT today.
(Sorry if it has been posted already)

Hope Spuds’s mom is recovering well. I just didn’t understand “sucking air” although I remember the song — used to be a big CCR fan.

Now I’d better get moving. Today’s chore is power-washing the deck and I want to get it underway while it’s not too hot. We hit 97º yesterday!

Thanks for a good start to Memorial Day. I may peek in later.

I wasn’t saying they WANT to kill, but that it’s what they are trained for in basic training (just my opinion, you may differ)

Having been to basic training, I need to point out that you have a misconception. People are taught how to march, fold clothing, obey orders and clean up after themselves in basic training. They learn how to follow rules and how to be respectful to their (rank) superiors. What JOB they get trained to do later is something else altogether. That’s a matter of choice/aptitude. As I’ve pointed out, I was an airframe mechanic and am no more a “killing machine” than you are. Your opinion in this case is irrelevant but only because you’ve never been and can’t form an informed opinion of it.

“Page does not exist” — can you check your linky?

No, only those KIA are listed on the wall.

Oops. I’ll try again here.

We stand here in testimony reminded of past wars some just some unjust but mostly haunted by ten + years of recent unjust war there are three ways the Koran says to fight Jihad holy war by fighting, cash or words.
Our holy war is no more more unjust wars long hours and the best ideas I have seen over freaking years have I seen all of you fight to end stupid wars.
I die well I am proud to say I in your company. That I could contribute a few random ideas as is my nature, that I was listened to sometimes and I learned.
And I thank God for FDL for giving us all a voice.

No, I have never been to the Wall in Washington.

I’ve always thought that was wrong too. None of the suicides, none of those killed by disease or exposure. It’s like their suffering has been rendered meaningless by people who were never near there.

Chris Hayes had a moving piece on his last show: Long interview with a mother of a soldier who took his life.

Your friend tell us about him this is the time but only if you feel you can ok my Dad’s and Brother’s funeral I did not speak only for one girl fighting was the only other time I lost my words. i don’t lose words easy.
But yes I’ve been there.

Thanks, I’ve left it open to read later. Gotta go deck scrubbing now.

*poof*

Click on the box next to Agent Orange

Yep, I saw that. Very sad.

I keep being drawn back to your comment, Tarheel. There is a lot to read and think about.

the final rifle shots framed as a salute

I alway have hated that part of military funerals. My father in law was shot down and taken as a prisoner of war in Rumania, and didn’t speak much about the war until he was much older. He was buried with full military honours, and I wanted to speak out and object to that part, but I didn’t have the courage.

Good to see you MsMolly been awhile good to see old friends on a day of sadness Crows in Black Wings we are gathered around our dead we mourn take flight but hopefully we fly away both remembering and thinking how we can avoid feeling sad ever again.

The way he let her take her time to slowly tell her story, I thought, was remarkable.

One of the most moving interviews I have ever seen. I highly recommend everyone watch it.

Thanks. Apprapos.

Can you imagine Tapper or Gregory being that patient? Nope, me either.

“Your opinion in this case is irrelevant but only because you’ve never been and can’t form an informed opinion of it.”

I thought all troops were taught how to shoot with guns during basic training. My bad. I’ve read somewhere that PTSD is so pervasive because of what the troops had to DO, not from what was done TO them. But again, I have no experience, so therefore must be uninformed and so my opinion is irrelevant.

Top Ten Protest Songs.
The Phil Ochs song, I Ain’t Marching Anymore is there.

WTF I go myFDl and can’t see the diaries FDL has gremlins ? This was happening last nite too.

Not much to say, Things. We were both eighteen, subject to impending draft in a year or so, so our lives were kinda on hold. I volunteered for immediate draft to get it over with — arrogantly thinking I’d score high on the tests and wouldn’t be a foot soldier.

He took a different tact and joined the Marines.

In the end, my test scores had nothing to do with where the Army put me. Pure random luck, the vagaries of the monthly levies — I spent eighteen months at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia (That’s SD’s old stomping grounds.)

And now, from this vantage point forty-five years later, I still ask the same question as to why I got to live my life and Tom didn’t. Random luck, little reason.

The argument about not wasting treasure on particular military doctrines sorta flies in the face of the underlying logic of the military-Congressional-industrial-media-education complex, doesn’t it.

At least some folks are beginning to question it (and in a post-Powell Doctrine way).

But we know that the problem is our foreign policy more than our military doctrines. Well, maybe we should revisit the military doctrine of forward projection of forces; that seems to be the keystone of the MIC.

That one gets me every time, listening OR singing. I hate that this day is falling on my birthday this year, makes it hard to be upbeat.

Oh, and protest songs — Richie Havens, “Handsome Johnny.”

It wasn’t meant as an insult and I’m sorry it appeared as such. Everybody learns very basic weapons safety and use in basic training. After that, more than 90 percent of service members never again make regular use of a weapon, except for qualifications and etc. There are those who do become killing machines but they are exceptions to the rule as those billets are extremely limited. Once again, I apologize that my comment came off as condescending. That wasn’t it’s intent. I only meant that I can’t make an informed opinion on what summiting Everest is like because I’ve never done it.

And now, from this vantage point forty-five years later, I still ask the same question as to why I got to live my life and Tom didn’t. Random luck, little reason.

You honor your Dead your friend would do as much if things were reversed this is Memorial Day remember talk to people and put a violet or buttercup on the grave.
Violets and Buttercups grew wild when I was a kid and I would always bring them to my Mom.

My brother’s birthday was yesterday so he suffers along with you in that regard. Happy birthday anyway.

Ya gotta scroll all the way down. The stuff that’s usually on the right is below the diaries. Software glitch.

Happy Birthday. At least it doesn’t fall on Memorial Day every year.

The link is here for those who didn’t see it.

You need to be upbeat about your birthday. You aren’t taking anything away from the seriousness and remembrance of Memorial Day.

Happy Birthday, rc.

Jane is aware and has the tech folks working on it?

We celebrate your being here. All days are bittersweet.

You are correct. All troops in basic are taught the weap-on./ spud
Then choice of field comes later, if your that damn lucky./ spud

Agreed

I’m getting lots of ‘timed out’ messages through Google Chrome. Everything was fine last evening; this morning, 2/3′s of my attempts have had the ‘can’t connect’ or ‘timed out.’ Generally, a simple ‘reload’ will fix the problem–but can’t imagine why connectivity has slowed so significantly.

Shit, I dunno.

How was Chi town how you doing I am in Oregon so I missed seeing you will be there till the 18 of june my mom and sister worry about me being arrested just for being at the lake.

Front Pagers don’t got an open line to Jane or tech support? thats weird.

Are you serious about your mom and sister?

I can’t remember if Dragon has already linked to this story.
Heartwarming.
Staff Sargeant reunited with dog.

SD, thanks for being here, today.

To everyone, peace and resolve.

I saw it but didn’t link to it. Nice story.

Has anyone heard from oldnslow?

Hope you have a good day.
And, don’t forget…Love!

Until I get the experience processed the notes are at tarheeldem.posterous.com

Girlfriend, we are sharing vibes. I was just going to Shout Out to the man. But, I stopped to say good bye to Nonquixote. Otherwise, we would have had the same time stamp.
(((Oldnslow)))

Yep. I thought we could use a few “happy tears” as well today.

Demi they worry about me ok I don’t fault them my neighbor mike worries about me so its not just family. My brother died my Sister got pregnant everyone worried about me family and even folks who just heard about me. I do not like it but it is what it is and I can’t blame them ok. I don’t agree but they know me they are entitled to their own opinons,

I recall reading that the US Army in the early months of WW2 discovered that too many of its conscripts and recruits were unwilling and unable to kill another person, that psychological conditioning was implemented.

Re the TCM weekend of war: Tora! Tora! Tora! might be an exception?

Oh, sure. They have the right to their own opinions. I just don’t think there are jails big enough for the left blogisphere.
I’m glad they care so much about you. I really do. You’re a sweet man, Things.

I was really touched by ThingsComeUndone’s comment about normally doing anything to make you not cry.

TCU, I always enjoy or learn something from your comments, but you are really striking chords with me today.

The Best Years of Our Lives, also.

Ok, and I apologize if I got snippy. As the youngest in a big, dysfunctional family, I have many years of being made to feel that my opinion is irrelevant….(and I’ve been politely informed that *I* am in charge of my feelings, and no one can “make” me feel anything)

I can remember when my son, now 34, was young, and taking him to Blockbuster video to choose a movie. We passed a man in a t-shirt that said something like, ‘ I hate you, too, shithead’ . He had his son with him, couldn’t have been more than 6 or 8, and was letting him choose some violent, blood and guts film that I wouldn’t have watched if you’d paid me.

That child was already receiving psychological conditioning. Some people aren’t fit to be parents. I often wonder about that child, and how he is faring today.

Dragon, you got some real classy broads here. Imagine people apologizing to each other over misunderstandings. Is this where I stand on my chair clapping? Yes it is.
Thanks for the thread, SD. You bring out the best in us.

Amen to that. I have a friend in my neighborhood who is transgendered and she told me that one day at the market, a man pointed her out to his son and says that’s what happens when you don’t beat your woman.

Thanks Demi they do care and do worry about me and to be fair my anger scares them more than the rest of the family even my Mom would not directly say my sister got pregnant when I was away at college. My Dad wouldn’t tell me but he chased the guy to his car and kicked it as he drove away.
But tell me what was going on no that happened at college break. Only once over a girl did I loose fought but in the end I let her walk away and said nothing.
My Family should give me Cred I feel. Sometimes I think I talk to much here but the only times I forgot my words were over her, my Dad Dying, My brother dying. My other brother gave me a lecture once about pissing off his friends cause I only talked about smart stuff.
His girlfriend at the time was deer in headlights girl so I don’t blame him much.
Still Memorial day time to confess.
I have no dead that I know of yet in this fight but my ghosts want a memorial.

TCU, MyFDL’s fixed now. Editors read comments and prolly saw yours.

There is our chipmunk again! For a couple of years after this neighborhood was developed there was no sign of animal life. This year there are chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits and raccoons, and more birds, as well. I’m glad they are beginning to recover at least in some small way from our onslaught.

Demi count yourself as a classy broad I’m sure SD will back me.

Need to run. You are all a classy bunch, in my book :)

Safe travels and safe home, pupses dears.

Ohmmmm

Things, Om, …Everyone.
I’m taking off too. Take care and smile through the tears.

Different list, wasn’t on TCM this week(end), but sure would make for a cool diary hinthint. :o)

Whenever I’m in Washington I go to the wall to pay my respects to the two names I know.

Where is the monument to the antiwar protesters?

For me, it is here.

Been picking fresh peonies, we can take those to the several graves to visit today. Thanks for sharing, and good company.

This is not actually true. I know of at least one exception, although it was pretty strange. Corp John Frederick Anthony who died in 1989 is on the wall. He was a year ahead of me in high school and was known as Firp. The article says dryly

He was evacuated first to the 1st MED Battalion in Chu Lai and eventually transferred to the USN Hospital in Great Lakes, IL.

What really happened. He was thought to be dead and was taken to one of the three body-processing depots in Nam. They had already shoved his dogtags between his teeth (vertically, ie, betw the upper and lower incisors and his jaw slammed shut to hold the tag in), been zipped in and sealed and was stacked ready for shipment back to the US. Eventually one of the processors noticed that the bag was moving. They got Firp out. His injuries (now including broken teeth)were severe and he never recovered from them. The last 20 years of his life were spent in a great deal of pain and eventually he did die. A local newspaper reporter, John. F. Brown (Port Huron Times Herald) spearheaded a campaing to get Firp’s name on the wall. I have read the story in a book that the report wrote, but cannot find anything about it online. I see that there was another name added in 1991.

War, the gift that keeps on giving.

Horrible.

No reason to think it will be over any time soon, we just don’t seem to be able to learn from our mistakes.

Limits to Growth

“We’re in for a period of sustained chaos whose magnitude we are unable to foresee,” Meadows warns. He no longer spends time trying to persuade humanity of the limits to growth. Instead, he says, “I’m trying to understand how communities and cities can buffer themselves” against the inevitable hard landing.

Sorry, that link goes to page 2 of the article…

Limits to Growth

Sorry, the link above went to page two. This is the first page.

How horrible.

SD, If I can ask…Is it your plan/desire not to go? I have no idea is you are willing to say….But sounds like that has been a pretty clear decision. As said above, going at night was when it really knocked me out.

The only reason I would have had to go to Washington would have been to see the Wall. Even though I was born and raised in DC I don’t know anybody there now, haven’t since the family moved back to SC in the late 70s. Should events in the future take me to DC I’ll visit the Wall.

Back in from the deck washing project and reading all of the comments I missed. This was such an excellent thread on so many levels. The picture of the Kent State memorial made me weepy again.

My oldest grandson is going off to Ball State U. (Indiana) in August, and discussing Ball State, a friend said, “A big university nobody has ever heard of. Kent State is another that nobody knows about except on the anniversary of the killings there.”

So true.

Thank you, dear Margaret. ;-)

Thanks, SD, there’s always that lol. Usually, I just have to deal with being alone on my birthday cuz everyone went away for the weekend. ;-)

You and Mary must be in cahoots lol. Thank you, darling Omgirl. I’ll try harder. I do tend to take this lives-wasted-in-brutal-unnecessary-wars thingy to heart, though. :-(

Thank you for the kind words and the wise insight, TD.

Riley’s there, right?

Just want to give a shout out to SD and all the veterans, all the sorrows and the community that knows too much about war and the suffering it brings to the doors and hearts of too many.

Thank you for the reminders that Humanity is not always worth the calling of its name.

Take care, everyone. I would like to say “my religion is kindness.” I am not always kind, but I will try to be better. That is all I can do.

Thanks…Maybe there will be something to take you there…

Day or night, that Wall rips my heart out. Way too many names.

Oh, yes, dog-lovers are never really alone lol.

Very late, as always; been skimming comments.

I admit, growing up Memoria Day was the start of summer, Race Day (Indy 500, where I spent my childhood to mid-teens), cookout with Race on radio. College through 20′s – day to honor the warmongers – later – actually remembering victims of war, especially after marrying into a family who’d lost a brother/son in VietNam.
My ex and I attended the Memorial Day ceremony held by Edgewood School District grads (class of ’67) to honor the dead from their high schools, including his brother.
We only went twice, I think; he couldn’t take it anymore.

We did visit the wall the first time I got him to go visit my family in MD/PA. His sister already had, and actually left a photograph below his name. I never quite understood why you would leave behind a picture or object that reminded you of someone you loved, but if even she found comfort in doing so, I must accept that it meets an emotional need. I won’t feel the same feeling, but I can respect it.

Hey, bgrothus, I saw your comment about being able to touch Mr. Sadness! Congratulations…patience is rewarded.I will bet that from now on, you will be able to touch him sometimes, and eventually, any time.

And now, I must be off to take care of a few things. Good on you all for respecting the meaning of Memorial Day, helped by our good host.

I can’t go to them. Bay Pines has the biggest ceremony in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties each year. Thousands attend. I can’t do it.

Way too many…and we keep having more and more, just different wars. Breaks my heart….

No, I catch him about once a year, unawares. It has been 11 or 12 years now, I don’t think it will change. I remain with my unrequited love.

I was washing the floor by Miss Sissy’s chair, where she is sleeping, a while ago. I made no eye contact nor spoke to her, so she remained, sleeping in the chair. That’s about as good as it gets, with her.

I am so desperate with want to help Mr. S with his fur. He would rather do it himself, his way. It looks like he has cancer or something, the baldness. Oh well.

Aw. I’m sorry. Sounded hopeful…

OTOH, my formerly feral beloved late cat Charlie (I got him in the house at about 8 or 9 months) never never sat on my lap until his last couple of years, when suddenly he became a lapcat par excellence! Of course, I had started touching him while he was still a kitten outdoors; past the socialization age, but still, he learned to tolerate and then love to be petted. He slept on my bed, slept on chairs beside me, snuggled up, but never on my lap. Til one daY…
Still, you are probably right.

Understood. I suspect that the ceremonies, much like funerals, are for families, rather than those who were there.

And now, I really must be off.

Popping back in while my chicken cooks on the grill. I see it’s RC’s birthday — Hippo Birdie Two Ewe, as Suzanne would say!

I think all of today’s to-dos are to-done and I am pooped. Another scorcher here, although not quite as hot as yesterday and windy, looks like it’s brewing up a t-storm for later.

Leroy Jason Cornwell, III. RIP. MIA for too long. “Repatriated” 08/94. There will be no Leroy Jason Cornwell, IV.

In our hearts as long as there are people who remember him….which, I suppose, is all that any of us can hope for.

Goodnight, pupses dears.

Sleep my love, and
Peace attend thee
All through the night

Thank you, msmolly. Now, let us speak no more of it lol.