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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Military / Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day

by John Cole|  May 26, 200810:33 am| 26 Comments

This post is in: Military, Popular Culture

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According to George Will, the last living WWI vet lives in WV.

At any rate, remember what the holiday is really all about.

A tribute to fallen West Virginians here.

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26Comments

  1. 1.

    r€nato

    May 26, 2008 at 10:40 am

    At any rate, remember what the holiday is really all about.

    getting pissy because Google didn’t put up a special graphic to commemorate the holiday?

  2. 2.

    b. hussein canuckistani

    May 26, 2008 at 10:47 am

    Being smug while your Canadian neighbours slave at work?

  3. 3.

    SamFromUtah

    May 26, 2008 at 10:50 am

    Some of us Americans have to work too, b. hussein, but your point is taken.

    I will raise a cup of Office Coffee in honor of our veterans.

  4. 4.

    w vincentz

    May 26, 2008 at 11:06 am

    Ahh yes, another Memorial Day. A day to remember again all those that bought into the propaganda and paid the price with their lives. A day to remember all those that gave so much so the very few could gain so much.
    I caught Chimp’s remarks at his wreath planting at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Yessiree…makes one proud that he mentioned that those that died in Iraq gave their lives for the USA. Another lie! They died to support an illeagal invasion, liberate the Iraqis and find nonexistant WMDs.
    And so it goes……..
    Oh yeah, HAPPY FUCKIN’ MEMORIAL DAY!

  5. 5.

    ThymeZone

    May 26, 2008 at 11:32 am

    A day to remember again all those that bought into the propaganda

    No, we must disagree most profoundly. Service is about service, not about “buying into propaganda.”

    Memorial Day is about service, and only service.

    Service is not about approval, or proselytizing, or support of a government, or about politics.

    Memorial Day is about taking one day out of 365 in a year to just honor service in the plainest sense. Not to glorify it in some maudlin way, nor to denigrate it with political criticism. Just thank the people who gave it. That’s it.

  6. 6.

    mellowjohn

    May 26, 2008 at 11:40 am

    REMEMBER

    If you are able,
    save a place for them
    inside of you. And
    save one backward glance
    when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.
    Be not ashamed to say that you loved them,
    though you may not have always.
    Take what they have left,
    and what they have taught you
    with their dying
    and keep it your own.
    And in a time
    when men decide and feel safe
    to call war insane,
    take one moment to embrace
    those gentle heroes
    you left behind.

    Major Michael Davis O’Donnell, helicopter pilot
    1 January 1970, Dak To, Vietnam
    KIA, March 24, 1970

  7. 7.

    EnderWiggin

    May 26, 2008 at 11:42 am

    A day to remember again all those that bought into the propaganda

    What ThymeZone said, plus remember that Memorial Day isn’t about the Bush or Iraq:

    “Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who perished while in military service to their country. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War, it was expanded after World War I to include casualties of any war or military action.”

    I think all of us, minus any left over RONPAUL! Bots can get behind honoring those that died fighting the Civil War.

  8. 8.

    bostondreams

    May 26, 2008 at 11:43 am

    As we remember our own war dead, let us not forget those who still serve. I know it is not Veteran’s Day..but we want these men and women to live to BE veterans. My friends, we have a situation in this country. We have a situation that should make us ashamed as Americans, and that situation is how we treat those who have fought for our Constitution, who have willingly surrendered themselves to fulfill the needs of the country, so that most of the rest of us need not. And how do we treat those heroes? We ignore them, we forget them, we fail to pay them the honor they deserve. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure most of you have see the recent reports that 25% of all homeless in America are veterans. These men and women are suffering, from substance abuse, from post traumatic stress disorder, and from so many issues related to their service and their return home that it makes one cry. Broken homes, broken soldiers.
    So I ask you, remember those who have served our nation. Thank a veteran of the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and of course my own Air Force. And don’t forget those in the Reserves and the Guard, who may have been asked to do more than they ever expected as we enter the 7th year of the current war. It matters not how you feel about this war, but these men and women deserve our respect. Hug them. Thank them. And to those of you who have served and continue to serve, thank you. Please consider donating to your local VFW or American Legion, or to the organization USVETS (https://www.usvetsinc.org/how_help/).

  9. 9.

    w vincentz

    May 26, 2008 at 11:45 am

    TZ,
    Though I usually agree with you, sorry, not this time.
    If you do a little bit of research about what this holiday is really about, you might find the 1950 Joint Resolution of Congress (64 Stat. 158) initiated this day for a different purpose than the one you cite.
    In fact, today is a “national day of prayer for peace”.
    So, my friend, may you find the time today to remember the value of peace, and take the time to pray for it.

  10. 10.

    ThymeZone

    May 26, 2008 at 11:53 am

    Sorry, I don’t let the congress of 1950 decide what I do.

    The day is about what we say it’s about. I say it’s about thanking those who gave service.

    You can say it’s about whatever you want to say it’s about.

    Once the buttheads in congress get done with their speeches and we have the holiday, it belongs to us. Not them.

    And so my point is, if we can’t take one day a year to thank the people who gave service without reservation, then we don’t really deserve their service.

  11. 11.

    bostondreams

    May 26, 2008 at 11:58 am

    And so my point is, if we can’t take one day a year to thank the people who gave service without reservation, then we don’t really deserve their service.

    QFT

  12. 12.

    w vincentz

    May 26, 2008 at 12:00 pm

    TZ,
    I’ll pray for their peaceful return from service.
    And I’ll also pray that they realize the value of peace.
    Only therein will they realize the folly of continued US militarism throughout the planet and thereby prevent their sons and daughters from perpetuating the absurdity of their actions.
    PEACE!

  13. 13.

    dave

    May 26, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    Here’s the story of the WWI vet.

  14. 14.

    Carnacki

    May 26, 2008 at 12:31 pm

    John,

    Thirty two of our fellow West Virginians: Memorial Day in West Virginia.

  15. 15.

    ThymeZone

    May 26, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    PEACE!

    Peace out, brother.

  16. 16.

    w vincentz

    May 26, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    AMEN! TZ.

  17. 17.

    douglasfactors

    May 26, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    Just to clarify, Frank Buckles is the last surviving doughboy.

    There are a dozen Great War veterans worldwide, including Harry Patch, who fought at Passchendaele, and Henry Allingham, the oldest living man in Europe, who survived the Battle of Jutland.

  18. 18.

    w vincentz

    May 26, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    My friend Tom is here and he wants to say something.
    Here he is…

    Regardless if you are a Hillary presidential wannabe by committee supporter or an Obama yes man, or swing the other way and stick with Republican mess, we should put all the afore mentioned aside, and salute and think about the young men and women and their families that have gone through what they have in the purpose of our country.
    God speed and safety for our service members.
    Tom

    W here,
    That’s my “blue collar buddy” sppeakin’ from his heart. I agree.

  19. 19.

    srv

    May 26, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    What FDChief said:

    I hate what this holiday has become, especially in the “Support The Troops” Dubya years. It seems to me that the VERY best thing for the majority of Americans would be to think of this Memorial Day not as time reserved for barbeques and softball in the park, but as the time it took a 19-year-old private to bleed out, alone amid the dying crowd in the grass before the wall at Fredricksburg.

    …

    That the price we pay for “forging our national will” is paid in the unlived futures of those we kill and those of us who die to make it so.

  20. 20.

    ThymeZone

    May 26, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    God speed and safety for our service members.
    Tom

    W here,
    That’s my “blue collar buddy” sppeakin’ from his heart. I agree.

    Well said guys.

  21. 21.

    w vincentz

    May 26, 2008 at 2:12 pm

    TZ,
    Tom here…
    Finally it’s nice to have a political opinion and not have it turn into a venomous arguement that neglects the real consequences of poor decision making.
    Nice to hear you agree brother. Bring ’em home safely!
    Tom

  22. 22.

    ThymeZone

    May 26, 2008 at 3:22 pm

    Bring ‘em home safely!
    Tom

    Amen.

  23. 23.

    Graeme

    May 26, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    We were out for a walk earlier, and we saw lots of contractor types out working on home improvements for folks. Probably putting in nice countertops.

    I’m sure Malkin isn’t posting today in honor of our troops, but I’m sure she’ll be looking into why those in the construction trades are in league with Bin Laden.

    I’m off to take a look at what the wingnuts have to say about these people working today and how they’re shitting on the memory of our fallen troops. I sure hope our keyboard kommandos do a full expose!

    Wait a minute… I should take this opportunity to mention I’m a different kind of Wing Nut: GO WINGS!

  24. 24.

    OriGuy

    May 26, 2008 at 5:18 pm

    Mark Twain’s The War Prayer should be read everywhere today.

  25. 25.

    TenguPhule

    May 26, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    At any rate, remember what the holiday is really all about.

    It would be a lot easier if that Asshole Bush would stop trying to make today all about himself.

  26. 26.

    w vincentz

    May 26, 2008 at 7:22 pm

    Thank you Origuy for sharing Mark Twain’s war prayer.
    Those words are far better than anything I could possibly say.
    Pray for peace.
    And, again, thanks.

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