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by Anonymous User on Monday November 11, @12:47PM EST (#1)
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I'm not very eloquent at this sort of thing but today I'd like to thank my grandfather (RIP) who was in WWII, my father-in-law who served during the Korean conflict, and two uncles who were in Vietnam. I'd also like to thank all veterans, especially those here on this site with whom I may have conversed or debated. I truly appreciate your service.
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Men's lives became names in stone as the dragon cut his teeth on the black granite wall.
Cold eyes prowled the jungle mist to steal away lives of fevered killers and frightened boys.
Was he close enough to smell the cold sweat as his muzzle blast blew life's candle out or in his sights did he line up my friend to take the bullet like a needle held up and threaded through the eye.
No answers lie in the dreams of my mind, when the ghosts of war who have no lives prowl the fog of my memories to seek reprieve from the belly of the beast and whisper, ------ "live will for me."
Ray
As we would say in Vietnam, "Happy F---ing Veterans Day," Excuse my sarcasm. I am grateful and relatively happy to be alive, although I wish this country would treat men (including veterans) better.
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It's impossible to adequately express gratitude to the veterans, who have sacrificed so much to protect us and keep us free. Nevertheless, I say "Thank you." We owe you more than we can repay.
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Please make that "Many Thanks To Those Who Keep Us Safe And Free."
Thanks especially to the vets who contribute to this board. Some people just have it in them to fight for what they believe is right.
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We can never repay the debt.
On this day, I would like to thank two Men who served with honour and distinction, in combat, in WWII.
My Father served with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and my Uncle with the Royal Canadian Artillery.
We laid my Uncle to rest this past Saturday. I loved him dearly.
My father, now 84, was a Canadian airman with RCAF 410 R&SU (one of two forward Repair and Salvage Units) in England and Europe from 1941 to 1945. In his overly modest words he says, "I spent the war fixing Spitfires."
When asked, as we did sometime when we were kids, to 'tell some war stories,' he has a small handful of funny wartime tales that he trots out, but nothing beyond that.
One evening, just a few years ago, the two of us were having a couple drinks and I pressed a bit harder for information about his experience during the war years. For the first time he allowed it out and told me of his experiences, including what 'fixing Spitfires' really meant. Among other things, it meant going out, with a flatbed truck and a crane, and recovering downed aircraft from wherever they happened to be -- near or even past the front lines, taking fire -- because you were short of everything and needed the parts. They also had to remove whatever was left in the cockpit.
He told me how terrible it was, about the horror he experienced, the death and destruction, the sudden and senseless loss of friends, the futility, the fear, and the feeling of utter helplessness and loss of hope. We were both in tears before he was finished.
I asked him why he had kept that horror buried for so many years and he told me that he found it too painful to think about, and he believed that he had helped fight that war so that his loved ones at home wouldn't have to; to help make a better place for his wife and children.
He was determined that his family would not be exposed to the horror of war, even as stories. So he kept that pain to himself. For over fifty years.
I lack the words to express my love and respect for him, for his quiet courage, and his sacrifice.
This is just a small part of one Man's story. There are thousands of others. They must not be forgotten.
War is not a glorious thing. It is agonizing and soul-destroying, it is stark horror and suffering, it is, as Churchill said, 'blood, sweat, and tears,' but there are times when it is thrust upon us, and we must defend what we love. Who else is going to do it? Women?
These are the things Men do. How dare anyone demean them?
Ragtime
The Uppity Wallet
The opinions expressed above are my own,
but you're welcome to adopt them.
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What Price Liberty? Our veterans have paid the price. I wish to thank all of our Veterans for the personal, economic, and emotional sacrifices that they have made for human rights, liberties, and representative government. I would, especially, like to thank my father, 1st Lieutentant Thomas Mitchell Shaw, who served with the U.S. Army Infantry during W.W. II in the European Theatre and my American Revolutionary Ancestor, Captain Robert Paine, for his service in the patriot cause during the American Revolution.
Veterans, especially those in the combat arms, experience the honor, glory, self-respect, and adventure that comes with defending human rights, human liberties, and the concept of representative government that few will ever experience.
I served with the U.S. Army;4th Inf. Div;2/8th Inf.;Republic of Vietnam 1969-1970
C.V. Compton Shaw
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by Anonymous User on Tuesday November 12, @12:30AM EST (#9)
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To Ray, cshaw, and all the other veterans who have experienced the unspeakable horrors of war: Thank you.
"For those who fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know."
-hobbes, Cpl., USMC; 3rd MAW; MCAS Yuma.
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Here is a very astute observation on the observance of Veteran's Day by Men's Health forum.
Subject: [menshealth] A Veteran's Day Question
Reply-To: menshealth@yahoogroups.com
A VETERAN'S DAY QUESTION
October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Of all persons who develop
breast cancer, 1% are male. But news reports about breast cancer never
refered to the "women and men who died of breast cancer."
November 11 was Veteran's Day. In refering to the event, reporters
consistently used the term, "Men and women who died in combat."
This phrase is technically correct. For example, of the approximately
58,000 Americans who died in Viet Nam, eight were female. Eight female
fatalities represented 0.014% of total death toll.
But if the media is going to refer to the "men and women who died in
combat," why don't they ever talk about the "women and men who died
from breast cancer"?
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by Anonymous User on Tuesday November 12, @01:06PM EST (#14)
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You beat me to my point! It was driving me crazy all day long to hear "the men and women who valiantly gave their lives". CBC's radio coverage consisted of a visit to a female artists' exhibition, then a conversation with 3 women - 1 from iraq, 1 who was a Quaker and some other one - and their views on war. But they could only seem to find male veterans to talk to about their experience. Where were all the female combat veterans? And in the stories the veterans told there were no instances of stories like "Me and George were pinned down but Sally took out the german machine gun nest and saved the squad." Maybe it's because no "Sallys" were there. There was a segment with a grade school class talking to a vet. It was clear these children had no idea about war by the questions they were asking. One asked "why did you go to D-day?" He laughed and said "Well it's kind of like when your mom tells you it's time to go to bed. You didn't really have any choice." It was a good answer.
I found it disturbing that they are filling young children's heads with the image of men and women fighting side by side in the trenches and on the beaches. They will grow up believing this crap but maybe it will dawn on them as they get older that they never saw pictures in the history books of dead women washing up on the beaches, or lying in craters or boatloads of young women heading across the Atlantic. Maybe they will realize they have been lied to and manipulated. It is sad that we have to make Remembrance Day another exercise in "inclusivness" so nobody feels left out. You can imagine how the women would react if it had been all women fighting in the war and men tried to co-op it for themselves. War is not a good thing but it is important that we recognize those who made the sacrifice. And that there is a heavy societial obligation on MEN to make the sacrifice. The men who died should be placed on a pinnacle above all others - not to be shared by people with a social agenda.
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It seems like we so often hear about the suffering of civilians during a war. But let's not forget: the vast majority of the world's soldiers are civilians -- male civilians -- who happen to be wearing a uniform.
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It's so easy for us to feel that we are only ever needed when there is a war or a crisis that needs those brave enough to risk their lives. However it seems that we are needed in other ways too, in fact in great demand, even wanted men. Corporations who have made enourmous amounts out of the health,fitness and grooming markets for women, now find their sales static or falling and as such are targetting men. No problem with that, just as long as we play hard to get and insist that some of these profits are returned to support organisations such as this one. In fact we shoudl refuse to buy from those who don't want to support. Men wanted again, even if it is only as consumers. Well guys its a start
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My Grandfather - US Navy, WWII
His Cousin: Died in North Africa with Patton
My Uncle: Korea
My Father: Vietnam
My Cousin: Middle East
My Brother: Gulf War, Gulf War Syndrome
Me mates, Bart, John, Eddie - Grenada, Gulf War
Phil- Vietnam, Agent Orange Victim
It's curious to note that of all the women I knew active during Desert Storm - the majority developed pregnancy during that time. Including two now practicing lesbians.
Hmmmm.
---- Burn, Baby, Burn ----
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This is an email I just received from a feminist I met at the local French club. She sent this out the day after Veteran's Day.
I told her to take me off her hate-mail list.
Eleven people were hanging on a rope under a
>helicopter, ten men and one woman. The rope was not
>strong enough to carry them all, so they decided that
>one has to leave, otherwise they are all going to
>fall. They were not able to name that person, until
>the woman gave a very touching speech. She said that
>she will voluntarily let go of the rope, because as a
>woman she is used to giving up everything for her
>husband and kids, or for men in general, without ever
>getting anything in return.
>As soon as she finished her speech, all the men
>started clapping their hands.......
>
>SEND THIS MAIL TO A WOMAN, SO THAT SHE
>HAS SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT TODAY,
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This is a really OLD one!
Just reverse the characters and send it back to the bimbo! They really hate it when you do that.
Do ask however, why if she is so damn smart why is it she couldn't come up with something more original?
Every notice that femi-twits are really boring?
Yawn! ;-0
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I like this ending better:
As soon as she finished her speech, all the men
>started clapping their hands.......
because the helo had just brought them safely to land. They were only to eager to get away from the inane femi-babble of that giberish spewing radical feminist who had driven them from the helo and onto the rope in the 1st place. What torment it had been to have had to listen to her absurd distortions of reality. They watched in glee as the helo rose high into the sky with its delusional cargo still spouting feminazi drivel. As she sailed into the sunset and an unknown fate it was clear to all who'd known her that she remained incurably oblivious to all reality except that infintesimally small world she had created within the narrow confines of her own bigoted mind. As she sped quickly out of sight one man was heard to say, "Let us hope we have seen the last of that flying squirrel and the nonsense she rode in on."
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A friend of mine told me this story about his experience during the Gulf war.
He was trained to help extract people from vehicles that hit landmines with the jaws-of-life. While he did not talk about the job in general he did mention one "memorable" instance when he had to cut a person out of a humvee after it had hit a landmine. Due to the vehicle being in high risk combat zone he had to work quickly to remove the individual. The sad part was that the driver had a broken neck and was not going to live and was dieing but was also blocking the path to the passenger that was still alive. He told me how he had to literally cut through the diver to get to the passenger. He watched the person's face as they died. While the driver died a painless death my friend still carries the pain with him. If you see someone who served in the military take a moment to thank them. [I will never regret the six years I spent in the US Navy.]
Tony
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This (very old) parable should be recognized for how it accurately represents what goes on every day in the real world, on a very large scale.
A woman sets herself up to be seen as a self sacrificing victim when in reality she’s manipulating men into sacrificing themselves for her. And making it all look like male selfishness.
It would be hard to find a joke that more accurately represents how the world really works.
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