primitives acknowledge veterans

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025801156

Oh my.

NYC_SKP (62,812 posts)    Tue Nov 11, 2014, 10:37 AM

I travel a lot and run into active service men and women, and I often acknowledge them.
Veterans Day is a day dedicated to veterans, by nature not likely to be in uniforms near airports.
 
I appreciate some of the threads I'm reading today suggesting that thanking a veteran for their service might be wrong or offensive, and this is fine, indeed each experience is unique and I can fully appreciate a veteran not wanting to hear that.
 
I have a few vets in my family and in my service organization, and I know which ones like to get a note of appreciation and which don't.
 
Veterans: I'm grateful for your service, even if you were drafted, but I'm also sorry that there were wars to be fought, there are better ways and we should stop our warlike behavior.
 
I'll be at two airports today* and likely to see active service folks in uniform.
 
In my usual fashion, I'll look at them and smile and nod, maybe give a "thumbs-up", and acknowledge that I respect their personal commitment and wish them well.

And, today, I'll think of my waterskiing buddy, Mike, who, on one particular day, was one of an average 21 veterans who commit suicide daily.

*Skippy, as he's announced only about six thousand times the past week, is going to San Diego.

BubbaFett (54 posts)    Tue Nov 11, 2014, 10:49 AM

1. My father fought in Vietnam

If someone thanked him for his service, he probably would have told the person off. It was a lot of darkness for him that he carried inside and that he never talked about.
 
He was of the generation where "men" didn't talk about their problems or some such.
 
He was drafted, didn't have a choice in the matter, and really didn't want to be there.

JonLP24 (15,280 posts)    Tue Nov 11, 2014, 11:03 AM

2. The funny thing about being in the military

Is the further away I got away from a military base, the higher level of acknowledgement.
 
In Ft. Lewis Folks in Tillicum, Lakewood, Tacoma, Lacey, and Olympia aren't impressed. The further north on I-5 got, the more acknowledgement. Surrounding towns outside of Fort Leonard Wood -- same story. In fact, the type of businesses that spring up seem to take advantage of the overall youthful customer base--usually in the form of crazy interest rates. Airports were crazy when it came to that. I actually knew 1 soldier who was the only one I was aware of that choose to wear the uniform during leave from Ft. Lewis.
 
It wasn't something I cared about receiving, the being thanked didn't make much sense to me but didn't bother me either way. Public attention of any kind is something I always avoided. I always saw myself and others as nothing special which local town folk see.

WhiteTara (13,762 posts)    Tue Nov 11, 2014, 11:36 AM

3. At the beginning of the Iraq war

it was 7 soldiers a day. That is a staggering statistic. We are losing our humanity.*

*that's what happens when one starts down the slippery slope, first allowing women to murder their children, after which the deluge.

NYC_SKP (62,812 posts)   Tue Nov 11, 2014, 11:59 AM

4. 7 or 22, that it's under-reported is a disgrace. Check this out, LA Times says "No Big, Calm Down"

Many experts believe that the farther a veteran is from military service, the less likely it is that his or her suicide has anything to do with his or her time in uniform. In other words, many older veterans are killing themselves for the same reasons that other civilians in the same age group kill themselves: depression and other mental health problems coupled with difficult life circumstances.
 
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/dec/20/science/la-sci-sn-veteran-suicide-statistics-20131219
 
**** You, LA Times!

[GOBUCKS]

*Skippy, as he's announced only about six thousand times the past week, is going to San Diego.

I hope he's going as Skimmer's envoy to have a sit-down with nadin and beg her to return.

Without an apocalyptic event like the election, the DUmp is a boring cesspool without her.

We'll have some merriment over the savages in Ferguson pretty soon, but after that there's nothing on the horizon for the DUmp to feast on.

Maybe things will perk up a little if the Big Guy starts posting his death throes, but I'm pretty sure that's a hoax inspired by Glenn Beck's current scam.

[franksolich]

I hope he's going as Skimmer's envoy to have a sit-down with nadin and beg her to return.

Without an apocalyptic event like the election, the DUmp is a boring cesspool without her.

I hope so too; remember, Skippy as a desk-sitting governmental bureaucrat travels on the taxpayer's dime, enjoying a carte blanche of an expense account, and surely he can fudge in another day, for visiting her.

And I'm sure he'll be touring the striptease joints, if such exist in San Diego.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Anyone remember this DU screenshot image from yesteryear?

[obumazombie]

Real classy DU...NOT !