I would like to thank each and every person out there who is, was, or is considering being a member of the United States Military. My family and I do not take you for granted and we appreciate the sacrifice you and your families have made on our behalf. To join our military is a huge act of bravery and you should feel very proud of your efforts. If you have a loved one who has died defending this country I would like to thank you for your sacrifice. You are in our prayers and our hearts and they will not be forgotten. Thank you to you all.
Ditto! 
Today’s holiday has a quite bizarre history to it (former chattel slaves celebrating the union soldiers), nonetheless, today, it is used to memorialize the dead war criminals hired by the largest criminal organization the world has ever seen. I have to wonder why this day is still celebrated…
If this day were reserved to only those people who were involved in defensive actions instead of offensive actions, it would be a different scenario, but there hasn’t been a “war” like that for a very long time.
Damn, Gilby, soldiers don’t make policy, they just volunteer and serve. If nobody volunteered it wouldn’t change much, either. Go ahead and bad mouth the government(s) and the military-industrial complex, and I’m right there with you. But that’s not what today is about.
You can honor those who sacrifice(d) without honoring the wars they were in.
I’m with Fireboy.
BTW, for those of you in other countries, today is our Memorial Day holiday.
It’s up to each individual to choose what is a good cause and what is not. While I understand that most are ignorant to the reality of their actions (most are recruited and brainwashed right out of the government run high schools), that does not fully justify their actions, no matter who it is who is calling them to make those actions.
They have each sworn to uphold the constitution for the United States of America, and if they’ve actually read it (it’s not very long), they would not have done what they have done under the order of their superiors.
He’s the universal soldier And he really is the blame
“Universal Soldier” by Buffy St Marie
He’s 5 foot 2 and he’s 6 feet 4
He fights with missiles and with spears
He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17.
He’s been a soldier for a thousand years
He’s a catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain
A Buddhist, and a Baptist and Jew.
And he knows he shouldn’t kill
And he knows he always will kill
You’ll for me my friend and me for you
And He’s fighting for Canada.
He’s fighting for France.
He’s fighting for the USA.
And he’s fighting for the Russians.
And he’s fighting for Japan
And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way.
And He’s fighting for democracy,
He’s fighting for the reds
He says it’s for the peace of all.
He’s the one, who must decide,
who’s to live and who’s to die.
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him,
how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He’s the one who gives his body
as a weapon of the war.
And without him all this killing can’t go on
He’s the universal soldier
And he really is the blame
His orders comes from
far away no more.
They come from him.
And you and me.
And brothers can’t you see.
This is not the way we put an end to war
Read more: Buffy Sainte-Marie - The Universal Soldier Lyrics
LetsSingIt - Your favorite Music Community
A powerfull piece.
Thanx for posting.
+1
Oh man. This is such an easy issue to see both sides of.
- There really is an under ground draft of the poor. Recruiters target poor neighborhoods and get kids to enlist without ever really knowing what is going on (in the USA you can enlist at 17 with your parents permission, 18 without). I can’t hold children (and yes, I would say many 18 year old people are still children) responsible for a possible poor decision (enlisting).
There is also a saying that “A gun is a tool of the rich, with a worker at both ends.” Meaning that many people who fight are manipulated by whichever side they are fighting for. Not to say they are not accountable for their actions, just that that doesn’t tell the whole story. Things are not black and white.
- If all the people pulling triggers and pushing buttons just decided not to, it would pretty much bring about world peace. Of course, this too, is more complicated than I make it out to be. Nations have a right to self determination, resources are scare, power is not balanced, and religion is, well, religion.
For a parent who has lost a son (or a daughter), this is a slightly meagre consolation … Current society has problems with dealing with death?
- Being in the military is not all about fighting wars. It’s a lot more than that. I’m in the Navy and we don’t just blow stuff up and drive boats around in the ocean. We do a lot of humanitarian missions. We were some of the first to get to Haiti after the earthquake and we were already in Japan when there was an earthquake there. We were the first to offer a helping hand. We do so much more than fight wars. I guess people don’t see it because when they think of the word Military they think about war and fighting and death. It’s really not about any of that. We do what we have to do to defend our country when the time comes and when we are not fighting which is most of the time we are doing things to help people.
- Those of us who choose to join the military do it because it has a lot to offer. We get free education, a pay check, a place to sleep, and we never have to worry about going hungry. We also get to help people who may not be able to help themselves. We don’t do it because we were brainwashed. We do it because we want to serve our country and make the world a better place to live.
No offense, but you don’t need bombs and guns to help Japan or Haiti. How much better would you be able to help people like that if 99.99%+ of your budget wasn’t spent on things that kill people… just kind of seems backwards to me I guess.
For some reason we need bombs and guns to defend our country. Most of the time we don’t use them. Sometimes we just blow stuff up for fun.
With the amount we spend on “defense” we could defend quite a few countries… wait, i forgot that is what I spend my tax dollars on, protecting Iraq and any other country my leaders decide they want to go “help”…
There are many of us in this country who are grateful to you for your presence in the military and the defense of our country. I thank you on their behalf and mine.
There are many throughout the world who are grateful to you for your humanitarian and strategic presence. They are frequently unable to thank you because of the urgency of their situations which you have seen and fully understand.
There will always be some who are unable to separate the soldier from the military. I apologize to you for their ignorance.
I support the soldier, I can’t support the war or the government that sends children to die.
I wonder how many young guys would be joining up if they could get the free education and job security elsehere? I know numerous lads from my area that joined up with the army because they came out of college unable to get into university of find a job, they didn’t care about defending our country or humanitarian missions, they cared about finding a wage however they could. I even recall one of them, I kid you not, saying how it was going to be easy after completing COD, it was said in jest, but you have to wonder at that point how much of the reality of it all an 18 year old can really grasp?
I appreciate the sacrifice, I just wish it didn’t have to be made in the first place and I wish the the people at the top would think more about the lives of those at the bottom when they make the decision to go to war.
Memorial Day USA: To remember those who have given their lives in service to a grateful nation.
I’m kinda with Gilby on this one
1 I have respect for service men, but it has been a while now since we stormed Normandy beach. They aren’t hero’s anymore, they are corporate profit pawns that have killed many thousands recently in service of the Halliburton types. That many of them were to stupid to realize it, or didn’t care because they wanted a job, does not make them heroes.
2 The modern US soldiers job is so morally bankrupt, and obviously so, that the highest cause of death in many units is suicide. To be a hired shit that goes around abusing people is so depressing. They feel bad about themselves, ashamed, and often rightly so. There is a spiritual price they pay for their actions.
3 Of course we need a military, but it should be less than 1/5 the size it is now.That would still be more than China spends. A lot more. I don’t know why Americans must act so cowardly. As if we had suffered damage from war? No, we didn’t. The fat cats raked in big $ in wars, that’s why we love war ,the only reason we went into Iraq. Insiders in the Cheny Inc were tipped ahead on what stocks to buy.
4 But to all you vets, happy memorial day! Try not to get to depressed thinking about the time you dropped napalm on that village.
To listen to you, the terrorists have won;)
Are you under influence of that German nazi program that the US CIA took over, know as MK-Ultra?
Or are you simply ironic?
Like below kind sacrifices on “our” behalf?
never de-classified video (so forbidden to watch for US citizens):
maybe not a very suitable video for young people, but if that 1st post is truly not ironic, you may want to get in touch with reality:
