A time to give thanks for the air of freedom
Today, Nov. 11, we recognize, remember and give thanks to all who served in the armed forces of the United States. Those traditional ceremonies will range from parades to speeches at local monuments, rifle salutes and invocations. But the fact is that veterans deserve our thanks every day of the year as do those still serving in the military.
The tradition dates to Nov. 11, 1921, when an unknown American soldier from World War I was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of World War I veterans and in conjunction with the timing of cessation of hostilities at 11 a.m., Nov. 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month).
President Warren Harding requested that: "All ... citizens ... indulge in a period of silent thanks to God for these ... valorous lives and of supplication for His Divine mercy ... on our beloved country." Inscribed on the tomb are these words: "Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God." The day became known as "Armistice Day."
In 1954, Congress, wanting to recognize the sacrifice of veterans since World War I, proposed to change "Armistice Day" to "Veterans Day" in their honor. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander in World War II, signed the legislation.
This Veterans Day finds Americans still in the thick of battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their physical and psychological wounds must be tended to upon their return, something which President-elect Barack Obama says will be a priority of his administration. On that, he and his Republican opponent, John McCain, were very much in agreement.
McCain was just the latest in a long line of military men beginning with George Washington who have sought to serve their country in the role of civilian commander in chief. That willingness to serve was noted early in Obama's victory speech last Tuesday night.
"He (McCain) fought long and hard in this campaign," Obama observed, "and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader."
Fortunately, there are relatively few who have undergone the hardships McCain experienced during his five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. But everyone who serves in the armed forces faces the possibility of imprisonment, injury or death, and it's due to that sacrifice we remain a country of free men and women.
Indeed, it was a U.S. Marines chaplain, the Rev. Dennis Edward O'Brien, who put into words what each of us should remember not only on this day, but every day that we are blessed to breathe the air of freedom:
It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson
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15 comments:
It was such a nice sentiment until you had to bring in burning flags. Get your head out of your butt and stop fighting the culture war! Check your calendar, the '60's are over! We have real issues today that need to be solved. Turn off O'Reilly for a few days and get your own mind back.
Hey anon,
Lighten up. The blog simply quoted Marine Chaplain O'Brien's famous quote. The blog entry had nothing to do with flag burning. Sheesh.
It's too bad the twits around here have to keep sneaking partisan crap into most of the posts. So, you want to get partisan?
It just goes to show you who really has the lack of patriotism; conservative zealots, who can't stand together with all Americans to celebrate Veterans' Day without sneaking in political, are the same people who support a party that tried to cut down the VA budget and weren't willing to get the equipment and care our troops needed. You're just a bunch of shameless hypocrites...
Thanks to all that served to preserve FREEDOM and defend THE WHOLE CONSTITUTION, not just the parts that right-wing wingnuts choose.
November 11, 2008 4:30 PM
No need to be nasty.
Lets get back to what this post is really for..Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all of our servicemen and women. I for one appreciate all you did and do!!
Mark, Thanks for your years of service in the US Air Force. You lasted longer than I did.
I won't take the other being tossed in. Too easy.
Nov.11th is right !! We have to put the party stuff aside to over come the countries trouble WE ARE ALL IN. It is that time to stop being selfish and reach out to one another for every bodies safety and well being in these times of discord. I can't agree with him more and shame on you for being so party orientated when we all should be helping with the situation. Wake the hell up and do your part.
What is wrong with every one that turns a solemn occasion in to a name calling hissy fit.
The purpose of Vererans Day is to Honor and respect what they have done. We have freedom because of them and we do them a disservice to carry on like children.
Granted, the politicians and others will take advantage of the media so---what else is new? That has been done since time began.
So suck it up and enjoy this Holiday and Honor those that have given us so much. Take those chips off your shoulder. It doesn't make any one feel any better.
Thank you to each and every Veteran.
Hey 4:30,
There was nothing political until the underinformed jackass chose to relive the 60's.
As to your wild accusations about the Conservatives "cutting down the VA budget, and refusing to provide equipment for the troops, wrong again!
Go to GAO.gov, and look at the Federal Budget the VA budget has increased each of the last 8 years. As for equipment I assume you are talking about up armored humvees, and those were being uparmored even before Iraq started the pace was just too slow to keep up with the need initially. It took the company some time to ramp up production. You dont drive a car from 0-100mph, without hitting every speed in between, but keep drinking the koolaid.
Do you know the last time budgets and pay was CUT for our troops....
crickets..
1999.
Hey 7:02
Please don't get in a battle when you don't have any bullets.
VA spending only went up do to mandated spending; Bush tried to slash and hack repeatedly to increase fees and cut care, but Congress kept knocking him back. Why didn't you know that? How could you vote for a president that did that? Ignorance = bliss...
While you're at the GAO website, why don't you look up the 2006report that details how the administration used phony management savings to purposely short the VA budget $1.5 BILLION which needed an emergency appropriation from Congress to remedy.
Oh, and you'll also learn in that same report that the Pentagon (under pressure from the administration no doubt) REFUSED the VA's request for casualty projections for the coming year to allow them properly budget and prepare to the influx of injured that would be coming. Why? To try to keep costs down...
You do remember Walter Reed and the outsourcing of maintenance and what that resulted in, right?
Oh, and the company making the uparmored kits for Humvees? After Rumsfeld assured everyone that he was getting them as fast as he could, a reporter thought of asking the guy that owned the company if anyone had ever asked him to speed production. Know what he said? "No, no one ever asked me. I could put on two more 8 hour shifts and triple the amount of kits I'm making if they only asked..."
So, what did we learn today? Load brain before firing mouth, and...
...when partisan hacks stand for a party without really getting the info on what that party doesn't do for veterans, it hurts veterans. Period. But you won't learn anything, or demand your party do more for veterans (remember McCain was against the New VA Bill?), because in reality...
YOU CARE MORE ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THAN YOU DO ABOUT VETERANS!!! That's why the administration (and their budget-hawk buddy Judd Gregg) tried to screw veterans for 8 years, all the while distracting simpletons like yourself with who was wearing flag pins! Dont you feel ashamed now?
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/05/01/coburn/
Ok, you get your news fro Salon.com, and I am the political hack?
The report you refer to is actually two reports from Nov. 2005, and Jan. 2006, and the reports are criticizing the VA management for not pursuing third party insurance re-imbursements, as they should have been. It does not state that the "Bush Administration tried to cut funding" or that "Bush refused to fund $1.5 billion" to the VA. It does state that the VA has $1.5 billion in insurance re-imbursements outstanding, and should be going after them.
And you "Urged by the Bush administration, no doubt" comment reveals your partisanship for all to see. I am not a Bush supporter, I voted for Bob Barr( Libertarian Candidate) but I will not Trash the President of the United States for something HE did not do.
Wrong GAO report Binky, nice avoidance though, even as you tried to sound authoratative and dismiss the article by mentioning the name of it...
To the readers here, notice that not one fact was refuted, and consider that what I mention is only a small part of the shabby treatment offered to vets by this president.
Some people are impervious to facts; willful ignorance can not be defeated. I'll post links later to the FAO report.
Wrong GAO report Binky, nice avoidance though, even as you tried to sound authoratative and dismiss the article by mentioning the name of it...
To the readers here, notice that not one fact was refuted, and consider that what I mention is only a small part of the shabby treatment offered to vets by this president.
Some people are impervious to facts; willful ignorance can not be defeated. I'll post links later to the FAO report.
I have always been a Veterans Advocate, and I have heard many accusations of the sort you mention, but I have yet to find any verification that the President did these things.
I have not even found verification that someone in the administration did these things with or without Presidential approval.
So if you could provide a link to source material, rather than a news story, I would appreciate it. I would much rather get my facts from the source rather than pre-spun by a reporter.
Exactly which factual errors were in the cited article? Or did you simply not want to believe the facts it presented, and you want to put up as many barriers as you can to acknowledging what any true "veterans advocate" should have known long ago.
Honestly, if you were a true advocate, you wouldn't be such a hack for Republicans; you would be willing to criticize either party for doing something that hurt, or fir refusing to help, vets.
But when they tried to pass a new GI Bill with strong educational benefits for some of our great Iraq and Afghan vets, you said nothing to support it; when this administration intentionally underfunded the VA by over a billion dollars you said nothing (I have no idea what you were babbling about I've read the GAO report and it was nothing like what you said) you were quiet, and no doubt you were too busy sending emails about the secret Muslim nature of Barack Obama to raise your voice in protest to Rumsfeld's horrible mishandling of Walter Reed and the war itself.
Again, willful ignorance is self-sustaining and impossible to defeat. Enjoy your "bliss".
But y
Thank you Veterans for making our country safe and free.
As for the posters on this blog, the tone of the posts is, in my opinion, no longer one of people discussing issues, all I hear is this:
Comment 1: You must be an idiot to believe the Demlicans.
Comment 2: I'm no idiot, your the idiot for supporting the Repubocrats.
Comment 3: Oh yeah, well your an idiot cause the president did this that and the other thing so you must have supported the starvation of baby kittens!
People, you are starting to sound like the loudmouths on TV and radio that yell all the time. Their basic mantra being, if I say it loud enough and often enough and passionate enough, then I must be truthful and correct (click, change station, tune out). A discussion based on facts is one based on information sources. Mark makes a good point, he would like to see the source information and form his own opinion. Anyone can spin anything anyway they want. Just watch the chief. Or better yet, watch our moderater.
Start with facts and sources and it wouldn't hurt to cite the web site address. And please stop yelling. My hearing is already getting bad. I think Mr. Springer's idea is worth further consideration.
Signed,
Moderately Getting Deaf From All The Yelling
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