Bubblehead Les sets the facts straight:
"(O)n Veterans Day, you can say “Thank You for Your Service”, and you’ll get a reply. On Memorial Day, those Thanks need to be said in a Cemetery.".
Friday, May 23, 2014
QotD: Important Distinction Edition...
Some time over Memorial Day weekend, you can count on some TV personality to, in between the sports stories and the "Memorial Mattress Sale!" commercials, burble something like "...and don't forget to hug a veteran this weekend!"
Bubblehead Les sets the facts straight:
Bubblehead Les sets the facts straight:
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14 comments:
It doesn't have to be a national holiday for you to hug a veteran.
Amen!
Or to say thank you.
I remember when we had a parade in town that ended at the mill pond by the cemetery. Flowers were thrown in the water and there was a 21 gun salute, followed by Taps.
Now it seems that all it means is some sale and a cookout. My, how far we have fallen.
I have never figured out what to say/how to react when a stranger walks up and says "Thank you for your service". I was in the Marines for 6 years, and have a couple of hats with the ol' EGA that I wear sometimes when I feel like wearing a hat, so it happens from time to time.
Every time it happens, it's like I'm struck dumb. I have no idea how to react. I'm fully aware that I'm not good at dealing with people, so it's probably just me.
I guess it's better than a stranger coming up and hugging me... That has happened too... It didn't go well. That "hug a veteran" thing needs a PSA about being for veterans who KNOW you... or at very least who you've warned and are expecting a hug.
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ORIGINALLY "DECORATION DAY" THE HOLIDAY WAS SUPPOSED TO HONOR CIVIL WAR CONFEDERATE WAR DEAD LATER THE UNION WAR DEAD WERE INCLUDED THE CUSTOM WAS DECORATING THE GRAVES WITH FLOWERS HENCE THE NAME
WE NOW INCLUDE ALL THE NATIONS WAR DEAD
PROPERLY THIS HOLIDAY HONORS ALL WHO DID NOT MAKE IT BACK HOME TO BECOME VETERANS
HOIST THE NATIONAL ENSIGN TO FULL PEAK THEN LOWER THE COLORS TO HALF MAST TILL NOON AT NOON TWO-BLOCK THE COLORS TO THEIR FULL HEIGHT
VETERAN"S DAY WAS ORIGINALLY ARMISTICE DAY HONORING THE ARMISTICE OF THE GREAT WAR WHEN THE CARNAGE FINALLY STOPPED ON THE 11TH HOUR OF THE 11TH DAY OF THE 11TH MONTH 1918
CONGRESS DECREED IN THE 1950S THAT IT HONOR ALL OUR VETERANS
ON THAT DAY
THEY OVERLOOKED THE FORGOTTEN HEROES OF WORLD WAR TWO
I SPEAK OF THE U.S. MERCHANT MARINER
THE US MERCHANT MARINE SUFFERED
THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA OF CAUSALITIES OF ANY SERVICE GROUP IN WORLD WAR TWO
THEY DELIVERED THE GOODS FROM THE ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY TO WHERE AND WHEN IT WAS NEEDED OFTEN WITHOUT
PROPER ESCORT OR PROTECTION
THEY NOT ONLY HAD TO ENDURE THE BOMBS SHELLS AND TORPEDOES OF THE ENEMY BUT THE UNWARRANTED HOSTILITY OF THE PUBLIC AND ENMITY OF OTHER SERVICES OWING TO HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL ENEMY PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN WHOSE LIES PERSIST TO THIS DAY
WE SHOULD REMEMBER THEM AS WELL !
I am a 24 year disabled Vet. Monday I will not attend a big BBQ nor will I go to a party. I will stay home a quietly remember those who gave and died so that we may have the freedoms we enjoy every day.
A neighbor up the street always wore a beat-up 14th Air Force ball cap, and once I was talking with him and he said he flew transport over the "Hump" to China. I thanked him for his service and he answered, embarrassed, "Thanks, I needed that!" He also had photos of him and a buddy at some dinner with Chou-en Lai, when his buddy turned to him during the dinner and said, "This guy thinks he's going to take over China."
I've been tying to tell people that for years, maybe if I try and say it this way people will get a clue...
Amen... and they STILL won't get it...
@Tam - Thanks for reiterating this. I always want to, but I haven't figured out how to do so w/o sounding pedantic.
@ Stuart the Viking - It's not just you.
- Drifter
Agree with Stuart. I never felt like I did much of anything important, I was just an electrician on subs, poking holes in "neutral" waters. I was in boot camp when Desert Storm ended, and done with inactive reserves nearly a year before 9/11. Every now and then, though, someone will recognize my "shellback" Tshirt or I'll be wearing a Navy shirt, and they'll say "thanks". I never know what to say back! But this weekend, DEFINITELY don't tell me. Take a bunch of roses or flags to your local cemetery and say thanks there.
Stuart the Viking, it was getting that way in the 60's so no one objected too much when Nixon and the Dems in Congress moved "Memorial Day" to whatever Monday they felt made the best 3 day weekend.
Know what you mean RabidAlien; I feel like I mostly rode around in airplanes and swapped boxes that didn't work for ones that did.
Wow. I need to clear my schedule to do some daily Blog Reading. And figure out how to get those $#$%%^ Links and Pingbacks to work!
But even though it's a Day Late and a Dollar Short, I appreciate you helping me to spread the word.
I really do.
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