Fallen Comrades, Gone but Never Forgotten

[video=youtube;BB2Ad04mukI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BB2Ad04mukI[/video]

 

[video=youtube;MR87LsmXzBs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MR87LsmXzBs[/video]

 

[video=youtube;9fxH-2LnRkc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9fxH-2LnRkc[/video]



Good Night Chesty, where ever you are!

 

Yeah in Trondheim. Fighting the clanners. But most likely they where drunk to the boot, as I suspect they didn't blow up that silo without sampling it first.

 

Yes, we have lost Many over the years, and every Memorial day we remember our fallen... some just stuff their faces and get drunk, But we fought for them just the same.

 

It never occurred to me that someone might think this was for a RP thing, I posted it on Memorial day in our general thread. :unamusedcat:

 

I apologise for my misunderstanding.

This just appeared at around same time as the RP event "deaths", so by looking at activity stream these seemed connected. Plus cultural differences, so honostly no offence intended or joking on serious matters.

 

It's a fairly specifically American holiday, which is made even more strange by the fact that we have a separate holiday specifically for Veterans Day in November. The idea is that Memorial Day is to commemorate anyone who has put their life on the line in the service of others, in other words firemen, police officers, and veterans (as opposed to the one in Nov honoring just veterans). However, as Abivard pointed out, there are a surprisingly large number of Americans who don't really know what the holiday is about and seem to think it's just an extra day off work.

We realize that you meant know disrespect to those who have served in such positions or lost friends and family to such jobs. It was timed with all the Trondheim reports, so the confusion is very understandable.

 

Memorial day honors those who died in military service, Veterans day is for all those who have served in the military... while some might like to add firemen onto these days that is wrong. -shrugs-

But please do not sully these days with trying to add police, may as well say it is for politicians or child molesters. ,.I..

 

Not sure I understand you on this. Why is it wrong to honour people who have given their lives to save lives outside of military service? They've accomplished the same thing, even if it is in a different way.

 

Well, they aren't Veterans is all. Not sure where Abi's going with the rest of that...

 

No, but he was referring to both Memorial and Veteran's Day, hence my response.

 

D-Day, June 6th, 1944.

 

YOU COULD HAVE HEARD A PIN DROP


When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell
was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an
example of 'empire building' by George Bush. He answered by saying, 'Over
the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women
into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of
land we have ever asked for in return was enough to bury those that did not
return.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then there was a conference in France where a number of
international engineers were taking part, including French and American.
During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying,
'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft
carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to
do, bomb them?' A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly, 'Our
carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred
people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power
to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed
3,000

people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand
gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen
helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their
flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?'
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that
included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French
Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large
group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a
French ; admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many
languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we
always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking
French?' Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, 'Maybe it's
because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you
wouldn't have to speak German.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to
France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in
Paris by plane.. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his
passport in his carry o n. 'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the
customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been
to France previously. 'Then you should know enough to have your passport
ready.' The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show
it.' 'Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival
in France !' The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then
he quietly explained, 'Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in
'44 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any Frenchmen to show it
to.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





What Is a Veteran?
A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or
reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check
made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and
including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in
this country today, who no longer understand that fact.

 

Of course there is nothing wrong with honoring and paying respect to those who give their lives to service of others. Like Abivard (and many of the 'borg), I'm a Veteran and recognize the distinction between military service and public service are a vast difference like between night and day. All too many of America's holidays have been bastardized into different meanings or fallen into unrecognition. It is sad.

The only thing I disagree with in this thread is the use of the ref to child molesters. Yet the cause for frustration is something we should all relate to.

The truly deserved of honor are those who fought in WWI and WWII in the name of freedom. Among other highest level of recognition are the wars for Independence and the Civil War also fought for freedoms. For me, there are 2 other dates on the Calendar to never forget that mark the loss of men from my unit. Many vets have dates they will never forget. National Days of remembrance should not be subjects of conflict amongst friends...

 

It's always felt a little wrong to me to lump all "veterans" together. Seems like actual combat troops should deserve more recognition than somone who just drove a truck back and forth the whole time they were enlisted. Even in WWII the majority of the people in the army never saw any sort of combat. The old gentleman that lives across the street from me was UDT until his eardrum was burst by a demolition charge, then spent the rest of the war as tail gunner on a torpedo bomber flying off the USS Shangri La. He won't usually talk about it much, but when he gets a little liquor in him he'll tell me things like how the Japanese would send out divers to interfere with their demolition work and they would have knife fights underwater. He said that if he could cut them open the sharks would usually finish them off. He also told me about the time his whole platoon went into a cave to root out some Imperial Marines (who he says were the best troops the Japanese had) and only 5 of the 20 or so that went in came back out. It's just not right that someone who was an officers lackey at SHAEF in England the whole war can also claim to be a "WWII veteran" just like him.

 

I meant no offense of course, I just figured Memorial Day was more the day to honour everyone that's served/given their lives, and Veterans Day was more for the Veterans specifically. I don't see why both would honour Veterans only, otherwise they may as well both be called Veterans Day.

As to whether enough is done in the US to honour Veterans, I wonder whether enough could ever be done to honour them. Should more be done? Certainly. So many forget what the generations before gave to make our lives better, and what our soldiers continue to do. I think a concentrated effort to educate the majority of the population on what (and who) their freedom cost would go a long way.

 

No offense is taken, Brother. Words are offered to share our perspectives. Those who fight/fought for it will often admit that they do so even for those that would spit on them and curse the very freedoms preserved in their behalf. Certainly your respective comments that those in public service deserve to be honored are not offensive. Most people don't care to know the meanings and history of what is not just a holiday off from work. History records that many nations have fought for freedom. Please believe me when I say that us yanks are not too prideful to recognize that fact. <S>

Semper Fi

 

As a combat veteran I have to disagree. Any who signed up did knowing they may never see home again (even in peace time) I have even thanked veterans who were injured in basic training and had to get out under medical due to that injury. They all volunteered to work for little pay and little time off with the potential to lose their life.. I was also a volunteer firefighter for a few years and as much as I care for my public service brothers and sisters, Memorial day is not for them. It's not even for us veterans who are still alive. It's for those soldiers, airmen, sailors and jarheads..er Marines ;-) who gave their lives in the line of duty.