For those about to rock .. we salute you!
My grandfather served in WWI and Korea. My cousin served in Iraq and my dad's girlfriend's only child (a daughter) was in the navy, stationed in the Persian Gulf. They all came home "safely" and I use the quotes because all of them suffered in some way. My cousin deals with PTSD and it wrecked his marriage. My grandfather refused to talk about either war. He had his medals up on the wall along with a painting a friend of his had painted of him back when he was in the Navy but wouldn't even tell us what the medals were for.
I'm a pacifist by nature, and one who always questions authority at the slightest provocation. I'd be a horrible soldier and I know it. My grandfather knew it too when I told him that flag burning wasn't a big deal because it was a visual representation of something intangible. You cannot destroy freedom by tearing down physical things ... and you cannot repay a veteran with food, drinks, and a day or two a year to honor them. You repay them with respect and honor everyday, and by being the most YOU that you can be, because they fought for my right to be a whatever sort of American I want to be.
Whether that is driving a truck in garters and heels, or swishing your way down the street a Rainbow Parade ... Let your freak flag fly soldiers!
I'm a huge Monkees fan and have never heard this song. Thanks for turning me on to it Dee.
ReplyDeleteKisses,
Leeanne
I am a huge Monkees fan so I'm glad I could oblige you!
DeleteNot sure how many people knew that the Monkees were the first pop/rock band to have a synthesizer in their music. It was used on both"Star Collector" and "Daily Nightly" and Mickey Dolenz played it on Star Collector. At one point, there were only 10 made, and Mickey owned one and had it installed in his home studio. They weren't given the credit they deserved for being musical innovators.
YES what ever your politics veterans should be respected .
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDeleteAs an iconoclastic, vaguely anarchistic, historian I am a firm believer that we should respect the veterans, and the fallen, and remember what they were called upon to do - largely against their better judgement, largely cajoled and pushed into it (volunteering doesn't really paint the correct picture) and the kind of acts they were called upon to approve, carry out and be rewarded for. They often know, better than anyone else, WHY what they were asked to do was wrong. And that's generally why they don't talk about it.
Siegfried Sassoon has a Hell of way of putting it from the First World War, and the cover of Time about the Japs (the only good Jap is a dead Jap) tells us nothing changed for the Second. No, the silence of veterans and the dead and the wounded speak volumes on many levels for many conflicts.
Respecting veterans, I hope, is something I do as instinctively as remembering those who died in conflicts ancient (World Wars) and modern (Afghanistan, Iraq) and should be done regardless of political colour. Just be wary. Over here the current government talks of 'celebrating freedom' and 'remembering that freedom is not free' and they are, alas, wrong. Khrushchev put it best: "Historians are dangerous people, they could ruin everything". Indeed.
"you cannot repay a veteran with food, drinks, and a day or two a year to honor them. You repay them with respect and honor everyday, and by being the most YOU that you can be, because they fought for my right to be a whatever sort of American I want to be."
ReplyDeleteThat is very well said, but for me, not being an American, it has another side to it. In WWII, the part of the Netherlands I live in was liberated by the "First Canadian Army" and the "Polish 1st Armoured Division."
While Canadians and their veterans are hold in high regard here, as well as the Polish veterans, for their part in our liberation, Polish workers are often treated as second class citizens.
I do believe that we would honour those who fought for our freedom not only if we become the best we can be, but we should also help the descendants of them to do just that to the best of our abilities. No matter where they are from.
You wrote a great cap, but it is easy to forget to mention that, due to the subject of your post.
Thanks for liking the caption!
DeleteFreedom means many things to different countries and their inhabitants. I think its an empty gesture to remember someone once a year then sort of push them aside for the other 364 days.