#2419063 - 06/16/11 10:56 AM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: Bambi Buster]
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BlackBelt
10 Point
Registered: 08/09/08
Posts: 2632
Loc: SouthWest TN
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My dad (retired Marine) goes to every one of them that's within reasonable driving range of his home. He usually makes 2 or 3 a month.
He also coordinates military funeral honors if the family requests them.
Some of the stories he has told me are pretty sad. Armed forces personell with no one, or maybe just one or two people at their funeral.
One funeral that he went to last year there was just the widow there and an estranged relative to the family. The preacher didn't even show up. Dad pulled out his Bible and did his best to honor the man as a stand-in for the missing pastor.
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#2420082 - 06/17/11 01:25 PM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: BlackBelt]
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Bambi Buster
12 Point
Registered: 01/29/04
Posts: 6127
Loc: Middle Tennessee
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Results are as I expected. On the forum for 48+ hours, 250+ views, only two affirmative responses. Both of those were from current/former service members who've been there/done that recently. That does not make their acts any less commendable.
Over the last 3 years, 40 Tennesseans have died in Iraq or Afghanistan, nearly all at the hands of the enemy. That's more than one a month. They hailed from Memphis to Kingsport and all points in between. Yet among the TnDeer membership, a supposed bastion of conservative, apple pie eating, flag waving,NASCAR loving good old boy Americans, not a single member knew any of them, or their families or their friends well enough to attend their farewells.
The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have both recently lamented the tremendous and widening disconnect that exists between the U.S. military and those of us whom they voluntarily give so much to defend. A liberal pundit observed over four years ago that "..this war has been emotionally outsourced to a professional class that mainstream American has almost no contact with." Someone else said, "America is not at war, the military is at war. America is at the mall".
Several who are serving currently have told me in more blunt terms, "They have no idea what we're going through, and worse; they just don't care." It gets harder every day to convince them they are wrong.
'Tis a pity; 'tis a crying shame.
_________________________
"The American military is like a finely crafted sword. To be effective, it must be wielded by a discerning, skilled and merciless hand."
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#2420119 - 06/17/11 02:17 PM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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ChippewaPartners
10 Point
Registered: 08/25/01
Posts: 2919
Loc: Pamelot, my farm near Catoosa
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No I have not. Haven't known of a service locally but I did send some $$$ to a family of a soldier who was in rough shape.
I did attend a service last Saturday for a man I had tremendous respect for. A man who served proudly during WW2 as a pilot in the Army Air Corps. A man who I will miss so much this Fathers Day.
Douglas Parisian, 88, of Alpharetta, GA formerly of Spicer, MN died Thursday in Alpharetta. Douglas Eugene Parisian was born Dec. 27, 1922 in Waubun. He was an enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Minnesota Chippewa Indians, White Earth Reservation. He was a 1940 graduate of Waubun High School. He joined the Army Air Force in 1944 and advanced to the rank of flight officer. After an honorable discharge from the military, Doug owned and operated a small business in Morris and was the post commander of the Morris American Legion Post 29 up until February of 1965 when he joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in western North Dakota as a law enforcement officer.
Douglas retired from the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a criminal investigator in 1985 in Crow Agency, Mo., and spent his retirement years in Spicer, up until April of 2010, when he moved back to Waubun, the town where he was born and raised on the White Earth Indian Reservation. Doug had been a resident of the Dogwood Forest assisted-living complex in Alpharetta since Feb. 1.
Today, the world is less a warrior. I admired my father more than any other person on this planet; not for being a law enforcement officer, not for being a tough guy. I admired my father for his ambition. For 20 years, he went to work every day and was the first guy in the office. He wanted our family to have everything we needed and most of what we wanted. Dad accepted the inevitability of death with integrity. Most Indians have a strong and natural veneration for old age, as though it were a certificate of approval for winning the long and hard battle of life.
In March 2011, he said that dying was a natural extension of birth; that they were part and parcel and that he looked forward to seeing his wife, Betty, in heaven. Dad, you were always there for me and you will be missed tremendously. I attribute much of your success in life to your ability to maintain an elevated mood and staying disciplined. As one of the finest rifle shots the world has ever known, you will always be an inspiration and a hero. You taught me well and I will do my best to honor your memory for the rest of my life. In death, as in life, you were a winner. God Bless Douglas Eugene Parisian.
Dean Parisian, June 9, 2011
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#2420135 - 06/17/11 02:34 PM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: Bambi Buster]
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DUCK37101
"Link" Police
16 Point
Registered: 08/29/05
Posts: 18867
Loc: McEwen, TN.
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Results are as I expected. On the forum for 48+ hours, 250+ views, only two affirmative responses. Both of those were from current/former service members who've been there/done that recently. That does not make their acts any less commendable.
Over the last 3 years, 40 Tennesseans have died in Iraq or Afghanistan, nearly all at the hands of the enemy. That's more than one a month. They hailed from Memphis to Kingsport and all points in between. Yet among the TnDeer membership, a supposed bastion of conservative, apple pie eating, flag waving,NASCAR loving good old boy Americans, not a single member knew any of them, or their families or their friends well enough to attend their farewells.
The Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have both recently lamented the tremendous and widening disconnect that exists between the U.S. military and those of us whom they voluntarily give so much to defend. A liberal pundit observed over four years ago that "..this war has been emotionally outsourced to a professional class that mainstream American has almost no contact with." Someone else said, "America is not at war, the military is at war. America is at the mall".
Several who are serving currently have told me in more blunt terms, "They have no idea what we're going through, and worse; they just don't care." It gets harder every day to convince them they are wrong.
'Tis a pity; 'tis a crying shame.
"Yet among the TnDeer membership, a supposed bastion of conservative, apple pie eating, flag waving,NASCAR loving good old boy Americans, not a single member knew any of them, or their families or their friends well enough to attend their farewells."
Your insinuation is insulting at best.
_________________________
You Can't Take It With You.....So Don't Go.
IN GOD WE TRUST!
"The Constitution does not just protect those whose views we share; it also protects those with whose views we disagree."
- Ted Kennedy
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#2420309 - 06/17/11 07:12 PM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: TAFKAP]
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Bambi Buster
12 Point
Registered: 01/29/04
Posts: 6127
Loc: Middle Tennessee
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Several impassioned and indignant replies here, unfortunate and regrettable, but not really surprising. After everyone has had ample opportunity to vent their spleen, I'll make a response explaining my motivations in making this post, which were not so base or otherwise self-serving as some are claiming.
In the meantime, to ChippewaPartners: May your dad rest in peace. He was a member of the Greatest Generation. I would like to believe he would have heartily approved of your sending $$$ to the family of a member of the Latter Day Greatest Generation. Your dad and I traveled similar but separate trails for seven years. I regret that our paths never crossed. My loss.
To Stovepipe: Answers like yours were the kind I had hoped to see. I am probably not of your faith, but would like to believe there is a special place reserved in the hereafter for you and your Sunday school class.
To all: For now, I request you take a moment to read and mull over the letter to the editor below that appeared in today's Tennessean. So there is no room for misinterpretation, I am not the author of the letter nor do I know her, but I believe she is someone I would be honored to meet.
The images and sounds of Monday will be with me for a very long time. I have never in my life seen so many veterans and waving flags, or heard the thunderous roar of so many motorcycles as I did while I stood in front of Woodmont Hills Family of God Church during the memorial for Sgt. Kevin B. Balduf.
A few weeks before, I was sad to hear about the young Marine from Nashville who was killed in Afghanistan. I cringed when I heard that the notorious protesters from Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas were also planning to attend. As the daughter of a Marine veteran of World War II, there was no doubt in my mind where I wanted to be during the memorial.
When I first arrived, the sight of the enormous crowd of patriots brought me to persistent tears. I experienced the same feeling I get when I stand — hand over heart — while listening to The Star Spangled Banner. As I walked through the crowd, my heart was so full of love for America and overflowing with gratitude for the brave men and women (past and present) who defend her with their very lives.
Protesters will continue to protest — because someone will fight for their right to do so — but every time they do, it is a perfect invitation for regular people also to gather and stand in the presence of heroes.
Glenda Joy Clark
Goodlettsville 37072
http://www.tennessean.com/article/201106...|text|Opinion|s
_________________________
"The American military is like a finely crafted sword. To be effective, it must be wielded by a discerning, skilled and merciless hand."
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#2420338 - 06/17/11 08:00 PM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: Bottom Hunter]
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LA man
16 Point
Registered: 05/31/03
Posts: 18626
Loc: spencer, tn/houma, la.
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I have never attended a funeral for someone that I did not personally know.
Why they died is not a part of the reason, just that I did not know them or their families and none were from my area, to my knowledge.
I think that you are being a bit harsh on people here.
How can you know how often prayers are sent out to the troops. How can you know how many people in this great state do things everyday to help the soldiers?
How can you possibly know what is in everyone's heart?
I take offense at the fact that you are basically saying that we do not care about the troops. You have no idea how each individual feels.
I'm not going to seek out memorials for soldiers that I do not know. I am not going to a funeral of someone I do not know. I can barely go to funerals of people that I do know.
What I will continue to do is support them in whatever they do in anyway that I can, if that only means to send a prayer or good thought their way.
I am sorry that you feel so strongly that you will call everyone out like this....
Personally, I'm offended and very surprised that more here aren't as well....
Just my opinion.
i TOTALLY AGREE. very well said
_________________________
GO LSU
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#2420356 - 06/17/11 08:20 PM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: TennesseeRains]
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Bambi Buster
12 Point
Registered: 01/29/04
Posts: 6127
Loc: Middle Tennessee
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I have not.
None I know have made the ultimate sacrifice.
However, last year my son and I were pall bearers for a POW in the last declared war of the U.S. Each year we place flags on the graves of the fallen at the National Cemetary in Chattanooga where members of my family lie from the Civil War to present and I had the honor of being present at Tombs of the Unknown at Arlington just after sunrise.
And I watch as a very good friend - a Lt. Col. now (Ret.) - suffers from Gulf Storm Syndrome.
Does that count?
It shows that you have actually taken some action and ownership in making, "I support the troops" more than a meaningless slogan on a fading bumper sticker. Attendance or nonattendance at OEF/OIF funerals notwithtstanding, it most definitely counts for the families, friends and brother Warriors of the fallen, recent and otherwise, whose final resting places you annually adorn with flags. What counts for them is what ultimately matters.
_________________________
"The American military is like a finely crafted sword. To be effective, it must be wielded by a discerning, skilled and merciless hand."
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#2420380 - 06/17/11 08:50 PM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: Bambi Buster]
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Poser
14 Point
Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 8401
Loc: Tennessee
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Bambi Buster,
Let us not her about you going hunting ("busting Bambis") on the same day of a funeral of a veteran, ok?
_________________________
It doesn't have to be fun to be fun. Wild & crazy, can't be stopped. Only the strong will survive. Keep your knife sharp and your skillet greasy. http://www.GoCarnivore.com
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#2420406 - 06/17/11 09:32 PM
Re: Is the USA at war?
[Re: Poser]
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Bambi Buster
12 Point
Registered: 01/29/04
Posts: 6127
Loc: Middle Tennessee
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Bambi Buster,
Let us not her about you going hunting ("busting Bambis") on the same day of a funeral of a veteran, ok?
If it is an OIF/OEF veteran from my local area kiled in action, or if I know that veteran or any of his friends or family, you can bet that I would be at the funeral, sir. I can think of a couple who are still among the living, and who I hope will remain that way, who would want me to head to the woods as soon as the last shovel full of earth was tossed on their graves.
_________________________
"The American military is like a finely crafted sword. To be effective, it must be wielded by a discerning, skilled and merciless hand."
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