On a political blog the majority of you could probably care less of how the troops and their families spend holidays like the 4th of July, it is not a warm a fuzzy holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas where there are presents and huge large family get togethers for the monster meals where MOM is queen for the Day.
The 4th of July is BBQ day and who can build the biggest and baddest set of cooking coals and who can build the monster BBQ pit, trailer etc, is the famed recipes a entire hog, half a steer, brats, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, cole slaw etc. it comes down to who can throw the best shindig.
Whats not known is that most combat veterans do not care for the "fireworks displays" most can deal with them on TV knowing they are taking place miles away, I even enjoy the Macy's NY harbor display. But for for most combat veterans the detonations send them to the ground in fear, and leaves them with sweats, cold chills and a sleepless night.
From a friend
I serve as Chief Engineer of the USS George Clymer (APA27). In 1962 she was the oldest APA in the Fleet, having beeconverted from a Robin Line Banana Boat. She had mahogany paneling and a fireplace in the wardroom. Passenger quarters and fantastic reefer spaces. We could carry a reinforced Marine Battalion landing team and have fresh milk for over thirty days. She could also make 18kts groaning. Her 3" guns were on high pedestals of WW2 and scared the VC when we went up to Saigon, as they could fire down the backside of the rivers levies. The Admirals loved her as a flag ship.
She was a grand and Proud Ship.
She was named after one of the Gentlemen below.
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men
Who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors,
And tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army;
Another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or
Hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes,
And their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Eleven were merchants,
Nine were farmers and large plantation owners;
Men of means, well educated,
But they signed the Declaration of Independence
Knowing full well that the penalty would be death if
They were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and
Trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the
British Navy. He sold his home and properties to
Pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British
That he was forced to move his family almost constantly.
He served in the Congress without pay, and his family
Was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him,
And poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clym, er,xx
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that
The British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson
Home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General
George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed,
And Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill
Were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests
And caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his
Children vanished.
So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and
Silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!
I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many
People as you can, please. It's time we get the word out that patriotism
Is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer,
Picnics, and baseball games.
I love this nation, even when I know they have done wrong like the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques that Valitin has worked OT to show how wrong they were. The same prgram that former President Bush has recently stated he would gladly do again, and that the Cheney family Dick and his spawn Liz who is now advocating the rewriting of history to show how great her father is or was, despite the weak knee President they served, and how they feel that family friend and daddys trusted friend Scooter was left out to swing in the wind by W who would not grant him the pardon they felt he deserved for lying to a grand jury and federal agents, oh yea send Martha Stewart to prison for lying over a stock tip, but give scooter a pass for outing Valerie Plame and Turdblossom let him go back 5 times to the grand jury and change his testimony to finally tell enough of the truth that Fitz would not indict him.
With all of this BS going on in DC why do they expect the military to keep living up to "Duty, Honor and Country"? I am believing that the words that the Army instills in it's officers and NCOs and enlisted personnel is for the fools, it's not for the Congressional leaders, elected officials and the civilian leadership that spend their careers in and out of official jobs in DOJ, DOD, and the think tanks where they work while their administrations are out of power.
Fewer and fewer elected officials have served in military on active duty let alone reserve or National Guard duty to many are like Dick Cheney they were to busy to learn what it is like to depend on the man or woman on your left or your right to bring you behind home from the war, people that you truly trust your life to, people you would die to protect and hopefuly you would stick your life out for them.
The 4th of July has become more about the long week end for 99% of Americans, they could care less of the cost of what it took to make us the United States and even less about the cost since 1775. Wars are not pretty and the men and women who fight them are usually pretty ugly people, but I would and have risked my life to keep some of them alive and many of them risked their life to keep my life going, now that is true love and you don't have to ask if they would do it again or if you would do it again, bottom line you would.
Enjoy your long week end and if you have a spare minute or two remember 1775-1783 and all of the conflicts since then that have kept us free, and allow you to enjoy that first amendment issue, even the one that allows Sarah Palin to be as ignorant as she is on facebook and Twitter, it shows that we are a great nation to allow that much stupidity to continue to spout.