PatriotsDay

PatriotsDay https://www.dailykos.com/news/PatriotsDay News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Mon, 27 Jan 2020 03:11:51 +0000 Mon, 27 Jan 2020 03:11:51 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Patriots Day https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/4/16/1202332/-Patriots-Day April 15 2013. It’s Tax Day in the United States. Not really a favorite day in the country. But in Boston Massachusetts it’s Patriots Day and the entire state of Massachusetts celebrates a state holiday with pride, as the state that is the home of the American Revolution. It’s the Boston Marathon, the oldest continuous Marathon in the world. It’s “The Big Daddy” of all Marathons. It’s the Red Sox kicking off the day at home. It’s famous Boylston Street, the 5th Avenue of Boston. It’s Newbury Street with its fashionable bars and shops. It’s 27,000 runners and thousands more watching and cheering the runners on giving their support. 26 miles and each mile dedicated to the 26 people murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut just several months earlier. Many of the runners are raising money for charity. It’s a beautiful spring day of celebration and the finish line is just up ahead, a few blocks from the Berklee College of Music where I went to school. It’s Copley Square. I know the neighborhood well.  It’s human beings at their best. And suddenly it’s a horrific battle scene as two bombs go off within seconds of each other killing 3 people, and severely injuring 170 others. Bill Richard from Dorchester, was running. His family was there to see him cross the finish line. As he approached the finish line, his son Martin, 8 years old, ran to give him a hug. His 6 year old sister followed along with his wife Denise.  The  blast of the bomb killed little Martin. His sister lost a leg, and Denise suffered brain injuries. And Bill Richard went home that night, alone. He had run the Boston Marathon. Now he faces a lifetime of agonizing grief. There is little doubt that he will second guess his decision to run the marathon. He’ll tell himself, that if only he hadn’t done it, his life wouldn’t have been destroyed and he will blame himself. That’s how grief works. Of course it has nothing to do with his decision to run. He could have taken the family to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game, and the very same thing could have happened there. In fact, this kind of thing could happen at any time and any place, and Bill would tell himself…if only. It’s how we rationalize what happened.  It’s an act of terrorism and it strikes at any time and any place, and doesn’t care who falls and how it impacts their lives. Terrorists demand to be heard regardless of the consequences and agony they inflict on the innocents. Their ideology is more important than life itself. Life is expendable to the ideology. There is no way to erase this from his mind, and convince him that this had nothing to do with him and that it’s just his mind hard at work looking for a way to make sense out of the actions of a maniac. The mind will look for a rational explanation and a grieving parent will always point blame at himself. His son is gone forever. His daughter’s lost leg will be a reminder of that horrific day for the rest of his life, and his wife’s injuries will only add to the agony of what he’ll deal with from now on. We don’t yet know if this was the actions of foreign or domestic terrorists. Until we know who did this, we can only deal with the reality of the moment. That’s Bill Richard’s reality. Knowing who was responsible for this may help keep him from torturing himself. In grief, we always look for answers. Until we get some answers, we look at ourselves. What could we have done differently? My heart goes out to Bill. He’s enduring unimaginable torture right now, and it’s just beginning. As the shock wears off, the reality sinks in, and a life of agonizing pain is what he has to look forward to. No amount of education or religious training can prepare us for the magnitude of this kind of agony. In most instances, we deal with our loss and although you never get “over” it, time has a way of helping us get through it. In Bills case, the injuries to his wife and daughter will block that process and make it more difficult than we can imagine. The lasting images are seared into his brain and leave an indelible scar that will never go away. The last thing this man needs is platitudes. If even one person says, “I know how you must feel”, they should be ashamed. They can’t know how he feels. They never walked in his shoes. Having lost a child myself, I can’t begin to know how this man might feel or how he’ll cope. It demands that we look for strength that we never had to summon at any other point in our lives. In Bill Richard’s life, that burden is more than then anyone should have to bear. I wish that I could offer words of advice, or something to help ease his pain. But what can I say? There are no words. So I write this just to get it out, and ease my own sadness for another man’s pain. I can only hope that Bill understands that while he probably feels more alone than he’s ever felt in his life, our hearts and prayers go out to him. "No more hurting people. Peace." - Martin Richard rss@dailykos.com (Adagio4639) BillRichard Boston BostonMarathon MartinRichard PatriotsDay Rescued _1202332 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:04:49 +0000 Boston, you're my home https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/4/15/1202038/-Boston-you-re-my-home "Because I love that dirty water Oh, oh, Boston, you're my home (oh, yeah)" - Dirty Water by The Standells It's a state holiday today, Patriot's Day ... The marathon "starts" begin at 9am, the Red Sox always play an early game, 11am, and the city is teaming with people from all over the world. There is a celebratory atmosphere and always a wonderful day to just BE in Boston. Two bombs exploded, designed to cause horrific injuries and death and successful and reports that another one was found and detonated. We are stunned. No one knows for sure who did this and why, could be some crazy individual, could have been some group with political motivations - or even an international terrorist- however there is no one claiming responsibility. <div class="dkimg-r"><img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/28216/small/P1110137.JPG?1366074276" alt="" /></div> So far three are dead, one an eight-year-old  child. The reporters are telling us it will be surprising if more don't make it through the night because of the hundreds injured, several are suffering injuries that are described as "grave." There is one image from the videos that I can't shake - yellow balloons that were released just as the bomb went off, and I imagine them being held by a child... as smoke and shrapnel fly they just climb up into the sky. I grew up close to Boston. I went to college there and lived in two of it's iconic neighborhoods. I love Boston and get into the city as often as I can. My husband drives about 60+ miles each way to work in Boston at least five days a week installing windows and storefronts and revolving doors etc.   He had a job recently at 60 State Street in the financial district area - he had to start at 4am because the contractor wanted the work done before people were coming into the building for the day. The reward for starting early was this sunrise. He took this photo with his android phone.  When the President spoke today, I thought of this photo. <a rel="lightbox" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/28212/lightbox/IMAG0261_(3).jpg?1366072331"><img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/28212/large/IMAG0261_(3).jpg?1366072331" alt="" /></a> Apparently one bomb was found, unexploded, under the grandstand where VIPs were seated at the finish line. And in that grandstand were parents, friends and family members of the <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/04/boston-marathons-final-mile-was-dedicated-newtown-victims/64250/">Sandy Hook massacre.</a> <blockquote>Adding further heartbreak to utter tragedy, the last mile of Monday's Boston Marathon, which was rocked by at least two explosions resulting in an unknown number of injuries and casualties Monday afternoon, was dedicated to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting massacre. Boston Athletic Association president Joanne Flaminio said before the race that had a "special significance" because it was 26.2 miles long and there was 26 victims in the Newtown attack. There was also a group of Newtown parents running as part of a group called Team Newtown Strong who were raising money for local charities.</blockquote> Boston has now been touched by the worst type of violence. We will recover, we will persevere. But no matter what anyone says; call it whatever you want, but as far as we're concerned Boston has been touched by terrorism, because we always knew it might happen --that worry has always been hovering in the back of our minds - but now we know it HAS happened and that it CAN happen, here and that instills terror. My husband is going to work tomorrow, less than a mile from where people were killed in two bombings in "Downtown Boston" on a day when the city was at its best, sparkling and proud.   I can't believe this has happened in Boston. __________ The Boston Globe has a great resource for updates and photos like this one here. This photo is from those the updates and many more photos <a href="http://bostonglobe.com/" target="blank">here.</a> <a rel="lightbox" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/28219/lightbox/emarathon_(5).jpg?1366079983"><img src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/28219/large/emarathon_(5).jpg?1366079983" alt="" /></a> <div class="dkimg-cap">from the Boston Globe - they have an incredible collection of photos that just show the horror of the day.</div> rss@dailykos.com (51percent) Bomb Bombing Boston BostonMarathon Explosion MA Massachusetts National Security NationalSecurity PatriotsDay Terrorism _1202038 Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:07:59 +0000 Patriot's Day and Passover https://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/4/18/967970/-Patriot-s-Day-and-Passover Today we celebrate Paul Revere's ride; tonight, we celebrate the one led by Moses.  And you know, they work together for me; born in New England of the faith that directly celebrates the exodus from Egypt. And, yes, the poem we (New Englanders) all memorized when we were children, is worth remembering today and, as in prior years, it is posted here, but down below. rss@dailykos.com (Barth) Immigration Longellow Passover Patriot's Day PatriotsDay PaulRevere ReginaSpektor _967970 Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:58:19 +0000 Whew, I'm glad that's over https://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/4/20/859072/-Whew-I-m-glad-that-s-over April 15 and April 19 protests are over, for now at least, and as far as I can see nobody died. rss@dailykos.com (oldcrow) April19 Militias PatriotsDay _859072 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:45:14 +0000 Gun Rights Marchers https://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/4/19/858773/-Gun-Rights-Marchers Normally I am a rather quiet advocate for gun rights, but picking the anniversary of the biggest domestic terrorism act as your day to march for gun rights should exclude you from being able to ever own a gun. rss@dailykos.com (snolan) 2ndAmendment OklahomaCityBombing Patriots' Day PatriotsDay _858773 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:18:31 +0000 Reflections on a Rarefied Holiday https://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/4/19/858611/-Reflections-on-a-Rarefied-Holiday In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the State of Maine and, in terms of a school holiday in the State of Wisconsin, today is Patriots' Day. No, it's not what my Texas-born ex-husband thought was a holiday for our football team. It's the day that the "shot heard around the world" was fired. Right here, in the Concord-Lexington-Bedford axis of Liberty. Follow me over the fold for more..... rss@dailykos.com (commonmass) Jingoism NativeAmericans NewEngland Patriots' Day PatriotsDay _858611 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:41:17 +0000 Patriots Day https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/20/718261/-Patriots-Day I remain confused as to why this is not a national holiday since it is unlikely we would have a United States but for the events of 1775 (April 19, but, of course, this is another holiday that gets kicked over to Mondays).  I cannot hope to do the day any more justice <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/19/74351/9794">than did Teacherken yesterday</a>. As a son of New England, in exile in New York, I posted<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/21/496122/-Patriots-Day">my own tribute last year</a>and can't think of any better way to put it this year. I would rather be at Fenway this morning that almost any other place, but the bravery. courage, determination and devotion to what is right that was shown that day will be in my mind all day. rss@dailykos.com (Barth) PatriotsDay PaulRevere _718261 Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:31:30 +0000 Patriots Day https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/21/496122/-Patriots-Day Aside from my annual confusion about why people who celebrate Easter do not also celebrate Passover, I do not quite understand why only Massachusetts, Maine and, uhhhhh, Wisconsin, celebrate Patriots' Day, especially after the John Adams thing on HBO has explained its importance. rss@dailykos.com (Barth) John Adams JohnAdams PatriotsDay _496122 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:58:56 +0000