Good Morning fellow Veterans.
I put up our U.S. Flag today, in its socket on the front of our residence, as it is Veterans Day. Each year at this time, I am almost overcome with pride in the Men and Women who are serving, or have served in any of the branches of our (America's) Military.
I along with many others, also pause to silently say a prayer for the sacrifice made by each of those who gave their last full measure of Devotion, and Patriotism and died in the service of their country.
No less honored by me and thousands of uncounted others, are the over 30,000 members of our Armed Forces who have been wounded in the conflicts in the Middle Eastern Wars. And let us do whatever each of us can do to make sure that these warriors receive the Medical Care that each of them deserve.
I am proud to be a Veteran, Even one of little note and absolutely no valor, I am proud because as a Veteran I am associated by group with a Noble group of Millions of Americans, most of whom served with dedication and Distinction.
I watched the Ceremony at Arlington National cemetery that occurs each Veterans Day, in which a Wreath is layed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This is always a stirring, albeit brief ceremony and one that all Americans should watch and appreciate.
I Then watched as the Congressional Gold Medal was presented to the members, living or dead, of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and members of the Military Intelligence Groups. All of these noble veterans were Nesei, United States Citizens of Japanese Descent who served in the United States Military, even though their parents, siblings, Grandparents, and friends were, in too many cases, being held in internment camps as the United States Government did not trust them because of their Racial Heritage.
Out of 13,000 men who served in this group, 9486 received, in addition to other medals, the Purple Heart. There were also 21 of them who were awarded the Medal of Honor, among them U.S. Senator Danial Inouye, who lost his right arm in his service. In all this group of Men were and still are the most highly decorated regiment in our Nation's proud History.
So, on this Day, when we honor these Splendid Men, we should at the same time silently hang our heads in shame at the way their families and friends here at home were treated.
Let us also say another prayer that hopefully soon, our participation in all Wars will come to an end, and our mass grieving can come to an end.
I am also proud that since 1636, when my first ancestor landed on these free shores, my Family has had one or more of it's members in every War that has been fought, with the possible exception of the Current Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.(There may be some children of cousins, etc, that I am not aware of that ARE serving, and if so I apologize to them).
I remember also with pride that My oldest son proudly served for over nine years in the U.S. Army, and was decorated several times. I remember my Father who served first in the U.S. Army, Seventh Cavalry, and upon his discharge, joined the Navy, serving on a Minesweeper, the U.S.S. Swallow. I remember with regret my Uncle, who served with the Army in germany during WW2, was grievously wounded and was so mentally damaged by what he had seen and been forced to do that he was never the same when he came home, finally taking his own life in just the past few years after a lifetime of memories and, at times erratic behavior and silent anger.And I honor the service of my "Big Brother" who served for three years during the Korean War.
In short, to each and every one of you who read this, I salute you and if I have not had the pleasure of meeting you , please know that I still salute you and appreciate your service.I am as proud of each and every one of you as I am my relatives.
Well Done.
At Ease.
TOP
Friday, November 11, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
This and that........
Good Morning:
Well, in the news today there is the usual rash of silliness, together with the usual reporting thereon;
First up is the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. I can sort of understand this group, as I have long said that there were way too many "Big Shots" making obscene salaries and Bonus'. I have stated repeatedly that NO ONE is worth a salary of a Million Dollars a year, but there are Investment Firms, Banks, Brokerages and so on where A Million Dollars has become more or less a Starting salary for a Middle Manager.
What good has it done for me to hold this position? None at all!. It is simply my opinion. And to be fair, I guess the "Occupiers" make about as much difference as does my opinion. I just don't quite understand what these people hope to accomplish by their actions.
I guess my opinion is more or less skewed by the protesters of the sixties, who as some of you will recall, protested nearly everything, even going so far as to spit on returning soldiers. Al Capp, the late Cartoonist and creator of "little Abner", named this group of the unwashed as "SWINE' which stood for "Students wildly indignant about nearly everything" and I agreed wholeheartedly, so please forgive me if I don't pay much attention to any "Protesters", many of whom, you will recall, were outside the Courthouse cheering wildly when little Michael Jackson was acquitted of charges of Pedophilia, which in my opinion, he was guilty of.
My point is, there have been so many protests about who knows what, that I pay little or no attention to any of them, thus, in my view, make them totally unimportant.
The next item on today's agenda is the current Silliness" over the 72 day marriage of one of the Kardashian bunch of Hollywood Plastic People, which when the "marriage" failed and divorce papers were filed, the groom has asked for his 2 million dollar ring back.
The Mother of this brood, one Kris Kardashian Jenner, make a remark that "No one likes an Indian giver", keep the ring", and in so doing earned an immediate protest from leaders of the native American community. This whole thing is so silly it's nauseating, but guess what?, its in the papers, as tho it were real news.
Firstly, who gives a hoot about he Kardashians, et al, and I couldn't care less if this woman returns a ring or not, just go away, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Secondly, the spokesperson(s) of the Native American People should just'GET OVER YOURSELVES'. I know of very few people who are not respectful of Native American People of Note, such as the Navajo Code Talkers, for example, who played such a large part in our winning the War with Japan.
For myself only, I have for a long time appreciated the books of the late, great American Author and Patriot Tony Hillerman, whose books were about the Native People of the Southwest, and was named "A special friend of the Navajo People" for his ever complimentary books about these fine people. I have also for a long time considered it a crying shame that the Federal Government hasn't done more to ameliorate the Poverty, crime and lack of opportunities of the Native American People on their reservations. This is a disgrace to an otherwise fine Democracy.
It seems that the Government is always and forever concerned with the rights and welfare of black people, but one seldom reads about any Governmental concern or corrective actions taken to help our Native American People. One (me) supposes this is because the Native American People are not of a sufficiently large enough percentage of the population to constitute what politicians consider a "Voting Bloc", and so deserve any Governmental help.
I hope I've spoken up enough on behalf of "Our Indian Brothers and Sisters" now, so it is time for me to move on to another topic.
A week or so ago, I finally was able to track down an elusive old friend who I have been trying to locate for several years. Said friend and his wife were our good friends when we all lived in New Orleans, which my Wife and I remember with fondness.
I started looking for our old Friends in New Orleans, and then in surrounding areas and states, and finally, at long last, found them in Austin Texas.
Having the opportunity to speak with our old friends really felt good to me as it is a "connect" with a time when we were young and relatively carefree. I think my friends were astounded to hear from me and I hope they were as happy as I after our conversation.
I plan on calling our friends again soon, as I don't have enough friends to misplace any, if I can help it.
So if you have a friend you haven't talked to in awhile, by all means give them a call. I promise you'll be glad you did.
Back to the subject of little Michael Jackson, the jury just returned a Guilty verdict in the trial of M.S.'s Doctor, Conrad Murray, who was accused of manslaughter. this may or not be a just verdict, but you will forgive me when I say, "I don't know and I don't care".
Stay Well.
TOP
Well, in the news today there is the usual rash of silliness, together with the usual reporting thereon;
First up is the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. I can sort of understand this group, as I have long said that there were way too many "Big Shots" making obscene salaries and Bonus'. I have stated repeatedly that NO ONE is worth a salary of a Million Dollars a year, but there are Investment Firms, Banks, Brokerages and so on where A Million Dollars has become more or less a Starting salary for a Middle Manager.
What good has it done for me to hold this position? None at all!. It is simply my opinion. And to be fair, I guess the "Occupiers" make about as much difference as does my opinion. I just don't quite understand what these people hope to accomplish by their actions.
I guess my opinion is more or less skewed by the protesters of the sixties, who as some of you will recall, protested nearly everything, even going so far as to spit on returning soldiers. Al Capp, the late Cartoonist and creator of "little Abner", named this group of the unwashed as "SWINE' which stood for "Students wildly indignant about nearly everything" and I agreed wholeheartedly, so please forgive me if I don't pay much attention to any "Protesters", many of whom, you will recall, were outside the Courthouse cheering wildly when little Michael Jackson was acquitted of charges of Pedophilia, which in my opinion, he was guilty of.
My point is, there have been so many protests about who knows what, that I pay little or no attention to any of them, thus, in my view, make them totally unimportant.
The next item on today's agenda is the current Silliness" over the 72 day marriage of one of the Kardashian bunch of Hollywood Plastic People, which when the "marriage" failed and divorce papers were filed, the groom has asked for his 2 million dollar ring back.
The Mother of this brood, one Kris Kardashian Jenner, make a remark that "No one likes an Indian giver", keep the ring", and in so doing earned an immediate protest from leaders of the native American community. This whole thing is so silly it's nauseating, but guess what?, its in the papers, as tho it were real news.
Firstly, who gives a hoot about he Kardashians, et al, and I couldn't care less if this woman returns a ring or not, just go away, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Secondly, the spokesperson(s) of the Native American People should just'GET OVER YOURSELVES'. I know of very few people who are not respectful of Native American People of Note, such as the Navajo Code Talkers, for example, who played such a large part in our winning the War with Japan.
For myself only, I have for a long time appreciated the books of the late, great American Author and Patriot Tony Hillerman, whose books were about the Native People of the Southwest, and was named "A special friend of the Navajo People" for his ever complimentary books about these fine people. I have also for a long time considered it a crying shame that the Federal Government hasn't done more to ameliorate the Poverty, crime and lack of opportunities of the Native American People on their reservations. This is a disgrace to an otherwise fine Democracy.
It seems that the Government is always and forever concerned with the rights and welfare of black people, but one seldom reads about any Governmental concern or corrective actions taken to help our Native American People. One (me) supposes this is because the Native American People are not of a sufficiently large enough percentage of the population to constitute what politicians consider a "Voting Bloc", and so deserve any Governmental help.
I hope I've spoken up enough on behalf of "Our Indian Brothers and Sisters" now, so it is time for me to move on to another topic.
A week or so ago, I finally was able to track down an elusive old friend who I have been trying to locate for several years. Said friend and his wife were our good friends when we all lived in New Orleans, which my Wife and I remember with fondness.
I started looking for our old Friends in New Orleans, and then in surrounding areas and states, and finally, at long last, found them in Austin Texas.
Having the opportunity to speak with our old friends really felt good to me as it is a "connect" with a time when we were young and relatively carefree. I think my friends were astounded to hear from me and I hope they were as happy as I after our conversation.
I plan on calling our friends again soon, as I don't have enough friends to misplace any, if I can help it.
So if you have a friend you haven't talked to in awhile, by all means give them a call. I promise you'll be glad you did.
Back to the subject of little Michael Jackson, the jury just returned a Guilty verdict in the trial of M.S.'s Doctor, Conrad Murray, who was accused of manslaughter. this may or not be a just verdict, but you will forgive me when I say, "I don't know and I don't care".
Stay Well.
TOP
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