In memoriam, 2009…
The U.S. military cemetery at St.-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France
Visiting the cemeteries of Normandy, you are struck first by the scale of the sacrifice, with crosses and the occasional star of David spreading across acre after acre of open green field. Then your thoughts turn to the fact that each marker represents the sacrifice of an individual, the end of what was usually a young and largely unlived life in defense of a nation and a cause.
The sight sticks in your conscience thought for days, and in your deeper thought for much longer than that.
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164 comments Add your comment
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 25th, 2009
8:06 am
And then some tyrant comes along to destroy what they made the ultimate sacrifice for, our freedom, and bookman totally supports the socialism. In spades.
Which speaks for itself.
mike
May 25th, 2009
8:25 am
Whiner –
Way to inject your stupid partisanship into a nicely worded tribute to our heroes. You are pathetic.
Nicely said, Jay.
Redneck Convert
May 25th, 2009
8:32 am
Well, me and the missus are headed down to the American Legion this p.m. to have hot dogs and hamburgers and honor all the thousands that give up their life and give us a Monday off. I mean, that died so we could have Monday off to honor them. After that, we’re taking part in the Protect the Flag Ammendmint rally to try to put a stop to these radicals stepping on the flag and burning it and wearing it for clothes.
We’ll be hearing speeches mostly. Old Dennard will get up there and start railing about the Traders that dishonor the flag but pretty soon he’ll get into the gays marrying and how that’s ruining this country. Dennard got a plate in his head and I reckon it presses down on the part of the brain that lets you change to diffrent topics because sooner or later he gets right into the gays and can’t switch to something else.
Anyhow, we only needed one more vote for Congress to pass the Protect the Flag Ammendmint and then come last fall’s election and a whole bunch of Patriotic canadates got kicked out of Congress and we’re right back where we started. So some of us are talking about taking matters into our own hands. Just rip the shirts that look like the Flag right off of people. A few people are alright with that but some say we shouldn’t do it if it’s a woman on account of you can’t have half-nekkid women showing up anyplace except maybe on tape in your TV or something like that. Others say it’s OK with women too but only if they’re good-looking. You wouldn’t want some big fat ugly woman that’s mad as a wet hen stalking toward you nekkid from the waist up.
Anyhow, I hope you all have enough beer to take care of you today. I wouldn’t want to have to break off the honoring part and make a holiday run to stock some bar that’s got a bunch of customers with the DTs. Have a good day everybody.
Kamchak
May 25th, 2009
8:32 am
Andy
You mentioned cap and trade last night. What was the point you were going to make?
clyde
May 25th, 2009
8:32 am
Thank you,Jay.
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 25th, 2009
8:38 am
mikey- Answer the question, which is more important, the country or the men who died defending it?
Simple two choice question, what are you skeered of, cry baby?
Upchuck- Cutting back emissions by 17% or even 14% will raise the cost of energy and lower productivity. The technological advances that we have seen emerge from this country the last two hundred years will suffer as a direct result. ~~~~~~~~~Our standard of living is under a direct assault by the left.~~~~~~~~~~ They say it to our faces. They do not hide their intentions. Do you agree that the founding fathers of this country were in favor of such tactics by the government they created?
The question was is Obozo destroying the United States or not.
Mrs. Godzilla
May 25th, 2009
8:42 am
With my humble thanks for all who served.
“Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0gQEymR9PQ&feature=related
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 25th, 2009
8:46 am
Anybody who can’t see the stone simple fact that the left has created a couple of straw men called “global warming” and “affordable health care” and are using those straw men to totally reorganize and destroy the US economy, and with it the whole entire country and our way of life, like somebody told ya they would, is a blooming idiot.
Blooming idiot.
Like mikey for instance.
So what sacrifices are we honoring when we turn this country into some socialist s@#$ burg?
jt
May 25th, 2009
8:48 am
Whiner-”And then some tyrant comes along to destroy what they made the ultimate sacrifice for, our freedom,”
The ultimate sacrifice was made in defense of our constitution. This document enables everything else.America (The United at gun point States) is a country founded by some average people who developed an extraordinary vision of how to protect people from government. It is government that is often the source of greatest evil (“power corrupts”). By dividing the corrupting power of government among the states leaving a relatively weak national government and giving each major political division equal power regardless of population in one legislative house and by encouraging an armed population, they hoped to forestall an oppressive national government. Though the concept has been eroded by major wars, unconstitutional legislation and major errors in rulings by the judicial branch, the USA remains the greatest country that has ever existed.
Freedom and an unlawful Fed cannot nor will not coexist.
jt
May 25th, 2009
8:51 am
That was beutiful Mrs. G.
And one more time for all you squids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6gtISlR2dk
DB, Gwinnettian
May 25th, 2009
8:55 am
May we all afford the respect and solemnity due those who sacrificed their lives in our name.
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 25th, 2009
8:57 am
Enter your comments here
clyde
May 25th, 2009
8:58 am
I am not there.I do not sleep.
Kamchak
May 25th, 2009
8:59 am
Getting in the head of our founding fathers seems to be the way to win debates these days. I don’t know that looking back 230 years ago for guidance is the right course. These guys weren’t perfect and The Industrial Revolution is still 100 in the future for them–no way they could see the results of burning hydro-carbons. Using our technological advances to reduce emissions while maintaining current costs and productivity could be our focus.
Mrs. Godzilla
May 25th, 2009
9:04 am
The Angels Of Sainte Mere Eglise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-kB–T12Y&feature=pyv&ad=4154531641&kw=memorial%20day
DB, Gwinnettian
May 25th, 2009
9:05 am
These guys weren’t perfect
You can never be a Supreme Court Justice now, you realize.
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 25th, 2009
9:08 am
These guys weren’t perfect and The Industrial Revolution is still 100 in the future for them–no way they could see the results of burning hydro-carbons.
UpChuck- Back in those days, people used to saw down whole entire forests and burn them to keep warm. A double whammy on the environment, releasing carbon and removing the plants that help cleanse it from the atmosphere.
But since the United States was a free and thriving industrial nation, technological advances have made the use of energy far more efficient, safer, cleaner and available than it was when wood burning was the sole source of heat.
Less harmful byproducts are released now and whole areas of the country have been reforested, and now the blooming idiot liberals who have no idea of history, no knowledge of science, want to return us to the glorious days when we sawed down all the trees around us to keep warm.
Try turning the thermostat down on my fireplace, nanny stater.
Donovan
May 25th, 2009
9:08 am
Give no quarter to the enemy. Bookman belongs to the fifth column that methodically weakens this country, supported an immoral president, supports a new socialist president, supports a left wing Congress, enables an exterior enemy, uses propaganda tactics through his newspaper, does not defend his country, and lives by the code of deceit. I have been to Normandy and I have visited the hallowed resting place of our fallen heros buried there. I preach patriotism and have an appreciation for their sacrifices. I will always defend our country in the struggle against evil. Bookman writes a predictable fleeting piece of patriotism when it suits him. He is the enemy within the gates. I am the gate keeper who will defend the walls of freedom until I die. We aren’t buying what you and your legions are selling.
GayGrayGeek
May 25th, 2009
9:09 am
It must be sadder-than-sad, living a life where you only get attention when you stomp into a place and poop in the middle of the room.
Lovely tribute, Jay. This is a day when politics should be left at the doorway. But, as we’ve already seen, won’t be by those who find it impossible to do so.
Kamchak
May 25th, 2009
9:11 am
“You can never be a Supreme Court Justice now, you realize.”
LOL!!! If that statement was the only thing that disqualifies me, I would have fewer regrets about things I have said.
Mrs. Godzilla
May 25th, 2009
9:17 am
Loretta Young’s Woman at war speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gQ-iBEI27A
Kamchak
May 25th, 2009
9:24 am
I’m not trying to pick a partisan fight here Andy. I disagree with you on most everything, but you do research what you are posting about. I don’t know much about this issue. In our colonial days there weren’t 300 million citizens from coast to coast with wood burning fireplaces, so emissions wasn’t an issue. Are there any tech advances in the pipeline (pun intended) that will address your concerns about energy costs/lowered productivity?
clyde
May 25th, 2009
9:33 am
We shall not sleep,though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields
John MacCrae
@@
May 25th, 2009
9:38 am
They talked a little bit Sunday about the wars of their generation, from the soldier casualties to the lengthy tours of duty during World War II to the ability of today’s servicemen and women to keep connected to home via e-mail.
There are a lot of differences.
O’Rourke remembered the bitterness toward American soldiers returning home from Vietnam. State, on the other hand, recalled how people clapped as he walked through airports in uniform.
“Completely different,” said State, an assistant in the state attorney general’s office in Buffalo. “We just got a great reception coming home, compared to the Vietnam era.”
But the Allenhurst vets notice similarities in U.S. veterans regardless of the era.
It’s their selfless service.
“That’s what I see,” State said, “especially in the World War II guys. They’re humble. They don’t want to talk about their service. They don’t want recognition for it.”
O.K. In the softest of whispers, I’ll say…
thank you
Taxpayer
May 25th, 2009
9:47 am
Thanks, Jay. Just that single photo is a stark reminder of what Memorial Day is really all about. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Memorial Day ‘weekend’.
Michael H. Smith
May 25th, 2009
9:54 am
There has been a reported 11% increase in funding our national obligations to all the veterans who obligated themselves to serve the country in our military. Let us hope and furthermore do diligence to see that this 11% finds its’ way into serving our veterans needs if not put in their very pockets, rather than as too often is the usual, swallowed up by the all consuming bureaucracy.
DB, Gwinnettian
May 25th, 2009
9:56 am
Dear Lord,
Lest I continue
My complacent way,
Help me to remember that somewhere,
Somehow out there
A man died for me today.
As long as there be war,
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?
AmVet
May 25th, 2009
10:03 am
It is the veteran, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the veteran, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the veteran, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the veteran, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the veteran, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the veteran, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote.
A veteran — whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve — is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for the amount of “up to and including my life.”
That is honor, and there are too many people in this country who no longer understand nor care.
Hug a veteran today. And honor those who fell for us.
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 25th, 2009
10:12 am
UpChuck-
Wood smoke contains large amounts of particulates, carbon monoxide and organic compounds. Other significant combustion products include nitrogen oxide, benzo(a)pyrene, napthalene, arthracene, phenanthrene, biphenyl, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzene, pyrelene, dioxin and heavy metals.
Yeah, it was no big deal for a family to sit in a confined space all day inhaling a toxic brew of chemicals, I doubt if that had anything to do with their shortened life span, you’re right, let’s overlook these trivial annoyances and discuss the good intentions of today’s liberals-
E85 or any mixture of ethanol is found to cause eye, nose, and skin irritations, as well as internal irritation in the respiratory system. Laboratory tests showed that exposure results in dizziness, nausea, sleepiness, stupor, and depression or mental excitement. Symptoms of vapor exposure include lowered inhibition, shallow respiration, flushing, vomiting, flushing, unconsciousness, coma, and death.
What do you know, right back to the stone age we go.
At the centre of the imminent food catastrophe is corn – the main staple of the ethanol industry. The price of corn has risen about 44% over the past 15 months, closing at US$4.66 a bushel on the CBOT yesterday – its best finish since June 1996.
This not only impacts the price of food products made using grains, but also the price of meat, with feed prices for livestock also increasing.
Raising the price of food, oh yeah, that will benefit the world’s poor, they don’t need to be eating anyway.
When liberals have a bright idea, people die.
getalife
May 25th, 2009
10:20 am
Our military is the best socialism in the world.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UQPUzwdX51o/ShqpH_aXSsI/AAAAAAAAAMs/2sde5P_NZ2g/s1600-h/6a00d83451b8c069e20115709d7be8970b.jpg
jt
May 25th, 2009
10:27 am
“When liberals have a bright idea, people die.”
I would amend–
When liberals or conservatives have a bright idea involving the unauthorized seizure of taxpayer funds, people die, the misery is increased, the state grows, and a well-connected few make millions.
Taxpayer
May 25th, 2009
10:43 am
Wood smoke contains large amounts of particulates, carbon monoxide and organic compounds. Other significant combustion products include nitrogen oxide, benzo(a)pyrene, napthalene, arthracene, phenanthrene, biphenyl, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzene, pyrelene, dioxin and heavy metals.
But, the same by-products from burning coal are good for us. And, smoking doesn’t affect one’s lifespan either.
Laboratory tests showed that exposure results in dizziness, nausea, sleepiness, stupor, and depression or mental excitement.
Also known as a drunken stupor when associated with E100. Now, remember folks, don’t drink and drive.
Symptoms of vapor exposure include lowered inhibition, shallow respiration, flushing, vomiting, flushing, unconsciousness, coma, and death.
Yes, it is true. Excess ethanol consumption can even kill.
We’re still waiting for a 20 percenter to have a bright idea but we’re smart enough to know better than to hold our breath while we wait.
Kamchak
May 25th, 2009
10:48 am
Andy
It is my understanding that cap and trade applies to the large industrial emitters. From The National Academies Press:
“Total global emissions of species including NOx(nitrous oxide), VOCs(volatile organic compounds), and CO(carbon monoxide) may rise dramatically in the coming decades due to increasing population and industrialization, and in particular, the growth of ‘mega-cities’ in many regions of the world. The transport of pollutants such as ozone and PM(particulate matter) across national boundaries and between continents will increase in importance as total emissions rise. Such pollutant transport connects all the countries of the world to various degrees and can raise ‘background’ pollution levels over large regions of the globe.”
My concern is about Asian pollution coming this way. If we can develop clean technologies, perhaps this is something we can use to export to China, reducing our trade imbalance.
I Rule You :-) / You Whine :-(
May 25th, 2009
11:02 am
We’re still waiting for a 20 percenter to have a bright idea but we’re smart enough to know better than to hold our breath while we wait.
Nuclear energy, TaxCheat, duh.
UpChuck- By taxing industry and taking away the very monetary capital that they need to innovate with?
We are installing state-of-the-art “scrubbers” and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, which will reduce Progress Energy Carolinas’ sulfur dioxide emissions by approximately 78 percent and nitrogen oxides emissions by approximately 50 percent from 2001 levels. The technologies we install will also help to significantly reduce mercury emissions in the state.
Technology advances daily, so yeah, let’s tax the hell out of them and take away their research and development budgets, and maybe they won’t pass those costs along to us.
Meanwhile, the know it all government pilfers and squanders money that could be put to better use.
Michael H. Smith
May 25th, 2009
11:04 am
Okay, Obumer Neo-Libs and Bush Neo-Cons
Centrism has emerged as a dominant factor in public opinion as the Obama era begins. The political values and core attitudes that the Pew Research Center has monitored since 1987 show little overall ideological movement. Republicans and Democrats are even more divided than in the past, while the growing political middle is steadfastly mixed in its beliefs about government, the free market and other values that underlie views on contemporary issues and policies. Nor are there indications of a continuation of the partisan realignment that began in the Bush years. Both political parties have lost adherents since the election and an increasing number of Americans identify as independents.
http://people-press.org/report/517/political-values-and-core-attitudes
Just wait till the Independents form a new party: That is, if we can ever agree on anything contrary to our independent opinions.
Heaven help us to never lose what they have died for to secure:
We have a Republic, if we can keep it. ~ Ben Franklin
Cuz
May 25th, 2009
11:05 am
A man I idolized as a child died late last year. He told me that he had served with Patton during WWII by driving a truck. At his funeral I found out he had started driving a truck and moved to tanks after a couple of months. During and directly after the Battle of the Bulge, he won three silver stars for heroism in three months. I knew him for forty-nine years and he never spoke of it. Many WWII veterans saw and did things they carried for their lives and never wanted to speak about it.
Thank a veteran if you see one today. Honour the memories of the one’s who gave all for their country.
Bosch
May 25th, 2009
11:17 am
I’ve been watching the ceremony at Arlington. If that ceremony doesn’t make you pause and reflect upon what this day means, you are one hard soul.
Cuz, I think many veterans who served in combat are like that, most that I’ve known were very humbled by their experiences and don’t want to talk about it. I was not in the military and I realize, especially on days like today, that I wasn’t good enough to be in the military.
My dad was in the Army when I was born, but didn’t see combat in Vietnam, but many of his friends went and died there. He never talks about his time in the military – I’ve never heard him talk about it once.
To all the veterans on this board, thanks for your service and the memories you hold of friends or fellow servicemen/women who died in service, to me at least, is how they live
on.
I have a question to any one here who can answer it: is the President considered in the military considering he is Commander in Chief? I was thinking about that this morning and I don’t know the answer to that question. I’m not trying to be disrespectful, I’m just curious. Say, now, is Bill Clinton considered to have a military record as Commander in Chief (and please, I’m serious, no Clinton jokes)?
eagle scout
May 25th, 2009
11:24 am
The simple answer to your question Bosch is…..No! No military record or claims to that affect.
Bosch
May 25th, 2009
11:27 am
eagle scout,
Thanks for the answer. I was just curious about that.
Brad Steel
May 25th, 2009
11:27 am
Whiner,
Your loud arrogance has ruined the reverence that should be observed on what should be a solemn respectful day.
You’re an oblivious dunce. You’re the worst.
Kamchak
May 25th, 2009
11:30 am
“By taxing industry and taking away the very monetary capital that they need to innovate with?”
Fair enough question. Corporations are not necessarily good citizens when it comes to taxation. I remember one of the initial tax cuts during the RRR administration was ostensibly to re-tool U.S. factories and re-train the U.S. workers. Instead, junk-bonds were floated, leveraged buyouts proliferated and the rust belt was born. Getting corporate America to act responsibly is an issue come to the forefront recently. How about corporate America using large executive compensation to develop clean technologies (he asked naively)?
George American
May 25th, 2009
11:31 am
RIP, real Americans.
Your sacrifice may be squandered but the unAmerican communists who are not in charge. Lady Liberty is crying.
jt may be a genius
May 25th, 2009
11:35 am
jt @10:27 am
“When liberals have a bright idea, people die.”
Like when Bush/Cheney concocted lies about WMDs as the reason for invading Iraq and torture? Yeah that bright idea was certainly ginned up by liberals.
You’re an F’ing genius.
AmVet
May 25th, 2009
11:52 am
Bosch, scout is correct. Our government provides for civilian leadership over the military. Though some in the Pentagon probably hate it!
Brad Steel at 11:27, well said. Not even on this sacred day of remembrance, can the hateful and pitiful little people on this forum let go of their poison. And they remind us daily why the nation is beyond fed up with them.
Speaking of which, fantastic link Michael H. Smith.
It merely confirms what those with their eyes open already know. The hijacked GOP is imploding and its future looks very, very dismal. And it is losing supporters, many lifelong, faster than the Klan.
We can only hope that one day it will become a rational and viable option again. But given their repudiated core beliefs, it is for now a long shot.
And though the Democratic leadership may mistakenly believe they have the bull by the horns, many of us gave up on them long ago as well. And if I am correct, the Dem faithful are soon going to learn the hard way, that President Obama is no friend to those that have been disenfranchised and locked out by the utterly corrupt, monied and controlling interests in the plutocracy.
In the past five presidential elections, I have proudly voted for Independents four times.
For me, unlike many here who have recently found Independent “religion” but who will never really advocate against the status quo, this American Politburo must end. And I will continue to do my damnedest to fight against the entrenched and corrosive Republican/Democratic duopoly that is clearly failing we the people…
S GA dem
May 25th, 2009
12:00 pm
This weekend always reminds me of my grandfather, whose favorite American was Benjamin Franklin. As I’ve watched Dick Cheney squander what’s left of his respectability this week, I keep thinking about Ben Franklin’s words to the representatives that would make up our first continental congress.
” They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety ”
Dick Cheney has never sacrificed anything for the good of our country. How is this man a spokesman for the Republican party?? Can someone please give me an explanation for this?
lwwmm7
May 25th, 2009
12:01 pm
Thank a vet for the freedom to spew this garbage on such a meaningful day. Thamk a vet for the capability of speaking our minds (?) without fear of being beheaded or stoned to death. My dad served in WW II, limped the rest of his life, and never once complained or shared anything about his experiences except the funny ones concerning drunken leaves in faraway places. He refused to watch any sort of war movie, however, which hinted to me of the horrors he had seen. Even when John Wayne was kicking the hell out of the enemy, he couldn’t watch. God bless you, Dad, and all the other unsung heroes who are so sorely needed as character examples for us all today.
RW-(the original)
May 25th, 2009
12:10 pm
While I join in solemnly honoring our fallen war heroes on this Memorial Day I can’t help but also reflect on what they sacrificed for. I seriously doubt that many of them gave their lives so that they could be honored and having people use that honor to attempt to stifle someone speaking out about their views of the direction our country is going. In fact I think there would be a much larger percentage that would say they offered their lives on the field of battle to protect the rights of those that want to speak out.
When I read that someone has “had the day ruined” for them by someone speaking out or see someone parading their supposed veteran status as a bludgeon to try to usurp unearned respect, respect that should be reserved for the fallen, on this Memorial Day it disgusts me.
My prayers and sincere thanks go out to the fallen.
To the fallen, thank you and God bless you and your families.
To the rest of you, Happy Memorial Day. See you tomorrow.
Soothsayer
May 25th, 2009
12:40 pm
While we’re at it, how about an in memoriam for our economy?
Traditional methods of stimulating consumer demand are now less effective. They might cause a rebound in sales, but the follow- through to domestic employment is diluted as the response to demand is met by foreign labor. There is now a large new “leakage,” as increases in domestic demand are met by offshore production.
Ray
May 25th, 2009
12:45 pm
George America,
You’d be amazed at how easy it is to sign up for an online government course. Might want to give it a shot, unless sucking on the toe of your boot is a hobby.
Soothsayer
May 25th, 2009
12:51 pm
Many American software engineers and IT professionals have been forced by jobs offshoring to abandon their professions. The November 6, 2006, issue of Chemical & Engineering News reports that “the percentage of American Chemical Society member chemists in the domestic workforce who did not have full-time jobs as of March of this year was 8.7 percent.” There is no reason for Americans to pursue education in science and technology when career opportunities in those fields are declining due to offshoring.