Today at the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month, Vice President Cheney laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. We got there a little late, so a good samaritan took this video for me (YouTube link) from his more advantageous spot. If you’ve never been to a wreath-laying at Arlington, this is a better perspective than you get from the 10-second clips you get from the media on the nightly news. I cut down the 30-minute video to 9 minutes for YouTube upload.
The reason we were late; I stopped by to see some old friends and I stopped at some regimental memorials like this one from my affiliated regiment the 325th Airborne Infantry of the 82d Airborne Division;
I also took some photos after the crowd thinned out some while Mr. Cheney went in to attend the concert in the amphitheater.
Notice the HUGE media coverage of the event – the premier Veterans’ Day event;
There were actually two cameras during the ceremony – every other year I’ve come, the scaffolding was packed with cameramen – even the other year I came and VP Cheney did the ceremony in 2001. Love that media of ours.
I had heard there was going to be trouble at the event and I saw some unsavory people on the subway train that got off there and that were hanging around after the ceremony outside of the Cemetary – like they were waiting for someone – but seein’s how it was pretty early in the morning, I doubt the other derelicts could bring themselves to get out of bed.
While you’re surfing today, stop by and visit these bloggers (some of whom I picked at random from Technorati) who remembered today is Veterans’ Day;
Tired of all the Liberal Rhetoric out there
Conservative Libertarian OutpostÂ
For the more cynical among us, 123beta is conducting a Veterans’ Day Leftist Blog Watch
UPDATE: Loads of thanks to Illusion or Reality, Atlas Shrugs’ Pamela Geller, Chickenhawk Express’ Robin, Confederate Yankee, Blue Star Chronicles‘ Beth and Michele Malkin for linking me up.
From The Big Thing at Skeeter and LC:
I apologize, Jonn. Perhaps I should have said “regret” instead of “sorry”.
But you misunderstand me… I was saying that it was wrong you DIDN’T get the “welcome home” or the “thanks” you deserved.
So, yeah, “welcome home” and “thanks”. And I mean that. You did what you were supposed to do, under terrible conditions and hard times… May I be allowed to be “sorry” you had to endure that?
I wasn’t offerring any “pity”. Life can be cruel and unfair. I was trying to offer some perspective on a very troubled time in our history, and make what poor amends I could…
Jonn wrote: OK, I accept your apology…on one condition; You don’t make the same mistake with this new generation of veterans that you made with your generation’s veterans. You get it through your head that you can’t protest the war without dishonoring their service. I know you don’t see the correlation, and the only way you can is to put on a uniform yourself…I know, I know.
But my point is, you can’t know what it’s like to fight your country’s enemies while large numbers of people from that country are telling you it’s wrong. I can’t explain it well enough, and you can’t understand it. [shrug] But that’s what pissed me off most. (For my readers, this stems from a comment I made on another blog)
Fair enough, Jonn… But I have some response of my own. I have never said one word against veterans or current soldiers, ever! I can protest a war without dishonoring the warriors fighting in the service of their country. Good soldiers, bad war is possible. Sometimes good soldiers have to fight bad wars. I won’t back off from that idea.
During the Vietnam War, when my co-students were angry at the individual soldiers, I told them not to think that way. It didn’t exactly make me popular, ya know? But I reminded them anyway… I always was kinda independent.
Can I understand what it is like to wear a uniform? No. I can try, but I know my understanding will always fail from having not done it. Everyone’s lives go in different directions. I can never fully understand your life any more than you can understand mine. But we can try, some.
I didn’t criticize the Vietnam Vets when they came home. I won’t criticize the Iraq War Vets either. I’ve never criticized any Vet. I respect the efforts and losses too much.
Why are you angry with me for not understanding something I’ve never experienced? How COULD I understand it? I try, but that will never reach a true understanding. I know that…
Jonn, please don’t blame me individually for the errors of other people of my generation. Don’t tar me with the brush of the people you resent. I’m not one of them. I respect veterans.
If you would like to discuss this further by email, you have mine, and I am willing.
The Big Thing
Jonn wrote: First, let me be clear – I’m not a Vietnam veteran. The closest I got to Vietnam was a late night alert in May, 1975 that got called off. But, I was inspired by those men who returned time-and-again to Vietnam despite what you and your cohorts thought – those men made me the soldier I eventually became. They trained me…trained me hard and instilled in me the same commitment to my country that they needed every morning to don that uniform and do their duty. I sat with them in a snackbar the Sunday morning that Jimmy Carter gave amnesty to the draft dodgers and I watch them remember their fallen comrades whose deaths had just been cheapened by the stroke of an idiot’s pen.
I suspect you’ve never suffered those feelings – your tears at the Wall were nothing more than feeling sorry for yourself for never accomplishing anything as grand as the men who’ve voluntarily marched towards the sounds of the guns.
My great-great-grandfather ,George Washington Twitchell, travelled from Upstate New York to Indiana to volunteer for service in the Civil War. My Dad volunteered for the Navy, my uncle, my cousin and my step brothers volunteered for Vietnam, my son volunteered for the Air Force, my niece volunteered for the Reserves, her husband volunteered for the Marines – and you protested the war so you wouldn’t get drafted.
See why we have nothing to discuss?
I thank you for linking to my blog, and I read your post, and the photos you took are very nice. Your tribute to our fallen soldiers is wonderful. I wish to blogmark you on my blog, so I hope that is okay. Hope your Veterans’ day was a wonderful experience.
-Robert-
Jonn wrote: You can link to me as much as you want – it soothes my raging ego. I chose your blog because of your great tribute, so thank you.
Jonn – my dear friend – Thank you for your service. You continue to serve your country with honor by exposing those that seek to do us harm and attempt to damage the service and sacrifice of all veterans. You are and always will be a hero!
God Bless You!
Jonn wrote: Let me borrow from Yeats; “Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, And say my glory was I had such friends.”
OK, that does it… Your initial refusal to understand what I said (repeatedly, that I honor Veterans) annoyed me mildly. But that you seem to continue to deliberately refuse to understand that smacks of blogish reputation-buildng manipulation. I find that disgusting and shameful.
“Me and my cohorts� Did you not read anything I said? I opposed my “cohorts†when they dissed the Vietnam Vets. I told you that, and you refuse to see it.
You became a soldier in peacetime. Good for you. The nation always needs brave soldiers to defend it in time of need. I respect that. But you wana know something? In 1969, I DROPPED my college deferment and threw my name into the draft bucket. Yeah, when there was still serious fighting going on. GOT THAT? Not some †late night alert in May, 1975 that got called off†but during the real thing. I didn’t get called up, but I was expecting it. During actual fighting, Jonn, not some game in 1975.
I’m glad you became a soldier. I gather that the excellent training suited you. You should be proud of that. I am.
Oh wow, I am SO impressed you sat IN A SNACK BAR when YOUR COMMANDER IN CHIEF decided to try to heal the nation. Or doesn’t COMMANDER IN CHIEF mean anything to you… Healing scars has some value, too.
Oh, relatives? I’ve got more Veterans on one side of my family than you can count on all 4 paws, Jonn!
My tears at the Vietnam Wall were for all the brave men who died in past wars, not from some damn namby-pamby little fear of a †late night alert in May, 1975 that got called offâ€. You got that, you little chicken-hawk wimp?
I didn’t protest the Vietnam War so I wouldn’t get drafted. I protested it because it was a bad political decision by stupid politicians. And remember, I threw my name into the hat, because I’ll put my money where my mouth is. Sure, I’m glad I didn’t get the call, but my name was there for the taking, you little loud-mouthed braying jackass.
Now, what part of the following statements from my original post didn’t you get?
1. I was never in the military, though I understand how important their jobs are to protect us all.
2. I demonstrated against that war. Not the soldiers, but the war itself.
3. it was “good” to defend freedom and free oppressed nations, even at great cost.
4. Most of my (numerous) Uncles fought in WWII.
5. To all of those wo gave their lives then in the service of their country; to all those who were wounded; to all those whose sleep is still troubled by bad memories and lost friends; to all those whose lives were delayed, disrupted, or ruined; to those who didn’t get the parade and honors that they should have had when they returned…
6. (to the honored dead) I am sorry you didn’t get to come home and marry your girlfriend or see your children grow up.
7. (to the honored dead) I am sorry your parents miss you everyday and can only imagine what a fine person you would have become.
8. (to the honoreddead) I’m sorry you never got to see humans land on the Moon or chat with friends on the internet.
9. I invited you to discuss this further (when it was obvious that you weren’t comprehending a single thing I said), and you didn’t have the guts to do it….
10. I bet you delete this, you coward…
Got a problem with that Jonn? LOL! Or maybe you want to re-think your unjustified criticisms… ?
The Big Thing
Great post, Jonn. Great photos.
I was in Arlington last December. It was a cold and windy day, but not so cold I couldn’t walk up the hill. My brother in law was in the Navy Honor Guard back in the late sixties, and the first time I saw Arlington I was a little 9 year old girl. I was so proud of him. Even I understood the significance of that place, the sacrifice it represented. It is hallowed ground. I am fifty now, but when I stand in that place I am small again, and I am in awe. I expect they’ll wheel me up that hill in a wheelchair one of these days, and I’ll still feel like that little girl who saw it for the first time.
If the media walked there it would be sacriledge, perhaps the valor represented there haunts them, tugs at their conscience. They weren’t ignoring Veteran’s Day, the media was hiding.
Jonn wrote: Hi, Kathy. You’ll be happy to know they made us all ride tour buses to get up there as a security measure. Yeah, the media was seriously absent today – but the warmer day than usual brought the tourists out. I hope next time you’re in DC, us two old farts can get together.
Hey, Jonn, sorry about the double post. They showed up a long while after I posted them and I thought you were blocking me… Internet problems I guess. But I WILL ask you to take the arguement OFF my kitty blog and onto my email (which I assume you have since I have to enter it). A kitty blog is not the appropriate place to discuss our apparent differences. I really would be glad to try to explain things. I’m pretty pissed right now, but maybe we got off to misunderstood statements. OK? Email me please. And if you do, I will change my post about being blocked.
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Jonn wrote: Left at the “Cavebear’s Lair” comment section;
I left a scathing reply last night, but I experienced a DoS attack (or a flood of traffic, I don’t know which) around midnight and lost it. Now six hours later, I’ll try to recreate it. Somehow, your posts ended up in my spam box (appropriately enough), and I retrieved them.
First of all, I have no need for “bloggish reputation-building”. I already have a large following and I’m fairly well-known in the conservative and milblog community. My internet reputation goes back eight+ years.
Secondly, having relatives who’ve been in the military doesn’t give you an iota of moral authority in this discussion. I mentioned mine because I wanted to illustrate that I have a family history, and continuing legacy, of volunteer service to the country both during and after the draft eras.
Thirdly, wthdrawing your draft deferrment and waiting in your mom’s basement hoping you don’t get drafted doesn’t equate to actually joining the military. By the way, I joined the military in 1974, the Vietnam War ended in 1975 – I’m considered a Vietnam War-era veteran. Since I was alerted to go to Vietnam, while serving in the 1st Ranger Battalion, that kind of illustrates that I didn’t join during very stable times. No matter how much you demean my 20 years of service.
If you read my “About” page, you’d know the intellectually vacant “Chicken Hawk” label that you applied to me isn’t appropriate. The Army asked me to come back on active duty last year, and I volunteered after having been retired since 1994. My country needs me, so I’m giving up my air conditioned office and triple digit income to help.
My twenty years of service was as an infantryman – I wasn’t a messhall clerk. I served where my country needed me – from the Arctic to the Equator, from the deserts of California to the deserts of Iraq. From the forests of Germany to the forests of Central America.
And the only reason this country needed “healing” was because of the self-centered, self-indulgent Left who faked their personal outrage over an “unjust” war to cover their own pampered behinds. By signing that blanket amnesty, Jimmy Carter insured that we will never be able to summon the force of our numbers to a real national emergency. Treason. But, of course you’d think it’s appropriate, because that’s your initial emotional reaction – and therefore the most comfortable position for you.
The saddest thing about the whole of our discussion is that your politics haven’t changed since 1969. I could almost excuse your behavior as a snot-nosed college kid, but as a grown man, you should have come to realize the folly of emotional theatrics and you should understand the reality of dealing with thugs in international politics. But it’s much easier to discuss the events of the day with emotional outbursts than it is to think rationally and apply principles to your reasoning.
And your tears at the Wall came, appropriatly enough, right after the military regained their reputation and prestige after 20 years of demeaning attacks from the Left. Since it’s fashionable to feel for soldiers again, you decided to stage some high school drama play for the snot-nosed college kids you were trying to impress with your emotional instability.
I’ve known people like you all my life. I know what makes you tick – and I’m fairly disgusted.
Thanks for the mention!
Wish I was there – Thanks for sharing the experience for those who were not able to witness the ceremony first hand.
Thanks for the track back as well! You did a very nice job with this. As for the commenter’s that are negative? Just deal with it Brother. They are not worth getting upset over. You did what was right and correct at that time, as well as in the present.
Jonn wrote: Hi, Patrick and welcome. I think you misinterpreted Cavebear, or The Big Thing, or whatever he calls himself today. He was an anti-war protester who sat out the Vietnam War in his mom’s basement listening to Hey, Hey it’s the Monkees. Now he says he feels sorry for Vietnam veterans. On the website where I first encountered him (on some sort of website where people write as if they were cats), he was pontificating about how sad he was that Vietnam veterans had wasted their lives in service to their country.
I simply stated that veterans didn’t want his pity – that we’d be more comfortable with his gratitude. That’s what brought him over here to make me feel better (or more correctly; to make himself feel better by appearing to try and make me feel better). Then he decided that he didn’t want to be insulted in public, so he invited me to his blog (where he doesn’t pretend he’s a cat). Now he just doesn’t want to be faced with the opinion that most Americans have of him and his ilk so he wrote a pitiful comment to me on his blog about how I insulted him – disregarding completely the fact that veterans feel insulted by his mere existence.
I hope you come back often, Patrick. I really liked that entry to which I linked.Â