Unfortunate irony

[kinzel]

Historically, Waterville has a parade to honor veterans and those
who fell while serving.

This year, one group of veterans has been arrested for protesting a display of small
white flags denoting those American soldiers who have died in Iraq.

This is across the river from Winslow, the town that wouldn't allow a peace demonstration on the 4th of July while the fighter jets thundered overhead.

I wonder if the veterans want us not to understand that American soldiers are dying on the President's order?

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

As a veteran, I have to say that this objection bugs the hell out of me. What's Veterans' Day for, if not to remember those who died...?

[not-croaker.livejournal.com]

It's not the memorial they were protesting, it's the attitude behind it. The statement that their deaths were wasted and worthless and that their cause was wrong.

This deserves protesting.

Irac

[(Anonymous)]

I will never understand the Others. I really do live in the borderlands. My half-brother is in Irac. My dad, my stepmother, and even my brother know his job as a solider is to follow orders. We all also know that if he dies in Irac it is for a worthless cause, a wasteful cause, and an obscene war. If those of us with family in the military don't speak out, who will listen?

Kelly in
TC, CA

Re: Irac

[not-croaker.livejournal.com]

The point is not whether or not the liberation of Iraq is just, unjust, proper, improper, legal, or illegal.

The point is that using this particular day to protest against it is an insult to every man and woman who has ever worn American uniform.

Today is a day for remembrance and honor to those who have given their lives for our freedom. Not to tell them that their deaths had no meaning beyond a politician's ambition.

Today we honor the men who died in Lexington and Concord, Tripoli and New Orleans, Bull Run and Gettysburg, San Juan Hill, the Somme, Iwo Jima, Omaha Beach, Korea, Vietnam, Granada, Panama, Bosnia, Kuwait, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and in every battle and every war, in every place American blood has been spilled in the name of Freedom. We remember their bravery and their sacrifice, and we offer them our thanks.

Re: Irac

[(Anonymous)]

I fail to see how an installation commemorating soldiers who have died while serving in a war is an insult to any man and women who has ever worn an American uniform. Veteran's Day is to honor everyone who is a veteran, dead or alive, and to remember those who have fallen in battle. Whether one agrees with the war or not, the installation notes their passing and their service. This is outside of approval or disapproval of war and focussed only on the dead.