Warning, long long Vent coming…
Today, I received this in my email at work, from a very good friend of mine, who, in the subject line put, “Just an added note: My son will be going over to Afganastan (the author of this email obviously doesn’t know how to spell Afghanistan) in June so this is addedly poinient”.
I left the spelling error’s in on purpose by the way.
Please tell me I’m not the only one that finds this not only offensive, but untrue.
War propaganda.
I’m sure the same people that pass this around, are the ones that voted in the clowns that are now in office. Why does supporting the troops mean “sending them over there” anyway?? My idea of supporting the troops is to bring our boys and girls home from the war, not send them there.
I think most of us “liberals” would say, we DO support the troops, we don’t support the war. There is a huge difference between the two. I’m so sick of being labeled like this. I hate this war.
I cried when the war started.
I cry every time a soldier is killed.
I hate what we are doing over there, and I would stand up on a street corner and say I opposed the war, I have since it started, vehemently, and I’ve lost friends over my opinion, I’ve been called “unpatriotic” and every nasty name that has been given to people like me, but I don’t care.
I refuse to pass on crap like this.
This war has never been about terrorism. It has always been about oil. I don’t understand why people can’t see that.
I’m terrified about the upcoming election.
Besides, what does this message really say? Why is this woman and her child in the airport if their soldier is not coming home?
It also says that a group of soldiers played a cruel joke on a child by making her think that her “Daddy” is safe, when he is not. They basically lie to this child, and then we are supposed to applaud them?
The war is a great lie, and emails like this one continue to perpetrate this untruth on the very public that supports it. I do love our country, but I refuse to buy into this great lie.
I want this war to end and I will support any measure to bring that to fruition.
I refuse to lie to my children and it makes me sick that people even think that this is an appropriate message to pass around.
By reading the end of this message, if I hit delete it’s “my choice” but obviously I am unpatriotic and I don’t support the troops.
So instead of hitting “delete”, I’m writing this post about it.
I’d love to hear your comments.
“Will you give this to my Daddy?
As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support 'Red Fridays.'
Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I
was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me
beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed
one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they
began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly
to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.
When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and
cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded
American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their
families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young
unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so
we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.
Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our
service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran
up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.'
The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy
for her.
The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself,
said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then
suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the
biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was
Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had
been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her
daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.
When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all
of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the
other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They
started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to
Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he
told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he
had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying
'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and
he is coming home very soon.'
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young
soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was
standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.
As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people
resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around,
there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in
one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney
with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and
thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's
good to be an American.
RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing
Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to
be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are
voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.
We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing.. We get no liberal
media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many
Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize
that the vast majority of America supports our troops.
Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity
and respect starts this Friday -and continues each and every Friday
until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that.. Every
red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear
something red.
By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every
Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the
bleachers.
If every one of us who loves this country will share this with
acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long
before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the
once 'silent' majority is on their side more than ever; certainly more
than the media lets on.
The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we do to make things better for you?' is...We need your support and your prayers.
Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and
wear something red every Friday.
IF YOU AGREE -- THEN SEND THIS ON.
IF YOU COULD CARE LESS THEN HIT THE DELETE BUTTON --- IT IS YOUR CHOICE.
God Bless our troops”
“God Bless our troops is right”
Today, I received this in my email at work, from a very good friend of mine, who, in the subject line put, “Just an added note: My son will be going over to Afganastan (the author of this email obviously doesn’t know how to spell Afghanistan) in June so this is addedly poinient”.
I left the spelling error’s in on purpose by the way.
Please tell me I’m not the only one that finds this not only offensive, but untrue.
War propaganda.
I’m sure the same people that pass this around, are the ones that voted in the clowns that are now in office. Why does supporting the troops mean “sending them over there” anyway?? My idea of supporting the troops is to bring our boys and girls home from the war, not send them there.
I think most of us “liberals” would say, we DO support the troops, we don’t support the war. There is a huge difference between the two. I’m so sick of being labeled like this. I hate this war.
I cried when the war started.
I cry every time a soldier is killed.
I hate what we are doing over there, and I would stand up on a street corner and say I opposed the war, I have since it started, vehemently, and I’ve lost friends over my opinion, I’ve been called “unpatriotic” and every nasty name that has been given to people like me, but I don’t care.
I refuse to pass on crap like this.
This war has never been about terrorism. It has always been about oil. I don’t understand why people can’t see that.
I’m terrified about the upcoming election.
Besides, what does this message really say? Why is this woman and her child in the airport if their soldier is not coming home?
It also says that a group of soldiers played a cruel joke on a child by making her think that her “Daddy” is safe, when he is not. They basically lie to this child, and then we are supposed to applaud them?
The war is a great lie, and emails like this one continue to perpetrate this untruth on the very public that supports it. I do love our country, but I refuse to buy into this great lie.
I want this war to end and I will support any measure to bring that to fruition.
I refuse to lie to my children and it makes me sick that people even think that this is an appropriate message to pass around.
By reading the end of this message, if I hit delete it’s “my choice” but obviously I am unpatriotic and I don’t support the troops.
So instead of hitting “delete”, I’m writing this post about it.
I’d love to hear your comments.
“Will you give this to my Daddy?
As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support 'Red Fridays.'
Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I
was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me
beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed
one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they
began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly
to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.
When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and
cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red-blooded
American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their
families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young
unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so
we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.
Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our
service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran
up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.'
The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy
for her.
The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself,
said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then
suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the
biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was
Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had
been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her
daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.
When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all
of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the
other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They
started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to
Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he
told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he
had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying
'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and
he is coming home very soon.'
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young
soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was
standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.
As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people
resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around,
there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in
one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney
with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and
thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's
good to be an American.
RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing
Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to
be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are
voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.
We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing.. We get no liberal
media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many
Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize
that the vast majority of America supports our troops.
Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity
and respect starts this Friday -and continues each and every Friday
until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that.. Every
red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear
something red.
By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every
Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the
bleachers.
If every one of us who loves this country will share this with
acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long
before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the
once 'silent' majority is on their side more than ever; certainly more
than the media lets on.
The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we do to make things better for you?' is...We need your support and your prayers.
Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and
wear something red every Friday.
IF YOU AGREE -- THEN SEND THIS ON.
IF YOU COULD CARE LESS THEN HIT THE DELETE BUTTON --- IT IS YOUR CHOICE.
God Bless our troops”
“God Bless our troops is right”
The ONLY way to support our troops is to bring them home. Stop the war for oil, the war to make the rich richer, the war that has destroyed Iraq and maybe a million Iraqi people; that has killed 4050 soldiers (still counting); the war that has sent thousands home with PTSD, missing limbs, and a sense of horror the rest of us cannot imagine. Bring them home. Stop this violent, pointless, vicious war for oil. Is the red for the blood being shed for oil? Maybe the rest of us should wear blue. Or purple. What we wear won't change how wrong the war is. I'm totally with you, OC, and so, I believe, is the "silent majority" of people who hate this war and want to bring "our troops" home.
ReplyDeleteSigh. I can't even read that stuff anymore. I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you and I also fear the next election. I've received that email more than once from both my blindly patriotic aunt and my blindly Republican father-in-law. My brother and cousin both spent time in Iraq and I was on pins and needles the whole time they were there. I continue to fear that either one of them will be sent back. This war is selfish and senseless. Perhaps your friend will see through some of the bullshit once she has experienced the feeling of worrying day and night about her son and knowing that she can't contact him to find out if he's ok. It's sad that she'll have to go through it, either way.
ReplyDeleteKendall,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, I knew I wasn't the only one feeling this way.
Ms. Z....sighing right back at ya.
EM....I knew you would be of the same mind that I am, now where is that merlot so we can discuss it in depth?
(steps up to soapbox, looks around to see if recognizes anyone, deems it safe, clears throat, and:)
ReplyDeleteI moved to the DC area following 9/11. I quickly learned how silent of a mouth I had to keep (read: censored) or I would be thought of as a terrorist conspirator or, heavens even worse (gasp) unpatriotic. Politics spewed from the pulpit of what are supposed to be tax-exempt religious institutions that are not allowed to endorse political candidates, stating that the only real issue in any election is abortion...but that it is okay and God's Will to send soldiers off to fight in an unjust war. There are those whose loved ones were killed in the Pentagon crash--you simply did not DARE say you were against this war from the start.
I have finally found my voice and can say that I have never been for this war from the start. It was all motivated by GW Sr's huge f**k up of the early 90's. Have to go in and clear Daddy's name.
Just because I don't support the war, however, does not mean I do not support the idea of freedom. Yes, freedom does have a price. However, how long must we continue to butt our noses into the rest of the world's problems and attempt (and fail) to impose democracy on other lands when we can't even take care of our own people in our own country? How free are we, truly, when we can't have a clean conscience about providing our own citizens with basic human services such as housing, heat, food, education and health care?
Priorities? Living here, I see them more and more askew...many blindly following without questioning, but more are starting to question.
More power to the questioners.
(steps down from soapbox, clears throat)
Oh, i could go on and and on. I have received this e-mail too from every one of my sisters, it is a little jab at me, the liberal who opposes the war.
ReplyDeleteThe word "red blooded American" shows up in every one.
I coldly circle all the spelling errors and return it to the sender as well as everyone on their list and tell them that ignorance is a sorry thing and being so myopic will lead us nowhere.
I'm sure that they think I am some sort of cold blooded monster who cheers when one of our soldiers die.
I don't want ANY more soldiers to die.
I get so angry when I'm told that I don't "support the troops" if I'm not 100% behind this stupid goddamn war.
ReplyDeleteI think using our troops the way this administration has done is the biggest possible insult to them.
You are so right about this. I could kick Bush and all the people believing in him ...
ReplyDelete