No Remembering! The Kids Might See A Firearm!!!

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

The cenotaph in Quesnel reads "To the Glorious Dead". Made me laugh, in a crying sort of way.

They did not die for glory, but each other and us. That makes them glorious, but it does not mean they sought glory. They merely went when their Country called and they should be remembered.

 

[gerryh]

Here is something to think about, most of the young men who were packing those guns, and
flying those planes, and sailing aboard those ships on the high seas, were close to many in
age to those graduating from High School. All the other kids who were going to school saw the
armories full and people marching off to war, climbing aboard the ships and trains heading
for the battle fields of Europe and Asia during both World Wars.
Then there were many of today's grand parents who were victims of bombs falling on their
schools and playgrounds in Britain and else where. It wasn't a choice they got to see the guns.

We must remind our children and the public at large that our country and our world have had
some very sad chapters and unless they, the children of today, are kept aware of that history,
it will come again. The only childish people are those who believe unpleasant things can be
swept under the rug, and not presented in their full light of day.
One of the problems society faces is that we do not discuss uncomfortable topics or unpleasant
topics with our children. War and mass murder, sex healthy or otherwise, the cost and real
impact of labour disputes, why some people end up homeless or on drugs and so on.

Discussing these things is part of an education, so they understand the world around them and
they themselves can become active to ensure the adverse impacts of society are minimized.
We gain nothing from hiding the truth of our past no matter how ugly it is, so we may as well
educate today's children to take over from us when we are gone.
I remember my father saying it disturbed him greatly to see little kids eating out of garbage cans
in war torn Europe, it was an image that remained with him for life. When I was about ten or
twelve I asked him, Do you think that could ever happen here? Really?
His short answer was, Son if it could happen there it could happen here, its the job of your
generation to make sure it doesn't.

I am all for showing the weapons, and the terrible cost of war, this is death at its most violent and
these are the weapons of death. We need to defend ourselves with these weapons but they are
not toys, The people at the school need to have their head examined.

Not allowing the "cool" machines of war is not hiding anything. You want to show the kids "how ugly" it is? Show them the pictures of what happens to the innocent. Show them the "collateral" damage. Show them the pictures of kids eating out of garbage cans. Show them pictures of London during the blitz, Dresden after the allied bombing, civilian casualties in the korean war, in Vietnam, in Iraq, and in Afghanistan. Not to mention the Balkins, Somalia, etc, etc, etc. Weapons of war are not "cool". We need to stop glorifying the destruction that war commands and start showing the true results.

Medal of Honor winner and Marine commandant Smedley Butler:

"War is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes...How many millionaires ever shoulder a rifle?

"For a great many years as a soldier, I had the suspicion that war was a racket. Not until I retired did I fully realize it.

"I was," said Butler of his own role in Central American intervention, "nothing more than a gangster for Wall Street."

 

[CDNBear]

Not allowing the "cool" machines of war is not hiding anything. You want to show the kids "how ugly" it is? Show them the pictures of what happens to the innocent. Show them the "collateral" damage. Show them the pictures of kids eating out of garbage cans. Show them pictures of London during the blitz, Dresden after the allied bombing, civilian casualties in the korean war, in Vietnam, in Iraq, and in Afghanistan. Not to mention the Balkins, Somalia, etc, etc, etc. Weapons of war are not "cool". We need to stop glorifying the destruction that war commands and start showing the true results.

Medal of Honor winner and Marine commandant Smedley Butler:

"War is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes...How many millionaires ever shoulder a rifle?

"For a great many years as a soldier, I had the suspicion that war was a racket. Not until I retired did I fully realize it.

"I was," said Butler of his own role in Central American intervention, "nothing more than a gangster for Wall Street."

I somewhat agree Gh. But it should be tempered with the understanding that sometimes, it is necessary.

 

[VanIsle]

There is another story running on CTV right now that concerns a widow who wants to wear her deceased husbands' medals and march in the Remembrance Day parade in her community. While I understand why she would want to honor her husband this way, I do not agree with letting her do so. Those medals belong properly on the person who earned them.

She should not be allowed to do that. She may have been the one to keep the home fires burning but she was not on the battlefield. The best way for her to honour her husband is to have his medals set up in a display case in her home. Then on Remembrance Day, she should go and honour her husband and his comrades in the same way people have been honouring the fallen for years and years. It's a nice thought but soon, everyone starts to feel they have a right to be there in place of a fallen soldier and how far down the line does it go then? After awhile, rather than it being a nice gesture, it becomes a duty that people will mindlessly follow. Some things need to just stay as they are. Her husband will not be honoured less by her not marching in his stead. He served his country well, but now he's finished. Time for him to rest.

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

She should not be allowed to do that. She may have been the one to keep the home fires burning but she was not on the battlefield. The best way for her to honour her husband is to have his medals set up in a display case in her home. Then on Remembrance Day, she should go and honour her husband and his comrades in the same way people have been honouring the fallen for years and years. It's a nice thought but soon, everyone starts to feel they have a right to be there in place of a fallen soldier and how far down the line does it go then? After awhile, rather than it being a nice gesture, it becomes a duty that people will mindlessly follow. Some things need to just stay as they are. Her husband will not be honoured less by her not marching in his stead. He served his country well, but now he's finished. Time for him to rest.

I am afraid I disagree Vanisle. I see no harm in the wife of a soldier marching in his place if he can no longer do so.

 

[VanIsle]

I somewhat agree Gh. But it should be tempered with the understanding that sometimes, it is necessary.

Presentation in a case like this, is everything. If the Vets are the ones to show these things to them (and I understand that is how it is meant to be), the Vets will have tears in their eyes, they will tell it like it was, and hopefully, the kids they are talking to will understand there is no Glory in war. Only casualties with some lucky survivors. There are no winners.
I was an air cadet. I saw those tears. I have not forgotten.

I am afraid I disagree Vanisle. I see no harm in the wife of a soldier marching in his place if he can no longer do so.

We all have a right to an opinion. You to yours and me to mine. Soldiers die. During and after war. Life ends and when it does, people have to let go. I just believe it's healthier.

 

[CDNBear]

There are no winners.

I disagree, said in English.

I was an air cadet. I saw those tears. I have not forgotten.

I was a Trooper. I saw those tears at the Legion, at the Cenotaph. Saw being the operative word.

I no longer go to the Legion. The men I went to honour often, aren't there anymore.

Je me souviens.

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

We all have a right to an opinion. You to yours and me to mine. Soldiers die. During and after war. Life ends and when it does, people have to let go. I just believe it's healthier.

Thankfully that right was afforded to us by the sacrifice of soldiers. We live in a new era and not all veterans are necessarily old men. This year I will bid honor to two war veterans, my son and my brother's son. I am thankful that these boys did not come down that stretch of 401, thankful they are alive to tell the tale, but under no circumstances would I have been able to let go had they not.

 

[taxslave]

Yes,that was sarcasm,young people now are "protected"from pretty much everything,and one day reality is going to hit them like an aluminium bat.

And that is why they come out of school and think the world owes them a living (top dollar yet) even though they know jack **** and have zero experience at anything except sloughing off and making excuses. About the only two things they picked up from their teachers.