Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 14:32:58 -0800
Reply-To: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: NVC thanking veterans... & Marine Corps Birthday today
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my dear vanagon friends
i have a friend who often sends me a broadcast email fwded from several
dozen other readers...
the email is about thanking a veteran ... because i am not reading this
email in german ...
i pointed out to him that my van has original owners manual is in german
i had to use google translator to decipher...
i also point out that veterans were not invented with the conflict against
the huns ...
My own mother a CWAC [Canadainn Womans Army Core] lost her finance due to
assignation in france by german soldiers
7 canadian regular army soldiers were shot behind the ear that day with
their feet and hands bound behind them ...
Ironically my finance is of german ancestry [ohio} ... so i asked my mother
if she had any unresolved prejudice before i brought my love home to her...
she said no ..it was a time of war and many things went on that were brutal
and unkind in every ward
she held no resentment of hatred toward german society ...
my father a career navy chief petty officer served in the north atlantic and
even did a stint on the Bonaventure [aircraft carrier]
my grandfather career army both for england and canada
one brother retrd. RCN 7 years
so back to the point ... how to thank a veteran ...
it is easy ...
great them with the same hearty well met fellow that you reserve for close
friends
hold your personal disdain for all things military ...
save that for the after dinner drinks and cigar session in the parlor ...
and most of all remember the people in the rest of the world who would love
to have the freedom to...
turn on the internet ...
listen to shock jock radio
buy pornography ...
go to church of their choice...
drive from one state/country to the other with little more than a drivers
license or a passport to prove identity
to read as many books as they like...
own as much property as they can amass...
own as much money as they can gather...
go as in debt as they please ...
own a video camera ... indeed a video phone
drink as much liqueur as you please and say almost anything you want to
anyone so long as it is not pointed hatred ...
be as poor as you like
live in a house or apartment that is open to any visitor you care to
invite...
whear clothes that cover or reveal as much as you decide
if you need more convincing
watch the movie ... the unbearable lightness of being
read jack londons ... the iron heel
and give thanks that you can do both of those things
in your german VW [the bastard child of the beetle... hitlers car for the
people Volks Wagan]
reading a book printed in china ...
watching a dvd on a player made in japan
with electronic parts from indonisia ...
and take a break to get a pop or coffee by traveling on a road free of land
mines and enemies of the government of the moment
not to mention meeting with friends at busses by the what ever land mark you
choose ....
and just one other thing ...
those of you saying a particular war is in error or wrong ...
there is a john wayne / henry fonda / kirk douglas movie where he looses a
leg at the end ...
in the movie wayne has a son who calls the war truemans trumped up war and
wayne relies that he can recall when it was wilsons trumped up war
but more to the point the movie itself explores a host of ideas including
manipulation of the press and army /navy showmanship to curry popular
success for future elections
so before you whine to loudly that this president or that prime minister is
wrong or right take note that you can freely whine to your hearts content in
public...
in your heart first... is how you thank a veteran
readers thanks for your time
On Nov 11, 2007 1:04 PM, Geza Polony <gezapolony@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Those of us who believe recent wars to be counterproductive to American
> interests are put in a bind on days like this: While we appreciate the
> bravery and self-sacrifice of those who put themselves in harm's way, we
> believe the wars they fought were mistakes, and so feel conflicted
> expressing gratitude. If everyone had refused to fight the purposeless,
> misguided war in Iraq, for example, we would not be be faced with the
> disaster we are in now. The decision to begin this war was not made by
> 18-year- old high schoolers from Kentucky or wherever, yet without them it
> could not have been fought. How do you thank those who have unknowingly
> precipitated a catastrophe?
>
--
roger w
There are two kinds of jobs in the world:
Picking up garbage and telling people things.
Successful people do both, with the same good attitude. (riw)
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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7135104650374818257
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3259745150182742364