Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Memorial Day

At least this once was. The Feds removed Veterans Day from the list of "all y'all hit the road holidays" in 1978, they should do the same for Memorial Day.

One of the things that has bothered me over the years is the sanitized version we get of war. Part of that is due to the squeamishness of the military itself, who fears that if we were to know the true cost of the butcher's bill, we might be less inclined to support wars. That's not just our military, most of them have been that way. The military was blindsided by photography in the Civil War and by television in the Vietnam War, and they are determined that the proles at home not know the truth.

Here is the truth: War is a bloody, messy business. Men don't just take a convenient shot to the head or heart and die. Shot, shells and splinters do a horrific amount of damage to the human body.

Here is an account of what it was like to stand at the guns of a warship in the War of 1812. The writer was serving aboard the HMS Macedonian during her battle with the USS United States. (H/T)

Myself, I was fortunate. My war was a cold one. The injuries I saw were akin to industrial accidents: Burns, broken bones and the like. Knew one sailor who was suffering from what is now called PTSD: He had been sent ashore in Lebanon to provide technical assistance to the Marines with some problem, he was in the Marine barracks that was blown up. I knew another sailor who had been on the USS Belknap when she collided with the USS John F. Kennedy: He subsequently had to be sedated whenever the ship he was on operated close to (or UNREPed from) an aircraft carrier. Before my time, but sixteen soldiers were killed and over two dozen wounded when an Army artillery shell was accidentally fired into an Army bivouac area in 1960.

Men and women have served this county, in both wartime and peacetime, and have been killed in both.

Today is the day that they should be remembered.

3 comments:

bearsense said...

Amen ...
and thanks for the referral.

Comrade Misfit said...

Oh, on the other post? You're welcome.

bearsense said...

EB - - Gotta give the "Props" where deserved.
Have enjoyed your blog for over five years - - Keep it up (and make sure that the take-offs and landings are evenly divisible by two).
Bear