ColtsPRIDE11's Blog

I think most people really honestly understand and appreciate our vets. And yes, we should do more for them........but that is another subject.

I am disturbed to hear of highschool students who know nothing about wwII. They have to have US History in High School. You raise a very interesting point as to whether or not we are doing a good job teaching history.

........lest we be doomed to repeat it.

I agree with you Maureen. For the most part your average American citizen does appreciate our veterans. But then we have those that do not. I am a firm believer that no matter what, you support the service people. Many times it is forgotten that they are just executing what their Commander and Chief (the President) tells them to do. Many times if someone disagrees with a war or what ever our military may be doing, they take it out on the soliders themselves. This to me is completely and utterly wrong on top of being disrespectful to them.

As I said in my post, I needed to vent a bit.

I too was dismayed when he told me that the high schoolers seemed to not have a good grasp of WWII. It took me aback actually. I guess the argument could be made that maybe it was a student that has yet to have US History or even World HIstory, but still, should a 15, 16, 17 year old kid not have knowledge of our history? Maybe this should be taught at younger ages...I remember learning about things such as this in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades.

All in all, we should be proud of our countries history and we (even at home) should teach it to the younger generations. And likewise, we need to make sure we pass down that service men and women are to be respected and honored for their service for us.

Thanks for reading Maureen

Being a student of history myself, having a Masters degree in American History, I am well aware the bloodshed spilled in this country & young Republic to preserve & protect our civil liberties. I know what "shared sacrifice" & paying the ultimate price really means. I am also intimately aware of what guilt over survival really means among veterans too. Why did I live & my buddy standing right next to me drop?

To me, honoring veterans is more than a parade or salute of gratitude. When our men women come home from duty without limbs & brain trauma, does our citizenry & federal government cut through the red tape & get these men & women the surgeries, medical attention, & psychological assistance they need? When Humpty Dumpty comes back broken & weak, what do we do as a society to make them whole again? Once the crowds & fanfare does down, who comforts the sick, the ill, & the lame? Who quiets the voices of fear, pain, & nightmares? Who counteracts the images of death & decay that time can not completely erase? Who reminds these noble men & women that they matter & have value? Who can step in listen, let them cry, & prevent a suicide?

Another point: Veterans of Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, & Afghanistan really resent the implication that only WWII Vets fought in the only "noble war" & that any wartime experience beyond 1945 does mean anything. WWII vets got parades, national respect, & the GI Bill to attend college & rise in terms of social & income mobility. Beyond WWII, media appreciation for veterans sacrifices has significantly diminished. VFW Posts will crumble unless WWII veterans loosen the misconception that theirs was the only war that really mattered. Also, the public isn't asked to ration sugar & other products for troops overseas anymore. So public awareness is almost completely unknown which is so sad.

The fighting is now largely down by drown attacks at the push of a button or drop of a missile. The public doesn't see investigative journalists like Walter Kronkite anymore at the dinner table who keep the public aware of casualities, political power plays, & ultimately change the scope, mindset, & opinion of the War in South East Asia.

Good Bless All The MEN & WOMEN WHO SERVE IN EVERY BRANCH OF SERVICE WHO SERVE IN A REMOTE CORNER OF THE WORLD WITH A SPATULA, MOP, OR MACHINE GUN. I WILL NEVER LET YOUR SACRIFICE DIE, DISAPPEAR, OR SLIP AWAY. THANK YOU.

I no longer wear the uniform but I will forever keep it.

I no longer wear the uniform but I will forever keep it.

Thank you for your service urusai. I sincerely mean that. My father served in Korea. I appreciate the sacrifices you made.

so many thoughts running through my head as I read.

My father served 2 tours of duty in Vietnam. This year, a few months ago they finally acknowledged the medical conditions related to agent orange poisoning and he is under going tests to determine if he is owed medical care for his many illnesses. He has a severe heart and artery condition as well as COPD. Long story, but it's very odd and he is a walking miracle having had 11 stents, a double bypass, a piece of artery replaced and 8 heart attacks. He was in Danang, where AO was 300X's more than anywhere else during the war. He is still the hardest working person I know and will choose to do things himself (sand and refinish the deck, clean out the gutters, chop down a tree, etc,etc) before he would considering hiring anyone. He started working at age 15 setting pins in a bowling alley and has been employed since then. He is my hero. We know how the Vietnam vets were treated when they returned home. It was and is dispicable. I don't care what politics created any war or right or wrong, the fact is, these brave solidiers still commited to honoring the request of their country to serve and many died for it. My brother is a Veteran of the Iraq war. This is another war many Veterans are disrepected for being involved in, as if the politics of the war is their choosing. I could go on and on, but I won't.

I have also noticed with my children the lack of American history education and it is troubling. In some cases they are even taught incorrectly. For example one teacher is teaching that the Black Panthers were a peaceful organization just trying to earn some civil liberties. Say what? My current 6th grader and 8th grader have learned more about Asia and Europe than they have American history. I hope this is improved in high school. I live in an area with a very good school system, so it makes you wonder. I know the current focus is math, math and more math. They are starting long division in kindergarten now. And also foreign language is a new requirement for graduation and is also being started in the elementaries. This takes away class time for other subjects. Writing is completely out. No cursive at all and very little time spent on printing in grades 1 and 2. They go to the computer lab and do not teach key boarding, they just start typing with hunt and peck at first and they eventually the kids know the keyboard, there is no purposeful focus on learning the keyboard. I digress, sorry.

Allow me one more digression... I saw some 20 somethings talking and giggling during the playing of our national anthem at a graduation ceremony recently. It is just sad to see such disrespect. I'm sure they are fine people, but they just don't get it.

Thanks for the great blog and I whole heartedly agree that we should honor and take care of our Vets! Thank you to all who serve!

To me, honoring veterans is more than a parade or salute of gratitude. When our men women come home from duty without limbs & brain trauma, does our citizenry & federal government cut through the red tape & get these men & women the surgeries, medical attention, & psychological assistance they need? When Humpty Dumpty comes back broken & weak, what do we do as a society to make them whole again? Once the crowds & fanfare does down, who comforts the sick, the ill, & the lame? Who quiets the voices of fear, pain, & nightmares? Who counteracts the images of death & decay that time can not completely erase? Who reminds these noble men & women that they matter & have value? Who can step in listen, let them cry, & prevent a suicide?

Another point: Veterans of Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, & Afghanistan really resent the implication that only WWII Vets fought in the only "noble war" & that any wartime experience beyond 1945 does mean anything. WWII vets got parades, national respect, & the GI Bill to attend college & rise in terms of social & income mobility. Beyond WWII, media appreciation for veterans sacrifices has significantly diminished. VFW Posts will crumble unless WWII veterans loosen the misconception that theirs was the only war that really mattered. Also, the public isn't asked to ration sugar & other products for troops overseas anymore. So public awareness is almost completely unknown which is so sad.

SW,

I was reading your comment and nodding my head the whole time and at some points I even verbally said "Exactly" or "That's right." You couldn't be more right when you say honoring veterans extends past the fanfare. Honoring them is taking care of them, making sure they never want for anything the rest of their lives...treating them truly as heros.

You also couldn't be more right when you say ALL veterans deserve respect and honor including Vietnam vets, Korea vets, Irag vets, and Afganistan vets. To me it should not matter what time period or war or type of defense they fought in or participated in. No, ALL of them should be honored and respected because ALL of them sacrificed and served for me...for you...for all of us. They did as they were called and commanded, so RESPECT them no matter what.

Thanks for the post SW, very true, every word!

I no longer wear the uniform but I will forever keep it.

urusai,

THANK YOU for your service. THANK YOU for my freedoms I enjoy daily. THANK YOU for your sacrifices. I can never repay the debt I owe you, but I will not forget.

so many thoughts running through my head as I read.

My father served 2 tours of duty in Vietnam. This year, a few months ago they finally acknowledged the medical conditions related to agent orange poisoning and he is under going tests to determine if he is owed medical care for his many illnesses. He has a severe heart and artery condition as well as COPD. Long story, but it's very odd and he is a walking miracle having had 11 stents, a double bypass, a piece of artery replaced and 8 heart attacks. He was in Danang, where AO was 300X's more than anywhere else during the war. He is still the hardest working person I know and will choose to do things himself (sand and refinish the deck, clean out the gutters, chop down a tree, etc,etc) before he would considering hiring anyone. He started working at age 15 setting pins in a bowling alley and has been employed since then. He is my hero. We know how the Vietnam vets were treated when they returned home. It was and is dispicable. I don't care what politics created any war or right or wrong, the fact is, these brave solidiers still commited to honoring the request of their country to serve and many died for it. My brother is a Veteran of the Iraq war. This is another war many Veterans are disrepected for being involved in, as if the politics of the war is their choosing. I could go on and on, but I won't.

I have also noticed with my children the lack of American history education and it is troubling. In some cases they are even taught incorrectly. For example one teacher is teaching that the Black Panthers were a peaceful organization just trying to earn some civil liberties. Say what? My current 6th grader and 8th grader have learned more about Asia and Europe than they have American history. I hope this is improved in high school. I live in an area with a very good school system, so it makes you wonder. I know the current focus is math, math and more math. They are starting long division in kindergarten now. And also foreign language is a new requirement for graduation and is also being started in the elementaries. This takes away class time for other subjects. Writing is completely out. No cursive at all and very little time spent on printing in grades 1 and 2. They go to the computer lab and do not teach key boarding, they just start typing with hunt and peck at first and they eventually the kids know the keyboard, there is no purposeful focus on learning the keyboard. I digress, sorry.

Allow me one more digression... Isaw some 20 somethings talking and giggling during the playing of our national anthem at a graduation ceremony recently. It is just sad to see such disrespect. I'm sure they are fine people, but they just don't get it.

Thanks for the great blog and I whole heartedly agree that we should honor and take care of our Vets! Thank you to all who serve!

MICF,

God bless your father!

Dispicible is just the tip of the iceberg on how wrongly Vietnam vets were treated when they came home. I watched a documentary on the Vietnam War with interviews of vets, and I was so angry and mad and saddened to tears when one of the vets said that he was so excited to come home and to be appreciated and to see his family and be assured by the pulic that what they had done was indeed worth it. He said that when he got home there were no parades. No instead he was spit on and made to feel like an outsider. He said he sat in an auditorium in his home town and not a soul would look at him or talk to him. He felt shunned. He felt like he was less than dirt. HOW DARE WE???? I want to go on a rant of how so very wrong this was but I will refrain. Instead, I will just say that I agree whole heartedly with you my friend--all veterans deserve honor. No matter the war served.

I too could go into a long rant about what is so terribly wrong with our education system and what we are teaching--no cursive, really???? Computers in kindergarden, really??? etc...but again I will refrain. Instead, I will say that you are completely right that not enough time is spent on AMERICAN history, and as you stated, it isn't accurately taught much of the time. AMERICAN history is something to be proud of, it is something we should not take lightly, and it is something we should engrain in our children's minds. If we don't teach them to take pride in our country, then who will? And if there is no national pride, just how long will our great country last? I am all for teaching about world history, but I value American history a whole lot more and deem it more important...and I don't think it is wrong to feel that way...need we ask Russian schools what histroy is taught there? Or German, or Japanese, or Chinese, or French, or Spanish, or English... ...I think--no I know you would find they spend a whole heck of a lot of time on their own before they do ours or anyone elses. COME ON PEOPLE! We are too focused on being "politically correct" and honoring people's heritage that we forget that people's heritage is AMERICAN history. Time to get our FOCUS right....but I digress, I'm sorry.

The last point on the giggling during the national Anthem...this does more than upset me. Shoot, it makes me mad when someone does not put their hand over their heart during the playing of the Anthem. This goes back to respect. Where does our younger generations respect lie? And do they even know what respect is anymore? I have begun to wonder, but if we don't teach them and raise them up right, who will? They are our future...and I have begun to worry about our future... ...

Thanks for the post MICF!

so many thoughts running through my head as I read. My father served 2 tours of duty in Vietnam. This year, a few months ago they finally acknowledged the medical conditions related to agent orange poisoning and he is under going tests to determine if he is owed medical care for his many illnesses. He has a severe heart and artery condition as well as COPD. Long story, but it's very odd and he is a walking miracle having had 11 stents, a double bypass, a piece of artery replaced and 8 heart attacks. He was in Danang, where AO was 300X's more than anywhere else during the war. He is still the hardest working person I know and will choose to do things himself (sand and refinish the deck, clean out the gutters, chop down a tree, etc,etc) before he would considering hiring anyone. He started working at age 15 setting pins in a bowling alley and has been employed since then. He is my hero. We know how the Vietnam vets were treated when they returned home. It was and is dispicable. I don't care what politics created any war or right or wrong, the fact is, these brave solidiers still commited to honoring the request of their country to serve and many died for it. My brother is a Veteran of the Iraq war. This is another war many Veterans are disrepected for being involved in, as if the politics of the war is their choosing. I could go on and on, but I won't. I have also noticed with my children the lack of American history education and it is troubling. In some cases they are even taught incorrectly. For example one teacher is teaching that the Black Panthers were a peaceful organization just trying to earn some civil liberties. Say what? My current 6th grader and 8th grader have learned more about Asia and Europe than they have American history. I hope this is improved in high school. I live in an area with a very good school system, so it makes you wonder. I know the current focus is math, math and more math. They are starting long division in kindergarten now. And also foreign language is a new requirement for graduation and is also being started in the elementaries. This takes away class time for other subjects. Writing is completely out. No cursive at all and very little time spent on printing in grades 1 and 2. They go to the computer lab and do not teach key boarding, they just start typing with hunt and peck at first and they eventually the kids know the keyboard, there is no purposeful focus on learning the keyboard. I digress, sorry. Allow me one more digression... I saw some 20 somethings talking and giggling during the playing of our national anthem at a graduation ceremony recently. It is just sad to see such disrespect. I'm sure they are fine people, but they just don't get it. Thanks for the great blog and I whole heartedly agree that we should honor and take care of our Vets! Thank you to all who serve!

First of all MCF, I want to personally thank your father for serving in Vietnam & your brother for serving in Iraq. Your father sounds extremely hardworking, independent, & self reliant. It is easy to see why he is your hero. No doubt those admirable traits he possesses rubbed off on your entire family. I sincerely hope that your dad gets the medical care he & all veterans so richly deserve. The red tape bureaucracy of the federal government is so time consuming & frustrating. Look up a soldier's service record, pinpoint their location & duration of duty, correlate specific regions where Agent Orange was sprayed, & finally pay for all the tests & treatment options this soldier earned & is entitled to. It's really not that difficult to carry out IMO.

Second, as you so eloquently stated, these soldiers did their job & they are to be recognized, remembered, & commemorated for their sacrifices; they are NOT chess pieces or political pawns. Please do not say derogatory statements to them ever. Thank you.

Anyone who talks during the national anthem or refuses to observe a moment of silence & respect is not truly appreciative of what actual liberty really is...

What teacher in their right mind would honestly claim with a straight face that the Black Panthers was a peaceful organization? That is utterly ridiculous. Is this what passes for an education today? I sincerely hope not or this country is deep trouble. Critical thinking skills seem to disappearing these days or not even taught for that matter & I find this trend incredibly disturbing personally. Accurate representations of our nation's periods of national conflicts, movements, & struggle to coexist as a people are essential to keeping our young nation vital & strong.

ColtsPRIDE11,Thank you for posting that,now im gonna speak even if i do get a warning or whatever,our service vets have been denied treatment they should get ,as far as medical, restitution so on,and we all know who denies this.You are so right they have maulled our history books,and removed so much that is ultimatley important,my teens have learned from myself,history channel helps.Im a Marine i will die a Marine ,tell your freind Semper Fi, and he and all vets of all our armed services will always have my and all of my familys respect,no matter what war,conflict or so on

Jay,

Thanks for reading, and thank you for serving so I can be free. I truly mean that when I say it. You have my respect and are counted among heros in my book.

"Im a Marine i will die a Marine ,tell your freind Semper Fi, and he and all vets of all our armed services will always have my and all of my familys respect,no matter what war,conflict or so on."

Amen Jay & thank you for your dedication & service to this glorious country.