Memorial Day - Lest We Forget...

[moralist]

What a contrast...

...between an American...

...and people who live in America.

Greg

[Brant Gaede]

I admit I have sexist sensibilites left over from the 1960s when WACs were treated as bottom of the barrel. Men in the military were also second-class citizens compared to civilians. Everybody in the military has higher status today and the WACs and the WAVES are gone forever. (I don't know what they called females in the Air Force.*)

I remember a distasteful excange I had with a militant I-hate-men feminist in 1974. I shut her down and shut her up by saying, "Okay, honey."

This female soldier as a guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier passes my muster, however. Looks damn good!

--Brant

*WASPs (these groups of females were formed mostly as a call to service in WWII--the WASPs ferried over 12,000 airplanes and were highly trained)

[Selene]

I admit I have sexist sensibilites left over from the 1960s when WACS were treated as bottom of the barrel. Men in the military were also second-class citizens compared to civilians. Everybody in the military has higher status today and the WACS and the WAVES are gone forever. (I don't know what they called females in the Air Force.)

 

I remember a distasteful excange I had with a militant I-hate-men feminist in 1974. I shut her down and shut her up by saying, "Okay, honey."

 

This female soldier as a guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier passes my muster, however. Looks damn good!

 

--Brant

 

The Flying Pussies?  Kinda like the Wallenda's with all teats?  http://wallendaenterprises.com/index.html

 

[Brant Gaede]

I admire them and what they did.

[Selene]

I found two (2) people who are doing admirable work with Memorializing our vets.

http://www.buglesacrossamerica.org/

This Marine runs this out of his basement in Chicago. He started it in 2000 when he heard that the military was giving buglers an insert of the 24 notes of taps because there were not enough live buglers to play taps at a veteran's funeral.

WOW, here it is May 2015 and all over the country people are putting together programs for Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day. PBS has recently come to BAA to find a Bugler for a Civil War movie spot. Dave Kloke in Elgin, Illinois, has duplicated the train car that carried Lincoln's body to Springfield, Illinois for burial. I understand there will be over a hundred Civil War Buglers and re-enactors to march from the train station with the carriage to the area where Lincoln is actually buried.I'm working with two Chicago High Schools, Schurz and Phoenix, to improve their drill performance for the city championship meet on May 2nd. If any horn players in this area are interested in helping me judge the event please call
(708) 484-9029. The event is at Gately Stadium on the South side by Lake Michigan. The top five units will perform at Daley center prior to the Memorial Day Parade on May 23rd. This year we will have 150 Flags in the lead unit and I have 100 Marine Cadets and 50 Army cadets. Chicago has the biggest parade using 6,600 JROTC Cadets and I have the American Legion Band from Joliet in the lead and followed there after by the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps Alumni Corps.June 14th is Flag Day and we are planning a Flag Day Show in Berwyn, Illinois sponsored by Meijer Food Store.
As always, thank you all for responding to bugler requests and being there for the families of the fallen.

God Bless you all.Tom Day, Founder

And.

http://www.thefreedomrock.com/

The Freedom Rock is a large (approx. 60+ ton) boulder located in rural Iowa that is repainted every year with a different Thank You for our nations Veterans to honor their service to our country. The artist, Ray "Bubba" Sorensen II, was inspired by the movie Saving Private Ryan, as well as, wanting to give Veterans a unique recognition on Memorial Day.
Sorensen paints The Freedom Rock on his own with the tremendous support of family and friends. Sorensen is not commissioned to paint the rock but is able to do so each year with the generous help of donations.
While painting murals across the country Sorensen had the idea of spreading the message of The Freedom Rock to other small communities across Iowa. The idea in part came from the 99 county tours that both Sen. Grassley and journalist Kyle Munson took part in, and so the Freedom Rock Tour was born.
For the next few summers Sorensen and his family will travel the state of Iowa to put a (smaller and unique to their area) Freedom Rock in each county.

During the winter months Sorensen can be found painting indoor murals (or in warm climates outdoor murals) and spending time with his family.

Thanks for visiting and if you have questions about The Freedom Rock, The Tour, or hiring Ray for a mural, be sure to contact us.

The Freedom Rock® Official Website


The Rural Iowa Annual Mural Painting for our Veterans



Painted by Ray "Bubba" Sorensen II

Thank You Veterans for our Freedom.

Thank you all for your service and your families for what they endured.

A...

[Backlighting]

This weekend and thru Monday there will be an abundance of war films that my cable provider is showing.

They include:

We Were Soldiers

The Dirty Dozen

Patton

Midway

Pork Chop Hill

Hamburger Hill

The Steel Helmet

Saving Pvt. Ryan

Bataan

Green Berets

A Walk in the Sun

Sands of Iwo Jima

My DVR will be getting a workout.

My thoughts will be on the horrors of war and those who have fallen.

R.I.P.

[Selene]

[Selene]

I have no idea how I missed this last year...

 

Please take the entire 8-9 minutes to enmesh yourself into this young man's soul and just admire him...

 

I am humbled... A...

[Backlighting]

That young man should be head of the VA when he grows up.

-J

[Brant Gaede]

Perfect.

[Selene]

Here is another I missed last year...

Jules take a look at this!

This letter, from Atlanta, was typical:

"You have no idea just how much this photo and story mean to so many of us who have served. We do not ask for special treatment; we do not ask for your gratitude; we don't even ask for your patience when we occasionally 'geeze' with old stories. We would like to have some understanding just how much service to this great nation means to each of us. Your picture and story show me that some do understand."

One person wrote a poem based on the photo, another wrote a song and a third sent me a short story based on the column. Veterans have called the Fort Snelling cemetery, crying.

Not surprisingly, there were few readers who insisted that the photo was a fake. The bird was too big, they said. There's an aura of light on one side that reflects the use of Photoshop, said others.

"Glick took the photo with an older Nikon camera and a multi-purpose lens. He took more than 60 shots of the bird at the cemetery, from different angles and locations. Some are sharp, some are blurry. Some are not very well composed.

'But I just like the feel of this one.'"

http://www.startribune.com/memorial-day-look-back-eagle-photo-touches-hearts/127347018/

A...