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upyerbum
Posting Freak
Posts: 3226
Registered: 10-14-2005
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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Mood: Condemned 84
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BD
wars are fought by people who are infinitely wiser and braver than the people who start them. |
That about sums it up.
I was talking about this on my way to work today. How the responsibility lies with the citizens of every nation to ensure that the wars we send our
young people to fight are just and warranted. They defend our freedoms but they also put their lives in our hands.
Well, its this place where nobody works, and the pigs don\'t give you any shit. Everyone smokes weed and gets drunk all day. Its a place where
cunts like me and you can truly take it easy and relax. Know what I mean?
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JawnDiablo
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i"m glad BD reposts this each year.
People need to remember its not just another day off with pay.
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newbreedbrian
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that was an amazing article duane, thanks for posting that. i wish more people were intelligent enough to realize being against the war in no way
means i don't feel for the people putting their lives on the line every day. and jeff is right, that line is perfect.
The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, ?You know, I want to set those people over there on
fire, but I?m just not close enough to get the job done.? George Carlin
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clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
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Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
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Beautiful day. Just got back from the Parade march for the Sheiffs Department. Alot of people turned out. It was very nice.
Each aspect of the soul has it's own part to play, but the ideal is harmonious agreement with reason and control.
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Murk
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DaveMoral
I down right refuse to believe that the Iraq war is about my freedom, neither was the first Gulf War, nor Vietnam or Korea. |
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tireironsaint
* BANNED *
Posts: 4299
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Location: Colorado
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That's a fantastic article, thanks BD.
Veritas odium parit
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Discipline
* DRUNKEN MONKEY *
Posts: 11900
Registered: 9-8-2004
Location: Over here
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Mood: The Alley Dukes
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| Quote: | Originally posted by juandiablo
i"m glad BD reposts this each year.
People need to remember its not just another day off with pay. |
‘Do you know what a love letter is? It’s a bullet from a fucking gun. Straight through your heart.’
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Siczine.com
Posting Freak
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I support this thread 100%
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MyOwnWay
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This weeked got me thinking of those who are attending family gatherings (as I did), and enjoying the time. While others are mourning the loss of a
relative or an old friend. I always try to celebrate memorial day. Be thankful for those who gave their life to try and preserve the good nature and
who put their lives in harms way so America could find a brighter day than the one before.
But year after year I find myself saddend. It reminds me of how self absorbed we are. I love the United States. I absolutely love this country. But I
look around at how we as people treat each other, and what our government is doing to us now (what we are allowing), and the echo of a nation that
they fought for all those years ago, its dying. It really saddens me.
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BDx13
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that picture still chokes me up, three years after the original post.
damn, that's a strong image.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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clevohardcore
* Kick\'n ass on the wild side *
Posts: 12937
Registered: 9-19-2004
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sick Of It All, Youth Of Today
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Ya me too.
Each aspect of the soul has it's own part to play, but the ideal is harmonious agreement with reason and control.
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BDx13
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Old soldiers prepare for a fading away
A Southwest Phila. VFW post faces what could be its final Memorial Day commemoration.
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080526_Old_sol...
By Martha Woodall
Inquirer Staff Writer
The big Memorial Day observance at the Anthony and Harry Faustino VFW Post 6621 in Southwest Philadelphia once drew 50 veterans, women's auxiliary
members, and their families to a prayer ceremony, a parade to Mass at the now-closed Our Lady of Loreto Catholic Church, and a party with games,
prizes and hot dogs for the young ones.
But this morning's modest Memorial Day ceremony may be the post's last.
Commandant Frank Gagliardi and Ralph Christy, the quartermaster, will mark the day by bringing the post's big wreaths decorated with flags and
red-white-and-blue plastic flowers down from the second-floor meeting room and placing them in front of a soldiers memorial across the street.
The post, which World War II veterans established on April 17, 1946, and which once had more than 130 members, has dwindled to 18. Most, like
Gagliardi and Christy, are older than 80. And they have decided to sell the building at 61st Street and Grays Avenue where they used to gather for
pinochle and gin rummy and to drink and socialize at the 18-stool bar.
"Right now, I've been doing all the work," said Gagliardi, a retired Westinghouse engineer who still lives next door - in the house where he was born
- and who takes care of the post. "I can't do it much any more. I'll be 85.
"At least I can go up and down the stairs," he added with a laugh.
"There are only three or four of us in the area," said Christy, a retired hospital food-service director who worked at Aramark for 38 years and who
now lives in Clifton Heights. "It's a shame, but it's the way life goes. You can't stick around forever."
The club's demise reflects the shrinking population of World War II veterans nationwide. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has estimated that of
the 16 million men and women who served in the war, 2.8 million were alive in September, including 160,953 in Pennsylvania and 82,566 in New Jersey.
By this September, the department projects the number of veterans will have dropped to 141,265 in Pennsylvania and 72,065 in New Jersey.
The Faustino VFW Post is named for two first cousins from the Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood who died during World War II.
Army Pfc. Harry F. Faustino, a former manager of a Gray's Ferry nightclub, was wounded four times during the 10 months he spent in Europe in 1944 and
1945, before he was killed in France on March 15, 1945, according to newspaper accounts from the time. He was 27 and had been awarded the Purple Heart
with three oak leaf clusters and the Silver Star. The clippings did not provide information about Anthony Faustino's death.
Gagliardi, who enlisted in the Army in March 1943, became a platoon staff sergeant. By the time he was discharged in September 1945 he had been
awarded a Bronze Service Star for each of the five major campaigns fought in Europe, a Silver Star, a Purple Heart with two oak leaf clusters, and a
Combat Infantry Badge.
Christy, who has known Gagliardi since they were boys together on 61st Street, served in the U.S. Navy as a first-class commissary steward for the
Navy's amphibious forces in Europe.
Although the post membership roster included some veterans from the Korean War and a few from the Vietnam War, Christy and Gagliardi said most members
were World War II vets. Their numbers started to decline in the 1980s and early 1990s.
"We didn't get any of the Gulf War veterans," Gagliardi said. "From that point on, we started to lose membership. When I say lose - from death."
The building is not listed with a real estate agent, but he said that people know it's available.
After the post bought the former sandwich shop for $11,000 in the 1950s, he said substantial renovations were made, including putting in tile
bathrooms, wood paneling and drop ceilings, and installing a custom-made bar.
Gagliardi, who spent 37 years designing steam turbines at Westinghouse's plant in Essington, drew up the plans.
During a tour yesterday, he pointed out the jukebox in the bar. It still works, he said. And though it has some songs from more recent decades,
including 1976's "Disco Inferno" by the Trammps and the Spinners' 1980 version of "Working My Way Back to You," the play list leans toward classics by
Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.
Gagliardi reached into a closet and carefully unfurled the post's blue-and-gold banner with golden fringe.
"This is our flag," he said. "It's a beautiful flag. We had this one made. I forget how many hundreds of dollars [it cost]. We did everything right."
He added: "I don't know what we're going to do with this stuff. You spend a lot of money on it, but nobody wants it."
Another post, he said, has expressed interest in the soldiers memorial.
"We're not the first veterans club that closed down," Gagliardi observed. "I feel bad, but it happens."
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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BDx13
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On Memorial Day, a wounded vet's journey back
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080526_On_Memo...
By Michael Vitez
Inquirer Staff Writer
Raymond D. Hennagir tightened the screws of his prosthetic legs yesterday and adjusted the suction pump so they would fit snugly. Then the Marine
corporal from Deptford, injured last summer in Iraq, stood and walked.
He stands 5-foot-9, the same height he was before he was blown up. He says he can walk now for 16 minutes, and he's down to using just one cane. He's
determined to shed that one, too, as his balance improves.
Hennagir has also, in the last few months, skied in Vail, Colo., driven a BMW 650 with hand controls at a performance-driving school in South
Carolina, been pushed in New York's St. Patrick's Day parade in his wheelchair by another Iraq War veteran who lost both his legs, and been treated to
a week in Disney World by the New York Fire Department.
And on June 8, he's getting married.
"Everything's going great," he said yesterday over breakfast at a diner in Woodbury.
Nearly a year has passed since June 16, 2007, when Hennagir, a combat engineer, stepped on an improvised explosive device near the end of his second
tour in Iraq and lost both legs above the knee and four fingers of his left hand.
The young Marine spent July and August convalescing at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., but his goal the entire time was to heal
enough to be able to return to Camp LeJeune, N.C., by the end of August, when his platoon was coming home form Iraq.
He felt he had let them down by being injured, and wanted to be there to greet them. He made it, and his story was chronicled in The Inquirer.
He has been living at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, since September, getting therapy every morning. His spirits are good, his
convalescence progressing, and he has decided, he says, to become a fourth-grade teacher.
"I want to move back here," he said. "My dad has been looking around for a house for us to buy. Then I'd like to go to college and become a teacher."
Hennagir said he will marry Sherri Baskerville, his girlfriend for about six months before he was injured, in a small ceremony at Walter Reed. He
plans to adopt Baskerville's daughter, Kelsey, and was wearing a "World's Greatest Dad" T-shirt yesterday.
Hennagir still keeps up with one good friend from his unit in Iraq, but most of his closest friends now are fellow injured veterans whom he has met
and bonded with at Walter Reed. One of them, Kevin Hardin, 22, an Army medic for a platoon of tanks in the First Cavalry, drove Hennagir and
Baskerville to South Jersey for the holiday weekend.
Hardin was injured when a rocket hit his humvee, "went through me and out the other side." His hands and arms were disfigured and four pieces of
shrapnel have lodged in his brain.
"I had taught them everything I know medic-wise," Hardin said of his squad. "I'm just glad they paid attention because it paid off that day."
Hennagir and Hardin are among the 30,112 members of the U.S. military wounded in Iraq, according to Defense Department figures released last week. At
least 4,080 military personnel have been killed there.
Neither Hennagir nor Hardin, during an interview at the diner, said they had special plans for Memorial Day, other than to relax and enjoy family
before returning to Walter Reed for therapy tomorrow.
Repeatedly at the diner, guests and waitresses thanked them for their service to their country. The two men said they get that a lot, and don't mind
it at all, in fact appreciate it.
Hennagir and Hardin said they still support the president and the war. When asked about the president's loss of support in the polls - primarily
because of the war - Hardin expressed their position best: "Let somebody else try being president for a day. He's doing a great job."
Hennagir added: "Every president gets hated by the end of his term."
Later in the day, as he stood on his new legs at Baskerville's home in Westville, Hennagir pulled up his T-shirt and revealed a tattoo under
construction on his back. He came up with the idea, and already has endured about 10 sittings, with three more to go.
The tattoo will depict him and fellow combat engineer Scott Norris in a cloud of smoke, getting blown up by the IED.
In the sky above them, on one side, will be the angel of death coming in to sweep them away. On the other side, in the sky, will be four angels in
chariots coming to rescue them. Norris was also badly injured in the explosion and is recovering in Texas.
"The tattoo is a memorial for my Alive Day," Hennagir said. He explained that many injured Iraq war veterans call the day they were blown up their
Alive Day.
"It's like a second birthday," Hennagir said. "They shouldn't have made it but they did."
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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joemaconmovies
Posting Freak
Posts: 1827
Registered: 6-22-2005
Location: Western Mass
Member Is Offline
Mood: pissed off
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BD
that picture still chokes me up, three years after the original post.
damn, that's a strong image. |
that's my first time seeing it and i'm not sure why. but thanks for posting this BD. that and you've posted some great/wise comments in this thread
as i've read through it.
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Murk
Posting Freak
Posts: 1243
Registered: 5-15-2005
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i wish i could see my friend again... 
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/3939636.html
http://www.ketv.com/news/9792648/detail.html
| Quote: | Priscilla Debro said her son chose to go to Iraq to let others stay home with their families.
"'Mom, I'm going because there are other men who have families.' |
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BDx13
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sorry for your loss, murk.
from the photo in the first link, germaine looked like a fun guy.
are you in touch with his family at all?
all the best to them from the thorp board.
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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barc0debaby
Posting Freak
Posts: 2138
Registered: 3-18-2006
Location: My mom's basement
Member Is Offline
Mood: Punk as Fuck
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It means alot to see you guys showing love. Especially for someone like me who has a serious inner struggle going on as far as moral and political
views. I feel like a tool everytime I turn on the tv and see the bullshit these politicians and bloodsucking corporations ruining the country, or
hear some jerkoff high ranking officer giving us a generic speech about terrorists hating our freedom. But when regular everyday people just say a
simple thank you that shit nearly tears me up and puts things in perspective.
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joemaconmovies
Posting Freak
Posts: 1827
Registered: 6-22-2005
Location: Western Mass
Member Is Offline
Mood: pissed off
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| Quote: | Originally posted by barc0debaby
It means alot to see you guys showing love. Especially for someone like me who has a serious inner struggle going on as far as moral and political
views. I feel like a tool everytime I turn on the tv and see the bullshit these politicians and bloodsucking corporations ruining the country, or
hear some jerkoff high ranking officer giving us a generic speech about terrorists hating our freedom. But when regular everyday people just say a
simple thank you that shit nearly tears me up and puts things in perspective. |
i tend to agree with you and it's hard to forget that people like voodoo aren't in charge and are just following orders and doing what they're told.
he doesn't want to be there. he has a wife and kid and now a baby on the way. that's who we thank. not those who send our boys/girls off to die
while sitting behind a desk but those that put their life on the line every single day they are over there. never forget that man.
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Voodoobillyman
The Artist Formerly Known As...
Posts: 4247
Registered: 8-12-2005
Location: Eastern Seaboard of the United States
Member Is Offline
Mood: my daughters beautiful curiousity
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| Quote: | Originally posted by joemaconmovies
| Quote: | Originally posted by barc0debaby
It means alot to see you guys showing love. Especially for someone like me who has a serious inner struggle going on as far as moral and political
views. I feel like a tool everytime I turn on the tv and see the bullshit these politicians and bloodsucking corporations ruining the country, or
hear some jerkoff high ranking officer giving us a generic speech about terrorists hating our freedom. But when regular everyday people just say a
simple thank you that shit nearly tears me up and puts things in perspective. |
i tend to agree with you and it's hard to forget that people like voodoo aren't in charge and are just following orders and doing what they're told.
he doesn't want to be there. he has a wife and kid and now a baby on the way. that's who we thank. not those who send our boys/girls off to die
while sitting behind a desk but those that put their life on the line every single day they are over there. never forget that man.
|
I don't want anyone thinking I am some kind of pawn, you can keep that shit to yourselves. I have been around the block long enough to know theres
more to it than that. I am not some mindless drone serving the "Evil Administrations Corporate Interests".
I do what I do for personal reasons. Although I do agree the powers that be have made poor decisions, i find it hard to consider myself a tool when I
deploy to a region of the world that has just seen apocolyptic like disaster and we are there at the behest of those same leaders to simply transport
life saving supplies in and wounded out to one of our floating hospitals. Remember, not all we do is war Barcode, just ask any sailor that responded
after Katrina. Alot of younger sailors I have spoken to that have been involved in emergency response humanitarian assistance type missions have a
whole different view of what it is they do and who it is they do it for. I hope you are able to experience something that gives you the much deserved
self worth of serving in the US Navy and leaves little doubt about your choice to serve. I do understand the inner struggle, I dealt with mine in my
own way and not everyday is a bed of roses as you and I well know. Try to find some nobility in it, it's their, forget those ignorant FTN types that
close off to it right away and get one track minded about it all. Much love to all who serve in any branch of military or public service.
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joemaconmovies
Posting Freak
Posts: 1827
Registered: 6-22-2005
Location: Western Mass
Member Is Offline
Mood: pissed off
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Voodoobillyman
| Quote: | Originally posted by joemaconmovies
| Quote: | Originally posted by barc0debaby
It means alot to see you guys showing love. Especially for someone like me who has a serious inner struggle going on as far as moral and political
views. I feel like a tool everytime I turn on the tv and see the bullshit these politicians and bloodsucking corporations ruining the country, or
hear some jerkoff high ranking officer giving us a generic speech about terrorists hating our freedom. But when regular everyday people just say a
simple thank you that shit nearly tears me up and puts things in perspective. |
i tend to agree with you and it's hard to forget that people like voodoo aren't in charge and are just following orders and doing what they're told.
he doesn't want to be there. he has a wife and kid and now a baby on the way. that's who we thank. not those who send our boys/girls off to die
while sitting behind a desk but those that put their life on the line every single day they are over there. never forget that man.
|
I don't want anyone thinking I am some kind of pawn, you can keep that shit to yourselves. I have been around the block long enough to know theres
more to it than that. I am not some mindless drone serving the "Evil Administrations Corporate Interests".
I do what I do for personal reasons. Although I do agree the powers that be have made poor decisions, i find it hard to consider myself a tool when I
deploy to a region of the world that has just seen apocolyptic like disaster and we are there at the behest of those same leaders to simply transport
life saving supplies in and wounded out to one of our floating hospitals. Remember, not all we do is war Barcode, just ask any sailor that responded
after Katrina. Alot of younger sailors I have spoken to that have been involved in emergency response humanitarian assistance type missions have a
whole different view of what it is they do and who it is they do it for. I hope you are able to experience something that gives you the much deserved
self worth of serving in the US Navy and leaves little doubt about your choice to serve. I do understand the inner struggle, I dealt with mine in my
own way and not everyday is a bed of roses as you and I well know. Try to find some nobility in it, it's their, forget those ignorant FTN types that
close off to it right away and get one track minded about it all. Much love to all who serve in any branch of military or public service.
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I didn't mean to imply that you were a mindless drone. Only that you are not the one over there making the big decisions. I meant no offense by it
man. I'm sorry if it came off that way.
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Voodoobillyman
The Artist Formerly Known As...
Posts: 4247
Registered: 8-12-2005
Location: Eastern Seaboard of the United States
Member Is Offline
Mood: my daughters beautiful curiousity
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| Quote: | Originally posted by joemaconmovies
| Quote: | Originally posted by Voodoobillyman
| Quote: | Originally posted by joemaconmovies
| Quote: | Originally posted by barc0debaby
It means alot to see you guys showing love. Especially for someone like me who has a serious inner struggle going on as far as moral and political
views. I feel like a tool everytime I turn on the tv and see the bullshit these politicians and bloodsucking corporations ruining the country, or
hear some jerkoff high ranking officer giving us a generic speech about terrorists hating our freedom. But when regular everyday people just say a
simple thank you that shit nearly tears me up and puts things in perspective. |
i tend to agree with you and it's hard to forget that people like voodoo aren't in charge and are just following orders and doing what they're told.
he doesn't want to be there. he has a wife and kid and now a baby on the way. that's who we thank. not those who send our boys/girls off to die
while sitting behind a desk but those that put their life on the line every single day they are over there. never forget that man.
|
I don't want anyone thinking I am some kind of pawn, you can keep that shit to yourselves. I have been around the block long enough to know theres
more to it than that. I am not some mindless drone serving the "Evil Administrations Corporate Interests".
I do what I do for personal reasons. Although I do agree the powers that be have made poor decisions, i find it hard to consider myself a tool when I
deploy to a region of the world that has just seen apocolyptic like disaster and we are there at the behest of those same leaders to simply transport
life saving supplies in and wounded out to one of our floating hospitals. Remember, not all we do is war Barcode, just ask any sailor that responded
after Katrina. Alot of younger sailors I have spoken to that have been involved in emergency response humanitarian assistance type missions have a
whole different view of what it is they do and who it is they do it for. I hope you are able to experience something that gives you the much deserved
self worth of serving in the US Navy and leaves little doubt about your choice to serve. I do understand the inner struggle, I dealt with mine in my
own way and not everyday is a bed of roses as you and I well know. Try to find some nobility in it, it's their, forget those ignorant FTN types that
close off to it right away and get one track minded about it all. Much love to all who serve in any branch of military or public service.
|
I didn't mean to imply that you were a mindless drone. Only that you are not the one over there making the big decisions. I meant no offense by it
man. I'm sorry if it came off that way. |
Not at all Joe, this was for my shipmate Barcode.
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joemaconmovies
Posting Freak
Posts: 1827
Registered: 6-22-2005
Location: Western Mass
Member Is Offline
Mood: pissed off
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ok
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upyerbum
Posting Freak
Posts: 3226
Registered: 10-14-2005
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Member Is Offline
Mood: Condemned 84
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I'm a bit late, but hat's off (literally) to all you men and women in uniform. I've lost 6 friends in Afghanistan to date. This shit's real, and it
ain't gonna' go away. Stay safe.
Well, its this place where nobody works, and the pigs don\'t give you any shit. Everyone smokes weed and gets drunk all day. Its a place where
cunts like me and you can truly take it easy and relax. Know what I mean?
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BDx13
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interesting article about the search for dead soldiers in eastern europe:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080712/ap_on_re_eu/east_europe_...
If I fail math, there goes my chance at a good job and a happy life full of hard work.
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moron
Posting Freak
Posts: 2393
Registered: 5-28-2003
Location: CT
Member Is Offline
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I found this video on youtube, and this seemed like the appropriate thread in which to share it. It's of a vet who visited the South Vietnam National
Military Cemetery in 1994. My Dad and I went there on our trip. He made a point to visit the cemetery to honor all of the South Vietnamese soldiers
who died, and because he's upset over the cemetery's condition and he feels that those soldiers deserve better. We took photos when we were there,
but they don't do it any justice compared to this video.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZufxFbLH5BE
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