Memorial Day vs. Veterans Day

[Guest Hueypilot812]

Here's a story on Obama's Memorial Day remarks:

Obama: Honor veterans this Memorial Day

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama urged Americans to pay tribute to veterans on Memorial Day, saying the nation all too often has "failed to live up to that responsibility."

In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said people can honor veterans by sending a letter or care package to troops overseas, volunteering at health clinics or taking supplies to a homeless veterans center. He said it could also mean something as simple as saying "thank you" to a veteran walking by on the street.

"We have a responsibility to serve all of them as well as they serve all of us," Obama said. "And yet, all too often in recent years and decades, we, as a nation, have failed to live up to that responsibility. We have failed to give them the support they need or pay them the respect they deserve.

"That is a betrayal of the sacred trust that America has with all who wear and all who have worn the proud uniform of our country," he said.

Obama said he was committed to giving troops the training and equipment they need and making certain the Veterans Affairs Department had the money it needed. He also noted that he had signed a bill into law that would eliminate waste in defense projects and was working to improve the economy so that veterans can find a good job, provide for their families and earn a college degree.

"That is what Memorial Day is all about," Obama said. "It is about doing all we can to repay the debt we owe to those men and women who have answered our nation's call by fighting under its flag. It is about recognizing that we, as a people, did not get here by accident or good fortune alone."

Seems the press and the president have gotten Memorial Day confused with Veteran's Day. I thought Memorial Day was to honor those who DIED while serving the country, and Veteran's Day honored those who served. Apparently I was wrong? Seems this speech was designed to suck up to vet groups (and thus increase popularity among a group that particularly doesn't support him)...I guess honoring the dead guys doesn't matter because they don't vote...

Was that a cheap shot?

[nsplayr]

Seems the press and the president have gotten Memorial Day confused with Veteran's Day. I thought Memorial Day was to honor those who DIED while serving the country, and Veteran's Day honored those who served. Apparently I was wrong? Seems this speech was designed to suck up to vet groups (and thus increase popularity among a group that particularly doesn't support him)...I guess honoring the dead guys doesn't matter because they don't vote...

Was that a cheap shot?

Yea, the remarks would have fit Veteran's Day better than Memorial Day. On the other hand, it's not Memorial Day yet and I'm sure his speech at Arlington will be more along the lines of Presidents past (honoring the dead, etc.) Finally, Jesus Mary & Joseph, the President tells people who honor veterans and support those who have served and you want to criticize him about it? Honestly...

[LockheedFix]

nsplayr must have an Obama criticism alert app on his iPhone so he can immediately respond on baseops to anyone who says anything about the CinC.

[Guest MegaPieBoy]

nsplayr must have an Obama criticism alert app on his iPhone so he can immediately respond on baseops to anyone who says anything about the CinC.

I think he is one of Obama's secret police searching for disgruntled veterans seeking membership in domestic terrorist groups here on baseops. J/k J/k, but it is a possibility!?

[Guest CAVEMAN]

Here's a story on Obama's Memorial Day remarks:

Seems the press and the president have gotten Memorial Day confused with Veteran's Day. I thought Memorial Day was to honor those who DIED while serving the country, and Veteran's Day honored those who served. Apparently I was wrong? Seems this speech was designed to suck up to vet groups (and thus increase popularity among a group that particularly doesn't support him)...I guess honoring the dead guys doesn't matter because they don't vote...

Was that a cheap shot?

Yes, cheap shot because you are wrong. If the vets never supported him during his campaign, why would it matter during re-election?

Where are you getting your notion that vets don't support Obama? Not everyone in the military is a gun loving republican.

[nsplayr]

nsplayr must have an Obama criticism alert app on his iPhone so he can immediately respond on baseops to anyone who says anything about the CinC.

That's the magic of the iphone...there's an app for that :)

I think he is one of Obama's secret police searching for disgruntled veterans seeking membership in domestic terrorist groups here on baseops. J/k J/k, but it is a possibility!?

Absolutely a possibility. A distinct possibility. In fact, I know where you live. Nice blue t-shirt you're wearing.

[MCO]

Yes, cheap shot because you are wrong. If the vets never supported him during his campaign, why would it matter during re-election?

Where are you getting your notion that vets don't support Obama? Not everyone in the military is a gun loving republican.

I don't think its a stretch to say the majority of service members are republican or at least conservative, and vote that way most of the time. For examples, looks at any political post you have posted in. How many supported you, and how many called you an idiot?

Obviously its not 100% across the board.

[Guest Hueypilot812]

Yes, cheap shot because you are wrong. If the vets never supported him during his campaign, why would it matter during re-election?

Where are you getting your notion that vets don't support Obama? Not everyone in the military is a gun loving republican.

Oh, I think my notion that most vets don't support Obama comes from the fact that approximately 2/3 to 3/4 of all current military personnel voted for McCain. And you're right, not everyone in the military is a "gun loving republican"...I'm not a republican either, and I don't own a gun nor do I belong to the NRA (I do, however, support 2nd Amemendment rights).

I think you confuse me for a partisan politicker. Instead, I'm one of the people in the middle that refuse to view Obama as a celebrity and I see him as simply a well-spoken politician, with the same political ambition that any other politician has. He spend the past 40-some-odd years of his life avoiding the military and now all of a sudden he wants to get all nostalgic for veteran's service?

I think this guy just can't stand the idea that some demographics just don't overwhelmingly love him, vets included, and he tries to do what he's good at to woo their support...make promises and shower them with praise. The other point of my post is that it's not just Obama...the press in general has embraced Memorial Day as a token way to "honor vets"...it's not about honoring vets, it's about honoring the dead and the families of the dead. The fact that they don't get that tells me they are less concerned about the true meaning behind the holidays and more concerned with making impressions of being "pro-military". Anyone truly "pro-military" would be honoring those who gave their lives this weekend, not saying "we owe our vets benefits, blah blah blah".

One of the things I dislike most about my country these days is everything becomes so politicized. You can't even have an opinion anymore without being demonized by someone that views you as on "the other side" (ahem, nsplayer and CAVEMAN). Truly I'm an independent that has voted for both Dem and GOP candidates...yet because I just can't get myself to love Obama and become an Obamaniac, I must be working for the GOP.

[nsplayr]

One of the things I dislike most about my country these days is everything becomes so politicized. You can't even have an opinion anymore without being demonized by someone that views you as on "the other side" (ahem, nsplayer and CAVEMAN). Truly I'm an independent that has voted for both Dem and GOP candidates...yet because I just can't get myself to love Obama and become an Obamaniac, I must be working for the GOP.

So you dislike how everything has become politicized but start a thread that criticizes a politician for giving a pretty tame speech calling for people to support the troops?? I'm not tracking...

Obviously I'm on the "other side" from most people on here and I'm up for defending my point of view, but that doesn't mean people can't have opinions or support those "evil republicans." Most of my friends in the military are republicans and I don't expect many of them to change their minds on political issues. If you're an independent then I guess that means you can just be criticized by both sides. That's the problem with the two party system, it's hard to support either party when you don't agree with 100% of their views b/c despite all the talk of "big tent" and etc., both parties value ideological purity to some extent as well.

[Marjackson82]

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."

~Theodore Roosevelt

[Guest Hueypilot812]

Politicized, as in taking a side and making it a Dem vs. GOP issue...I didn't do that, and I don't believe I blamed "liberals" or "conservatives" or anything along those lines. I simply said that Obama doesn't seem to understand the meaning of Memorial Day, and it appeared to me that he made an attempt to capitalize on the holiday and reach out to vets, a demographic he doesn't have overwhelming support in.

So no, having the opinion that Obama goofed up on the meaning of Memorial day is not in itself a "political" attack.

[M2]

Initially, the topic of this thread was the fact that the majority of Americans confuse Memorial and Veterans days. Hueypilot812 was correct in saying the former honored those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and the latter honored those who served; but honestly the distinction is not nearly as important as the fact that the American public realize that there is a lot more to this than a 3-day weekend...

Regardless of his or her political leanings, anything the Commander-in-Chief makes positive remarks concerning the Armed Forces of this country, it is a good thing. But talk is one thing, and action another.

Since positiveg posted a TR quote, I will include one of my favorites...

"There's a time to think, and a time to act. And this, gentlemen, is no time to think." ~ Sheriff Bud Boomer

Cheers! M2

[Guest Alarm Red]

Seems the press and the president have gotten Memorial Day confused with Veteran's Day. I thought Memorial Day was to honor those who DIED while serving the country, and Veteran's Day honored those who served. Apparently I was wrong? Seems this speech was designed to suck up to vet groups (and thus increase popularity among a group that particularly doesn't support him)...I guess honoring the dead guys doesn't matter because they don't vote...

Someone had better let Home Depot and Lowe's know to stop the discounts this weekend. Also Veteran's Day came from Armistice Day, which is commonly celebrated as remembrance day in many other parts of the world.

So I looked into his predecessors, and here's how George Walker Bush started his last memorial day address:

Good morning. This Memorial Day weekend, Americans honor those who have

given their lives in service to our Nation. As we pay tribute to the brave men and women

who died for our freedom, we also honor those who are defending our liberties around the

world today.

On Wednesday, I met with some of the courageous young men and women who will soon take

their place in the defense of our Nation: the graduating class of the United States

Coast Guard Academy. Since its inception, the Coast Guard has patrolled and protected

America's shores. And in this time of war, the Coast Guard has assumed new

responsibilities to defend our Nation against terrorist infiltration and help stop new

attacks. I was proud to stand with the Class of 2007 and thank them for their bold

decision to wear the uniform. The men and women of the Coast Guard are fighting alongside soldiers, sailors, airmen,

and Marines who have also volunteered to protect America.

So by your faulty logic, Bush was trolling for the coastie vote? You are grasping at straws. While you look on the fringes for confirmation that America voted for the wrong guy last November, the rest of us will be remembering those who gave all this Memorial Day.

[Guest Jollygreen]

Good morning. This Memorial Day weekend, Americans honor those who have

given their lives in service to our Nation.

Looks like W knew exactly what Memorial Day was about.

[Guest Hueypilot812]

Someone had better let Home Depot and Lowe's know to stop the discounts this weekend. Also Veteran's Day came from Armistice Day, which is commonly celebrated as remembrance day in many other parts of the world.

So by your faulty logic, Bush was trolling for the coastie vote? You are grasping at straws. While you look on the fringes for confirmation that America voted for the wrong guy last November, the rest of us will be remembering those who gave all this Memorial Day.

Look, it's this simple people. I didn't make the quote to get into a GOP versus Dem argument. I was commenting on the CinC's remarks, as well as the general attitude in the media. YOU GUYS are the one's politicizing this thread, NOT me. Ask yourself this...WHO is the current Commander in Chief? WHO gave the recent speech regarding "what Memorial Day means" speech? Was it Bush? No. Where...I'll say again...WHERE did I make a remark turning this into some right versus left debate? I didn't.

Had Bush given a speech like that, I would have made the same remarks that Memorial Day is not the same as Veteran's Day, and note that most people (and obviously our president) doesn't know the difference.

I could care less that Home Depot and Lowes are giving discounts...it doesn't change the meaning of the holiday...and using some corporate sales tactic to support your "argument" (if there is one) is flimsy at best.

[M2]

A great way to recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice... :salut:

Cheers! M2

Memorial Day roll call honors 148,000 veterans

IVERSIDE, Calif. – Abts, Richard. Adamski, Walter. Ahlman, Enoch.

The names are whisked away by the hot, gusting wind as soon as they are spoken, forgotten in the stream of the next name and the next name and the next name.

Fuller, Addison. Fuller, Mary. Furlong, John.

The story of America could be told through these names, tales of bravery and hesitation, of dreams achieved or deferred and of battles won and lost.

Taken alone, they are just words, identities stripped of place and time, stripped of rank and deeds and meaning.

But they are not taken alone. They are taken together — 148,000 names, representing the entire veteran population of Riverside National Cemetery, a roll call of the dead read aloud over 10 days by more than 300 volunteers.

They read in pairs, rotating through 15-minute shifts in the beating sun, in the chilly desert night and in the pre-dawn hours thick with mosquitoes.

Some time on Memorial Day, they will read the last name on the 2,465th page.

Some read for their country.

Others read for a father lost in battle or a beloved son cut down in his prime.

And one man reads for no one in particular — except, maybe, for himself.

_____

Richard Blackaby was just 18 and fresh out of high school in 1966 when he was drafted for Vietnam. His father had served as a Seabee in the U.S. Navy during World War II and Blackaby was desperate to follow in his path.

But the Army said no: Blackaby had epilepsy and asthma and was unfit for service.

Twelve years later, Blackaby — now married with three children — reapplied to the Army and was accepted to the 4th Infantry Division as a forward observer.

But Vietnam was over and the eager recruit spent the next six years waiting for a war that never came. When he was honorably discharged in 1984, he was a sergeant but had never experienced combat, had never called in a real air strike or fired at a real target.

Nearly 25 years later, Blackaby's missed opportunity weighs on him as he patrols his self-selected battleground: Riverside, the nation's busiest national cemetery. While others gave their lives, Blackaby gives his time — and a lot of it, nearly 30 hours a week.

Over the years, Blackaby has made his specialty here not among the remembered and the honored, but among the lost, the abandoned and the forgotten. The work seems to fit his story of missed chances and dashed dreams, his yearning to belong to something greater than himself.

Every day, the 60-year-old grandfather with the crinkly, blue-gray eyes slips on the black leather vest that's his personal uniform and stands at attention as the cemetery honors the cremated remains of dozens of abandoned or forgotten veterans.

Every day, he salutes as the National Guard reads the names off the simple wooden boxes filled with ashes.

Every day, he accepts the folded flag for soldiers he will never know — and then gives it back for the next day's dead.

Dog tags engraved with the names of 145 forgotten veterans dangle from a thick key chain that never leaves his side, a different color for each branch of service. He knows the story behind almost every name.

"If I didn't do it, who would do it?" he says. "I mean, they have friends, they HAVE to have friends. They don't go through a whole lifetime and not have somebody that cares about them."

And, true to form, Blackaby reads names — hundreds of them — for the roll call project.

He reads for hours on overnight shifts in the cemetery's eerie gloom, the podium illuminated only by a floodlight. He reads during the weekend afternoons and late into a Saturday night to cover gaps in the schedule.

"Every one that we read off, I feel like I am probably doing their family a favor because they can't be here," he said.

"I'm reading off a whole litany of history. It kind of makes you wonder what's behind each name, what their life was like, what they did."

___

Lamborn, Richard. Lamphear, Everett. Landaker, Jared.

A gust of wind springs up and snatches the last name away.

No one notices it and later, even the volunteer readers won't recall the name of the young Marine or which one of them read it.

All they know is he was a 1st lieutenant, fifth from the bottom on page seven of 2,465.

___

Joe Landaker was the first person to touch his son, Jared, as he slipped into the world on his parents' bed on May 3, 1981, after 36 hours of labor.

From the beginning, Jared was special — but not in the way most parents would want. His skull was compressed during birth and doctors warned that he might be mentally challenged.

During childhood, he kept falling off the growth chart. He barely topped out at 5-foot-8.

But Jared, who went by the nickname J-Rod, surprised everyone.

He took calculus in high school, knuckled down in college and got a degree in physics. He signed up for the Marines his sophomore year and graduated from officer training school in Quantico, Va., among the top five in his platoon of 80 men.

By fall of 2003, he was in flight school and on Aug. 18, 2006, Jared shipped out for Iraq as a Marine helicopter pilot flying a CH-46 Sea Knight with the famed HMM-364 Purple Foxes.

"He overcame so many adversities in his life, time after time," said his father, Joe.

On Feb. 7, 2007, a week before Jared was expected home in Big Bear City, his father was watching CNN at 5:30 a.m., getting ready to go to work, when he saw that a CH-46 chopper had been shot down near while on a medical mission.

Two months before, when two Marines died in a CH-46 crash, Jared had e-mailed his parents within two hours to let him know he was OK.

But this time, hours passed with no word.

"They said there were seven people on board, so I waited. I didn't go to work, waited and waited all day long, waited again for his e-mail or a phone call that he was all right," said Landaker, choking back tears. "It never did come."

At 4:15 p.m., a Marine captain, a chaplain and a 1st sergeant came to tell Landaker his son had died on his last mission before coming home.

Since that day, Landaker has been consumed with keeping his son's memory alive. He shares his story with anyone who will listen. He has memorized every detail of his son's life and death. He now knows that the boy who called him "Pops" took 58 seconds to lower his stricken chopper from 1,500 feet to 200 feet; seven seconds faster, and he might be alive today.

"The last thing I want to do is forget about Jared. He comes to my mind all the time, songs, things that you see," said Landaker. "When he was a baby, I'd give him a shower and I'd hold him up and those kind of memories come to mind all the time."

"He's so special to me," he said. "Those Iraqis have no idea who they killed."

The rows of grave markers are cool and smooth in the heat, their numbers obscured by tufts of grass that have crept around the edges of the stone.

Landaker walks, head bowed, along the rows of plots in Section 49B.

"3438. It should be right around here," he says, bending low.

Then Landaker falls to his knees, weeping.

The stories, the details don't matter now: There is no way to unbury the dead, to bring the CH-46 from 200 feet back to 1,500 feet, to reset the clock with seven extra seconds.

"Well, all right son," he says. "Take care, son."

And so he volunteers to help call the roll at Riverside. He will not have an opportunity to read his own son's name, but at least he can ensure that the sons of others are not forgotten.

___

The heat beats down on the volunteers. A dozen spectators press themselves into any sliver of shade — a tree, the thin shadow of the flagpole, an awning.

In the shade near the sign-in booth, Richard Blackaby and Joe Landaker stand ready to take the podium, two strangers awkwardly chatting before their shared 15 minutes of service.

Landaker wears a white T-shirt printed with Jared's photo; Blackaby, for once, has shed his black leather vest for a dark suit adorned with military ribbons and an American flag pin.

They discover a bittersweet bond: Blackaby escorted Jared's coffin to his military funeral at the cemetery two years before. The two men embrace, then step to the podium.

The names pass between them like fragile treasures.

White, Clark. White, Mary. Whito, Russell.

Their 15 minutes pass, and they step down. Landaker, eyes red with tears, has another piece of his puzzle, another connection — another story to cling to.

But Blackaby is not finished. He steps forward again, ready to read for those who will never have the love of a father like Jared's. He will be there until 2:30 a.m. on this muggy Sunday and back again the next day and the next day and the next.

He is patrolling the boundaries of the past, filling gaps in this American story and in his own life — one name at a time.

[Vertigo]

It's easy for me to remember... on Memorial Day weekend every year I honor those that died by going to the lake and killing a few hundred brain cells. Although supply of said brain cells is running low.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Vertigo

[slacker]

I hate commercials (usually for a local car dealership) that say "Happy Memorial Day! I don't think the day is something to be celebrated, it's for a somber rememberance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Maybe I'm wrong, but whenever I here "Happy Memorial Day," it just pisses me off. But then again, what do you say when you're trying to sell cars on Memorial Day?

[Guest PerArduaAdAstra]

But then again, what do you say when you're trying to sell cars on Memorial Day?

How about:

"PLEASE! Buy one of my freaking cars because if you don't the government will come here and tell me I must kill one of my 3 children... they don't care which one I choose but I have to choose one. If I don't choose one they'll kill all my children and me as well. Happy Memorial Day!"

Back story

[Vertigo]

How about:

"PLEASE! Buy one of my freaking cars because if you don't the government will come here and tell me I must kill one of my 3 children... they don't care which one I choose but I have to choose one. If I don't choose one they'll kill all my children and me as well. Happy Memorial Day!"

Back story

Good job taking something out of context and rearranging the content as to give it a completely different meaning.

Although that ad just might work especially if you use the announcer for the monster truck shows... if it does I wan't a percentage of the sales!

[BQZip01]

Initially, the topic of this thread was the fact that the majority of Americans confuse Memorial and Veterans days. Hueypilot812 was correct in saying the former honored those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and the latter honored those who served; but honestly the distinction is not nearly as important as the fact that the American public realize that there is a lot more to this than a 3-day weekend...

So true...

...some of us got a FOUR day weekend...[/typical clueless American]

[capt4fans]

So true...

...some of us got a FOUR day weekend...[/typical clueless American]

And I do love me some 4 day weekends....plenty of time to