Letters, We Get Letters
I'm gonna smile and say I hope you're feeling better
I'll close with love the way you do
I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And I'm gonna make believe it came from you
--I'm Gonna Write Myself a Letter, Billy Wiliams
I'll close with love the way you do
I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And I'm gonna make believe it came from you
--I'm Gonna Write Myself a Letter, Billy Wiliams
Dear Comrade Hruska,. . .
The VFW hopes to rally America in support of our military men and women - those who died . . . those who lost a limb, their eyesight, or their mobility . . . those whose experience of war is still vivid, as well as those who are deployed. Today, thousands of troops are still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's more important than ever that we stand united in support of those who fight for our freedom.. . .We make sure veterans get the entitlements they deserve.
________
Well, I see they've got the salutation correct: "Comrade Hruska". Things are falling in nicely behind War Czar Lute. If Putin doesn't like us now, I don't know when.
But would somebody please tell Comrade Ranger how the VFW plans to support military men and women who have died?
The entitlements veterans deserve are: to embark upon a mission with a clearly stated objective, realizable with assets at hand and possessing a clearly stated endgame.
If they, and we, were getting those entitlements due us as citizens, there might be fewer limbless, sightless, immobile veterans in our midst.
But would somebody please tell Comrade Ranger how the VFW plans to support military men and women who have died?
The entitlements veterans deserve are: to embark upon a mission with a clearly stated objective, realizable with assets at hand and possessing a clearly stated endgame.
If they, and we, were getting those entitlements due us as citizens, there might be fewer limbless, sightless, immobile veterans in our midst.
Labels: VFW letter
posted by rangeragainstwar at 11:52 AM
7 Comments:
i have been absolutely disassociated from the VFW when during one of the first waves of refugees from vietnam (boat people doesn't even begin to describe the levels of screaming hell these poor folks had to pass through to get to a camp that wasn't run by rapists, pirates, and thieves) were beginning to come to america i tried to rally my VFW chapter to help ease their passage into american society. i was shouted down inside of two minutes by drunken louts screaming "gook" "zipperhead" "slopes" and "fuck that, i hate rice" and all manner of ugly, hateful racist shit. like it was the fault of the vietnamese people that we had been using their country like a prison bitch for fifteen years. . .
never looked back. never missed it.
in the process of following my own muse within the vietnamese communities of southern california i even ran into a couple of guys that i helped to "chu hoi" into the big PX. needless to say i don't have to buy many bowls of pho. nugyen kao ky has a great restaurant in garden grove. if you wear a vietnam service ribbon in your lapel, you'll eat great food, for free and have people stopping by your table to say "thanks for trying."
those are my kind of americans.
M.B.,
Ranger and I have spoken many times of the fate of those left behind in Vietnam. And I s'pose we will do the same in Iraq, oh, perhaps magnanimously allowing in 60 translators a year, as we did last.
That's a great story of the restaurant. Thanks for sharing it.
i have a bigtime problem with us having been involved over there for this long without having at least two linguists in every platoon. two months at treasure island (i don't know where the army's language school is) would turn out squids that can at least be polite and workable with the day to day operations. it shows the people you're supposed to be working with that you are committed to them as people and equals also, having french in my rucksack came in handy because we could all switch out of our "cradle" languages and be on true equal footing.
being able to speak vietnamese was a huge tactical advantage for me and my guys. it's another stupid and arrogant failure on our parts that this has happened like this.
that we deny visas to the folks that risk their own and their family's lives by working for us is reprehenisble. there is no excuse for it. it is cynical and there is simply no excuse for it.
Yes, this arrogance, which is the new American vogue, is but a showing of the Ugly American on a new stage.
The lack of language skills among our forces is astounding. It is not as though we haven't seen the writing on the wall for possible Middle East involvement for decades now.
M.B. I agree with you 100% and I'm not surprised. I hate to say it but most Americans couldn't even find Iraq on a map if you gave them three tries. It's too far out from the "center of the universe!" I bet the results from this map quiz at the local VFW would be disturbing too! Our level (and our leaders level)of ignorance on the Middle East never ceases to astound me. It reminds me of an argument my first wife who was from Sweden, and a friend had about culture. She said, what do you have for culture, you're only 200 yrs old. We have houses older than that in Sweden.
If we can't talk to these people, how can we bring them GWB's democracy? Sounds like a product of Rummy's mean lean military or maybe just plain stupidity or both!
I told Comrade Ranger about the VFW. I told him it was a self-serving organization heavy on right-wing rhetoric and jingoistic attitudes, but light on true support for veterans. I told him the type of older veteran (the last war guy) who stayed with the VFW cared little about younger veterans (current war guy) and would in fact stiff them in favor of mindless flag-waving. I told Comrade Ranger all of this, but did he listen? Nooooo.
So Comrade Ranger gets letters from the VFW. I don't, having already severed my association with them. The organization's recent shameful behavior only serves to confirm that decision made many years ago.
And then there is "comrade," a word like "gay" that's come so far from its linguistic roots that there's now a certain signature attached to it, one that English-speakers 200 years ago wouldn't recognize. In recent years, "comrade" has been associated with totalitarian movements, e.g., Nazism and Communism. Maybe the VFW finds that fitting.
So there you are, Comrade Ranger. How much are you going to send them?
publius,
Funny! You did indeed sound the cautionary warning, and Ranger heeded it! He is no longer a member, though they kindly send him solicitations for funds on a fairly regular basis.
If the group were more amenable to other voices, which they are not, as they equate patriotism with "my country, right or wrong," I'm sure the Ranger would not be so disgusted with them.
As it is, not one red cent. I am sure they'll get the hint sooner or later.
Lisa
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