strange, sad, sorry...
Fax 203-787-1418 Email: editor@newhavenadvocate.com
Letters to the editor are limited to 250 words
I haven't forgotten.
We have a POW/MIA from this war:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1292780/posts
So...
Can this author explain why anyone would bother to have those rainbow flags and bumper stickers?
So...
Can this author explain why anyone would bother to have those rainbow flags and bumper stickers?
"Veterans defended our country so that the rest of us could stay home and rest, peacefully, in the company of our families."
I don't think I've ever done that, well maybe for a few hours at a time. As usual I just want to be free, free of my family if I chose and free to work, which I used to love and still must do. "Pursue happiness" is the phrase, not "rest, peacefully". What a lazy sod this guy really is.
To paraphrase Basil Faulty: Is that what made America great? Peaceful rest? You lolling about all day?
I think not.
Well, the author seems well intentioned, I guess we all know where that leads.
Actually, having a flag for every war, conflict and "police action" blended together down a major Washington boulevard in a huge piece of public art might not be a bad idea.........
This dumbass apparently hasn't heard of Matthew Maupin, has he?
My reply to the editor:
Your rather brilliant idiot Openheimer doesn't put much thought or research into what he writes, does he?
The POW/MIA flag is not exclusive to Vietnam. It honors the missing from all wars, including our most recent MIA, Matthew Maupin. Yes, he's still missing. And President Bush is briefed every day on his status.
In case Openheimer was unaware, the remains of several WWII MIAs were recently found in New Guinea. There are others turning up every year in Korea and Vietnam.
Openheimer is truly a dumbass.
The guy's lying his liberal ass off here. He has to say that because Americans will NOT put up with the liberals disrespecting our troops anymore.
(It's also the flag of today's soldiers, who--like Vietnam veterans--run the risk of being abandoned by their government. President Bush is paying them too little, forcing them to work too long, and lying to them about the reasons for his decisions. One way to honor Vietnam vets is to take seriously a lesson of that war: Even as we question our leaders, we must do right by our soldiers.)
Oppie is stuck in his own Vietnam quagmire. The quagmire being that Vietnam was the left's zenith and they been bummed out ever since with being has beens.
What ever the facts about whether any are left alive in Viet Nam, there are still missing...even if "just" their bodies.
As I see it, it's all about "all present OR ACCOUNTED FOR"...leave no man (woman) behind.
When I see that flag, to me, it stands for every soldier that was never found -- alive or dead -- since we became a country (including Viet Nam) and should fly at all times.
The American Flag can stand for all those who returned -- alive or dead, or are buried where we know where they are.
But, these missing are a part of my family. They are the fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters -- sons and daughters -- of my country who gave it all so we are ALL free...but never go their due.
Prisoners of War / Missing In Action
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My reply to "editor@newhavenadvocate.com":
About the question:
"Why do we fly the Vietnam POW/MIA flag when all the veterans of that war have been accounted for?"
I am a Vietnam Vet, not a grunt, but I went there so others wouldn’t. Two of my college fraternity brothers are on The Wall and a third spent five years learning how to walk with just a cane.
Why should we keep flying that flag? Mark Openheimer offered a single reason.
Let me offer a few to keep it flying.
1. It is a personal memorial to those who never returned.
2. It is a memorial that is THERE, at you place of residence, to remind you daily of the cost - in human futures - of your individual freedoms.
3. Remember that the POW/MIA flag was NOT something that the government designed nor initially approved of.
4. The POW/MIA flag reminds us of those who had no idea of how to win the war or to stop it.
These political cowards fed us into a war because they were unwilling to pay a POLITICAL price for saying “I don’t know what to do about Vietnam.” The human cost of those eight words was how many American and Vietnamese lives? How often does Mark Openheimer want to pay that butcher’s bill?
If flying that flag reminds our current and future leaders of the political stupidity and cowardness that caused Vietnam then I say fly it from every flag pole every day!
Emmett A. Redding
Major, USAF Retired
This really makes me steam as I display this flag in my business every single day.
Living in Cambodia, I've had the opportunity to make friends with a number of soldiers and other specialist with the Joint Task Force whose mission is to find and bring home the remains of our soldiers lost during the Vietnam conflict. These same missions are also happening elsewhere in the world. To me, "You are not forgotten" means precisely that, full respect and accountability for those who have never came home, whatever their status might be.
thanks for posting that.
The POW/MIA flag flys at our house as well.
Always will. As long as there is one service member unaccounted for, we will keep that flag flying. And if the day ever comes (I pray it will) that all ARE accounted for, I will celebrate with unending joy the lowering of that flag.
God Bless America
Did you read this POW thread?