Posted on 12/27/2005 9:09:14 AM PST by Renderofveils
As those thinking of becoming soldiers arrive on the slushy doorstep of the U.S. Army recruiting station here, they cannot miss the message posted in bold black letters on the storefront right next door.
"Remember the Fallen Heroes," the sign reads, and then it ticks off numbers: the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq, the number wounded, the number of days gone by since the war began.
The sign, put up by Scott Cameron, a former soldier, has stirred intense debate, though always polite, in this city along the western edge of Lake Superior. In a way, many of the nation's vast and complicated arguments about war are playing out on a single block here, around a simple piece of wood.
Cameron, who was shot in Vietnam in 1969 and says he has since undergone 46 operations to repair the damage, said he felt compelled to post his message to remind people of the soldiers now lost. The sign stands alongside campaign posters in the window of Kelley's office on Superior Street, a main thoroughfare in central Duluth.
Cameron did not speak his mind about Vietnam decades ago because he feared he might harm support for the troops, he said, but he has since decided that he is not "going to be silent again."
Although Cameron, 55, acknowledged that he opposes the war in Iraq, he said his sign was not about that at all. Its intent, he said, is simple and apolitical: to remember the troops, to care for veterans, to recognize what is being lost each day.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
He needs to be reminded that because men like him fought in Vietnam, ultimately the Berlin Wall came tumbling down.
Also he needs to be reminded, that when the "anti-war" types got us of Indochina with our tails between our legs, two million perished in the Cambodian killing fields.
Most teens think war is a video game.
Kids signing up have a right to know the score.
Some don't have family or friends that can tell them what is really going to happen, and the recruiters sure won't.
And before you start, I'm in favor of enlisting. I urged my son to, and was glad to get him back from the Gulf in one piece.
I do object to a lot of recruiters who should be selling used cars.
So9
But I thought he was SOOOOO "apolitical" about it?
I have no problem with telling kids the truth - you think that's all the NYT is doing with this story - some genuine, heartfelt, public service announcement?
Maybe the recruiters can have a running total of the "fallen" enemy as a comparison.
No, they have an agenda, but it takes a lot of left wing blather to balance the lying BS put out by most recruiters.
Do you really think a recruiter gives a damn about anything but meeting his quota, no matter what he has to say to do it?
So9
"The problem is that the NYT wants the U.S. to lose the war."
Agreed. But the story, even though the NYT would like it to be inflamatory, it isn't. If the guy's sign is scaring off recruits, then that's ok, they were the wrong recurits anyway. If I'm in harm's way, I'd like to know the people around me knew what we were all in for.
If a recruiter is lying, he should be fired (or worse).
The guy is running for office as a Democrat - that sign is in his CAMPAIGN Office window - coincidence?
no he's not at all...
So, the NYT "lied"?! How shocking.
Previous thread for reference: (with PIC)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1537049/posts
Right after he comes after you and your family.
I don't agree with what he is doing with the sign, but it's his right to do it and the people in here who are slamming him for it should watch their mouth.
Regardless of whether you agree with what this guy is doing, he's been there.
There is no BIGGER Pacifist than a man who has seen battle.
Every single person I have ever met.
It's not complicated. You either support the enemies of America and freedom like the NY Times, or you don't.
He fought in Nam. He was horribly wounded fighting for his country. He EARNED the right to speak his mind about war whether you agree with it or not.
Now, how have earned you the right to demean him?
For the record, Cameron is not the one running for office - he is a volunteer on the Steve Kelley for Governor campaign, which opened its northern Minnesota office next to the recruiting station this month. Although the sign was Cameron's idea, Kelley, a DFL state senator from Hopkins, approved of displaying it in the window.
. . .
Kelley said Thursday that Cameron's sign is a sincere plea for people to remember the fallen, not an antiwar statement -- though he acknowledges that, like Cameron, he is personally against the war. He said getting office space next to the recruiting office was "pure happenstance."
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5772444.html
What have I done to warrant spying?
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