Posts Tagged ‘America’s team’

Celebrate Veterans Day – November 11, 2015

November 11, 2015

Is it an important holiday and how should we celebrate it?

I think most, if not all of us, would answer “yes” to the first part of  the question. It’s the second part that I want to focus on. I’ll explain what prompted me to do this blog today. Don’t miss the important web link at the bottom.

Supertramp – Take the Long Road Home
United States of America

United States of America

I was not shuffling around my house (doctor’s post-surgical instructions) but sitting in my lounger with my legs elevated and my cryo cuff with ice cold water firmly attached to my right knee joint, and I looked at my crutches that were propped up on the couch. Obviously, this being November 11, Veterans Day, I had been thinking about stuff – for example, my crutches are temporary (hopefully), but how about the vets who are permanently disabled.

Let me briefly interject a thought here. I’m hoping that my readers will be open-minded about war. Whether you are pro-war or anti-war is none of my business. All I’m asking of you in this modest, non-political piece is to respect and honor what others have done on our behalf.

How about some word pictures? A double amputee in a wheel chair rolls up the ramp and into the airport waiting area. He has a family there to greet him, which is a good thing. His young daughter bends down to give him a big hug. They both have tears in their eyes. On the same flight a young woman walks off the plane. One side of her face is disfigured. No one is there to greet her, and she is disappointed, but she manages a smile. She’s back in America and so glad to be here.

I’m a vet and proud of it. Ironically, I wasn’t always patriotic. However, I received my draft notice from the “BBQ King” (that’s what we called LBJ in those days). I’ll skip the details about how I failed my induction physical and ended up in the Navy Reserves. Those details are in another section of this blog.

What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?

And your point is?

It’s time to get to the point. Here’s what I would like to suggest. Make it your mission to honor a vet, any vet, not just today but often. It could be something as simple as saying hello, shaking their hand, or patting them on the back to acknowledge what they did. If you have time, buy them a cup of coffee or just spend a few minutes talking to them. Ask them about their service. If they don’t want to talk about, don’t push it. For some the memories are too painful. Remember, you’re recognizing the fact that they gave of themselves in serving this great country.

Ending Notes

I would like to end with music and a web link. The music is an old piece that brings back memories from my shipboard life in Vietnam. One of the pasttimes of the sailors on my ship was to record music (reel-to-reel tape in those days) to send back home. It was a nice diversion.

Blind Faith – Can’t Find My Way Home

Here is a link to a local charity that works with vets. I’ve done volunteer work for them and can vouch for their mission, which is to help our vets to survive (literally) and to be able to reassimilate into society after their service. Consider donating in whatever way you can to their very worthy cause.

Returning Veterans Project

Rufous-sided Towhee

Rufous-sided Towhee

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Birthday Blog: February 23, 2015

February 24, 2015

I think I can blame my birthday and various media for inspiring this blog.

  • A broadcast news item about raising the flag at Iwo Jima (see the Wikipedia piece).
  • Bachman Turner Overdrive’s Taking Care of Business coming out of my PC speakers.

OK, get over it, I’m old school, it’s a Dell desktop, and the music is coming out of external speakers my son was nice enough to install, small but with an impressive bass response. Thanks, son!

I won’t name all the songs I was listening to, but there were 3 BTO, 3 Canned Heat, and 3 Chicago tracks, obviously music I like. One of the Canned Heat tracks was Let’s Work Together (Let’s Stick Together). I believe it’s on Disc 2 of Uncanned: The Best of Canned Heat album if you’re interested. Music and images (Iwo Jima) is a segue . . . possibly.

Today was a pretty darn good birthday. Even work was kind of fun – go figure, eh! I got happy birthdays from my Facebook friends, which I was checking out on my lunch break of course. I liked it and got a little buzzed about having 34 people wish me a happy birthday! I should try to move along in this modest literary exercise, tomorrow is another workday. Perhaps you glanced at my 2015 Preview – here are a few snippets to wet your curiosity.

“Who is Peter Finch?” – The title of this upcoming post should be, “Who is Howard Beale?” because he is the character that Peter Finch played. You should at least google it or read the imdb.com summary of the film. Better yet, buy a copy or rent it on Amazon. The movie was highly acclaimed, winning several academy awards that year. But why was he shouting “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Remember it was a “satire”, but you should look up the definition if you aren’t familiar with that word.

An even better question is, “why aren’t we mad as hell and shouting I’m not going to take it anymore”? For now, I will mention just this one more thing, which is a carryover from my college days at a military school. People used to say things like, “Your head is so far up your _ _ _ that you need a glass belt buckle to see where you’re going.” Now as I recall more clearly, that was often what an upperclassman (usually a sophomore) would say to an underclassman (a freshman) when the cadet couldn’t answer a question about some obscure fact related to the college. Do we as Americans have our heads up our _ _ _ _ _ about what’s going on?

Remember my blog post on December 21, 2014, about mindfulness – try this just for fun. The next time you’re in a serious conversation with someone, really listen to what they’re saying and try to respond, rather than, while they’re talking, thinking about your own ideas and what you want to say. More in my next installment about mindfulness.

I’m about done. Two more items to complete the segue from the two bullets above. The Canned Heat songs (titles and music) speak for themselves, as does the Iwo Jima photograph. Think about it. There are six people raising the flag in the famous photograph, five Marines and a Navy Corpsman. Three of the Marines were killed in action over the next few days. Any flag raisers out there? God I hope so!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_Iwo_Jima

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America – I Like the Old America, What about You?

July 29, 2013

I was working on my thoughts for this post Sunday night (7/28/13), and I realized I needed to sleep so I could get up and go to work tomorrow . . . but stay tuned for the rest of the story in a day or so. It will be worth the wait, trust me!

America, Part 2: August 1, 2013

Something on Facebook, a post from an old acquaintance from my high school days, literally old (about my age), inspired me to write this blog post. I forget exactly what his post said, you know how we blitz through things on our computers – actually, I was on my Kindle. Anyway, I had this strong desire to post a blog about America.

Do you remember the movie “Network” with Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway (released in 1976)? Here’s the tweet-length synopsis:

“A TV network cynically exploits a deranged ex-TV anchor’s ravings and revelations about the media for their own profit.”

The scene that sticks in my mind and the reason why I’m even mentioning it is the scene where Howard Beale (Peter Finch) opens a window in his office building and says “I’m madder than hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Are you madder than hell and not willing to take it anymore?

Stay tuned for the next installment!

America, Part 3: August 3, 2013

I have to pause to answer a question posed by a friend – think of this as an interactive blog. The question is: so what part(s) of Old America do you like better than now?

The short answer is that I like the traditional values and sense of community that I experienced when I was growing up. A neighbor was someone you talked to often and invited over to your house or someone you helped when they needed a hand.

I’m thinking about this a lot. I haven’t written us (America) off and there are many examples of caring communities who demonstrate these values, who volunteer themselves to help when help is needed. I just read an article in the August 2013 Reader’s Digest by Phillip Caputo titled “What Unites These States?” He and his wife traveled across country to find out the answer to that question. You’ll have to read it to find out the answer, but I was encouraged by the article.

Maybe the government, the media, the doomsayers, and the conspiracy theorists have colored my perception of the current state of good ole USA. And maybe we’re not so bad off in terms of our grass roots values as a people, but I’m thinking that our values need to be looked at, thought about, and evaluated. What is truly important to us and where are we going as a nation, as Americans?

More to come.

America, Part 4, For the Record: August 12, 2013

Whew! What a summer, actually, what a year! You ever have one of those periods in your life when it seems like it’s all happening at once without a break? No matter, here’s my entry for today.

In our current political climate, there are many forms of dissent and some very prolific dissent – left, right, peaceful, and radical. Just surf the Web or turn on your TV. I’m not advocating dissent, at least not in an extreme form. What I am suggesting is that people speak their minds about what America means to them. Jeffersonian democracy or Hamiltonian democracy, what is your preference (please excuse the rhetorical question)? Remember, Thomas Jefferson’s belief that the government that governs best governs least and Hamilton’s belief in centralized power. Too much of one leads to anarchy and too much of the other leads to tyranny. Oops, I’m politicizing and I told I myself wouldn’t do that, so I need to get back on track now. For the record, I’m not advocating liberalism, conservatism, or any other “ism”. I’m just trying to take America’s pulse on how its people feel about grass roots values and our future.

Next: A Journalistic Approach

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