An article at a local news site spurred me to respond. I had to tone it down a bit. This is a rural, bible belt area and sometimes a more subtle approach is best. My comments are below the re-posted article. Thanks to the Cannon Wire for allowing other views.
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Ken Wilson, AKA Purple Haze, as part of the Patriot Guard
Cannon Countian to help escort 'The Moving Wall'
Some things need to be repeated. Then, of course, some things just don’t.
You have heard that “The Moving Wall,” the mobile version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will be on display at Westwood Elementary School, 912 Oakdale Street in Manchester, just a short drive away.
You also probably know that it will be on display October 29 thru November 1 and will be open 24 hours a day. You also may know that there is an opening ceremony scheduled for 7 pm Thursday night October 29.
Another thing you may be aware of is that The Patriot Guard Riders along with Rolling Thunder and The American Legion Riders will be providing a Motorcycle escort of The Moving Wall from The Ambassador Inn on Interstate drive in Manchester to the display site at Westwood Elementary School.
However, what you may not know is that Cannon County’s own Ken Wilson rides with the Patriot Guard Riders and will be part of the escort.
Are you old enough to remember Vietnam?
Vietnam soldiers were the forgotten veterans of an unpopular war. It was an unsettling time where every belief system seemed to get turned upside down and inside out.
Most of the nation, worked up to a media feeding frenzy, didn’t want the war, didn’t like the war, and disrespected those who were in it, forgetting that those who went were drafted and didn’t have much of a choice.
In Cannon County, citizens for the most part are insulated from what occurs in larger cities. Cannon County was lucky because most didn’t see active war protesters except on TV.
Across the nation, Americans were even going so far as to participate in flag burning ceremonies, bra burnings, and of course, we can’t forget Woodstock, where the sex, drugs, and rock and roll were free and easy.
Vietnam was the first nationally telecast war, brought to you in Technicolor, in the comfort of your living room, by your local sponsor.
In Cannon County, the most you may have seen locally were kids who wore POW/MIA bracelets, peace signs, and you may have noticed a patch of the American Flag that had been sewn on a kid’s posterior.
That is, if you lived during that era.
Most didn’t understand that those people who were in Vietnam and millions like them gave Americans the right to express freely their opinions. The American soldiers gave Americans the right to desecrate a patriotic emblem that in many countries would have been a hanging offense.
During that black time in American History, boys, barely old enough to grow hair on their chin, saw things that people only in war see, did things that people do only in war, and at the end of their tour, if they were lucky, they came home.
There were no welcome home bands playing, no patriotic flag waving, no kisses and no hugs.
Instead, they were spit on, physically hit, and mentally slapped by curses when they stepped off the plane and onto American soil.
By the way, don’t think it didn’t happen to those who were from Cannon County, because it did.
Never heard anyone from Cannon County who did any spitting on our soldiers, though.
Overall, our country didn’t mourn and honor the lost, instead, they protested the coffins bearing those that came home, causing even more grief to the families that had the ultimate grief to bear.
There were even protesters at their funerals, appalling to everyone except the protesters.
Years later, the worm turned.
In 1979, a group of Vietnam veterans started the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, choosing to take that black time in patriotism and turn it to good, in order to honor those who served and educate others.
The group lobbied Congress for a two acre plot of land in the Constitution Gardens in Washington, D.C. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation to see it though. It was a three and half year task to build the memorial and to orchestrate a celebration to finally salute those who served in Vietnam. It’s not a war Memorial but a Memorial to those who served in the war, both living and dead.
"The Moving Wall" is the half-size replica of the Washington, DC. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has been touring the country since 1984 and there are actually two that travel from April through November.
If you have never been to Washington, felt the power by placing your hand on the cold marble and in awe felt all the names engraved, you now have your chance at the next best thing.
Another organization sprang up with another mission, but just as noble is the Patriot Guard Riders.
Yes, the Patriot Guard Riders ride motorcycles and they have an unwavering respect for those who risk their very lives for America’s freedom and security.
Ken Wilson has ridden many miles to different locations to participate in this worthwhile endeavor.
The Guard's mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Their mission is also to show sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities and to shield the mourning family and their friends from interruptions created by any protester or group of protesters, so that what happened in the past will never happen again.
Of course, they accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.
We must never forget to show respect to those who have served, those who are currently in service, and those who have died to keep our great America free.
Veterans Day is November 11 and Cannon County is remembering our veterans with a parade and more.
Lessons were learned when the worm turned.
http://thewall-usa.com/
http://www.patriotguard.org/source: Cannon Wire
I have stood at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. I have laid my hands on the names of a best friend, former neighbors and those that I did not know. I felt a tingle in my spine and tears upon my cheeks. I also remembered those that I knew whose names are not on the wall but who died prematurely from their time in Vietnam, not from physical wounds but from the demons they brought back with them.
My respect for those who served and died has been unwavering for over 40 years. My disrespect and contempt for those who sent them has also never wavered.
If you don't want to hear a counterpoint to some of the notions in this article, read no further. My intent is not against any present or former service member but to challenge the propaganda and lies that the wars of our time have been for America’s freedom and security. You may say that questioning the actions of our government is un-American. I call it patriotic.
A hard thing for folks to accept is that our government has been hijacked by forces in the military/industrial complex, the CIA, the lobbyists, the profiteers of war. Eisenhower in his last speech even warned us of what was coming. {http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY}
It could be argued that the assassination of JFK was a coup d'etat from which we have never recovered.
An even harder thing to accept is that our government would send our sons and daughters to kill and be killed for one thing...the profits of a few. We tend to think that politicians and U.S. contractors are just like us. Perhaps that is the biggest deception of all. Remember the quote from one of the architects of the Vietnam war and still an 'adviser' to the current administration, Henry Kissinger?
(Soldiers are) dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy. {http://www.buzzle.com/articles/biography-of-henry-kissinger.html}
The escalation of the Vietnam War was based on the Gulf of Tonkin incident which in hindsight was a big lie. {http://www.the7thfire.com/Politics%20and%20History/Gulf-of-Tonkin.htm} The same type of lies were used in the government/media creations of the invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq where the plans were already in place before 9/11. {http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/11/bush_began_iraq_plan_pre_911_oneill_says/} The war planning think tank The Project for a New American Century conceived the concept of 'permanent war' in 2000 with their "Rebuilding America's Defense". All that was lacking was a 'new Pearl Harbor' which so conveniently happened just one year later. {http://www.sourcewatch.orgindex.php?title=Project_for_the_New_American_Century}
The author above is certainly correct about the despicable treatment of returning Vietnam vets. I am thinking that the worst of these actions happened as the vets returned to the West Coast where the anti-war movement was most prevalent. Although there were millions of sincere protesters, it is known now that many of the major groups were infiltrated by the FBI and other government lackeys. These agent provocateurs encouraged the spitting and name calling and some followers blindly obliged. It was another 'divide and conquer' technique to paint all activists as disrespectful to the involuntary draftees who were forced to do what they did. Of all of the hundreds of Vietnam vets I have known, I also never heard of this happening in the middle Tennessee area.
By some estimates we are now nearing $1 trillion spent on war since 2001 and those figures may be low. {http://costofwar.com/} This does not include the cost to America for our 'best friend' in the middle east, Israel, who is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. aid since World War II. {http://wrmea.org/component/content/article/245-2008-november/3845-congress-watch-a-conservative-estimate-of-total-direct-us-aid-to-israel-almost-114-billion.html}
Cui bono - Who benefits? Who profits and who pays? As in all crime scenes...follow the money.
Our taxpayer military expenditures are now 54% of total federal outlays. {http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm}
Besides that, in an economic crisis, the U.S. is expanding its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier. {http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/world/07weapons.html}
War is our biggest industry. Just about the only one we have left. History has shown that we tend to arm all sides in a conflict. The CIA created and funded al quada to fight the Russians in Afghanistan, then they became our enemy. Saddam was our ally once, we supplied all the WMD's he could pay us for in the Iraq/Iran war and then he became our enemy too. Without enemies of our own creation, the profits of the war machine would dwindle. Iran is the new one with Pakistan and their nukes right alongside.We've caused the deaths of over 1 million Iraqis, displaced millions more and destroyed their country while losing over 4,000 American lives as a result of our occupation. What for...to save them? Please name one thing that the Bush administration told us in 2003 that was a true reason for our invasion
8 more U.S. soldiers died today in Afghanistan on top of the 14 this past weekend. Did they die for our 'freedoms' or did they die for the money machine we call the defense industry enabled by a Congress with conflicts of interest? The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has calculated that more than 151 members of Congress have up to $195 million invested in major defense contractors that are earning profits from the US military occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. {http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/14-congress-invested-in-defense-contracts/}
Once more...Does the government and media ever lie to us? Most of you will say yes to that question. My other question is how do we discern between the truths and the lies that we are fed daily? Could it be that the profiteers of war are liars who will bring our great country down economically and morally using our children as pawns in this killing game.
I salute our soldiers. I bow in respect to the Vietnam wall and the lost lives it represents. But I will never bow to the orchestrators of false wars.
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?
Gandhi
All warfare is based on deception.
Sun Tzu
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Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial - My Small Tribute to Eric Duffer
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