WHO REALLY "SUPPORTS OUR TROOPS?" anyone? no one? this letter from a soldier proves that war sucks

[Jeffersons Ghost]

EXCERPT FROM A LETTER TO MEMBERS OF THE VIETNAM VETERANS AGAINST WAR

My message as an active duty member of the military about to deploy
again is that of tenacity and perseverance. This may oversimplify the
statement; but please keep doing what you are doing! Organizations like
VVAW are desperately needed now more than ever. It seems as though this
country has made the system of checks and balances an agonizingly
painful and convoluted process. Working for citizens has apparently
taken a back seat to special interests. This is where groups like VVAW
have stepped in to pick up the slack and have consistently been the
honest broker for service members.

I respect the tenacity of my predecessors who after 40 years are
still fighting for veterans. Each generations of veterans has taken up
the torch and filled the ranks of VVAW over the years to not let this
important message die. I respect the tenacity of those in VVAW who
never served a day in uniform, yet are compelled to "serve" this country
in a different capacity.

In this day and age the rift between the military and civilians
worlds has been more pronounced as conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
plaster the headlines. When VVAW was started, everyone had a brother,
cousin, uncle, or friend in uniform. Now, that number has dwindled so
that some one may know a "friend of a friend". Service members are
someone that Americans may see on the evening news, in an airport, or
the latest issue of Newsweek. As the American population becomes more
detached from the military, the more important it is to keep service
member's interest in sight. Service members coming back from
deployments are still facing the same mental health, VA Hospital, and
family problems they always have. I leave it to those in groups like
VVAW to keep fighting on behalf of those veterans that can't speak up
for themselves. Keep pressing this issue, and keep it in front of the
American people so they they are constantly reminded that they need to
take care of veterans long after the conflict is over.

Will you join us?
http://www.vvaw.org/

[Monkeyman]

1. We are older but still around

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. You got that right "Pilgrim"...

THE PILGRIM

WRITER KRIS KRISTOFFERSON


See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans
Wearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smile
Once he had a future full of money love and dreams
Which he spent like they was going out of style
And he keeps right on a changin' for the better or the worse
And searchin' for a shrine he's never found
Never knowin' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse
Or if the going up is worth to coming down
He's a poet he's a picker he's a prophet he's a pusher
He's a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he's stoned
He's a walking contradiction partly truth and partly fiction
Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home
He has tasted good and evil in your bedrooms and your bars
And he's traded in tomorrow for today
Runnin' from the devils Lord and reachin' for the stars
And losin' all he loved along the way
But if this world keeps right on turning for the better or the worse
All he ever gets is older and around
From the rocking of the cradle to the rolling of the hearse
The going up was worth the coming down
He's a poet he's a picker...
There's lotta wrong directions on that lonely way back home

Does this sound like anyone you good folks see every day as you hurry past?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

6. I hope you get to see what your reply inspired in a similar OP, i just posted in General DU, MM....

I DON'T WANT DUPLICATION ON THIS LETTER ON GREATEST PAGE SO PLEASE, GO VOTE FOR THIS VERY SIMILAR VERSION OF THE PRECEDING OP LETTER HERE:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2785532

[Mnemosyne]

2. "constantly reminded" - K and R, to keep it out there. n/t

[thingfisher]

4. Who supports our troops?

When we speak of "supporting the troops" these days I think most of us mean to convey the idea that we are sympathetic toward the men and women who are in harms way, not that we support the governmental policies that put them there in the first place. No one wants a repeat of the Vietnam era which inflicted a lot of pain on returning troops who were viewed with contempt by many for their complicity in the war.

That said, we must also realize that military members exist mainly for the purpose of killing those who our government deems "the enemy". For amny decades the government has undertaken many military actions in places where there was no real threat to us. It has become a part of foreign policy, especially under the Bush administrations.

Americans need to regain control over the government and the military to prevent the use of the troops we so much support from being used as thugs and enforcers for the corporate interests that have such great sway over our leaders. make the DEFENSE departmet live up to its name.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

5. hey please go to GENERAL DU and kick up and vote for this version of the same OP...

WITH THE PILGRIM BY KRISTOFFERSON LYRICS IN THE OP:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2785532