Sitting on my front porch in SW effing hillbilly PA...

[Freedomofspeech]

Fireworks going off everywhere. Stupid bastards... it is Memorial Day, not the Fourth of July.
I will never forget the day the military knocked our door to tell us that my 21 year old brother was dead. I was 15 at the time...my life was changed forever. Thank you, Vietnam.
Mr. Bonespurs said his Vietnam war not getting an STD and they still voted for him.
I hope that MF45 and all of his supporters rot in hell.

[dhill926]

1. K & R...

yep...

[MaryMagdaline]

2. So sorry for the loss of your brother

It’s too bad these jerks don’t know what we are remembering this weekend. It’s not a celebration

[Freedomofspeech]

5. They know nothing about history...

This country has escaped so much...but now we are paying the price.

[demosincebirth]

33. They think Brazilians speak Spanish

[Shaddox]

3. Know that some of us have a hand across your shoulder. Don't you buckle!

[Freedomofspeech]

7. Thank you.

[blm]

4. 🕯

[Freedomofspeech]

10. Thank you.

[Mopar151]

6. For all the veterans of all the wars, respect

[NNadir]

48. That's beautiful. Thank you.

[Kitchari]

49. Wow

Chills. Thank you for posting this.

[R02091201]

8. ROTTEN GERM SPREADERS!

[Freedomofspeech]

9. Exactly...you have no idea what it is like...

Living with these camo wearing, flag waving racists.

[badhair77]

11. SE effing hillbilly PA is representing also.

Neighbors are raising hell at their pool party, with no signs of stopping. Fireworks going, and news people on tv Wishing us a “Happy Memorial Day.” Ridiculous.

My cousin died at age 19 in Vietnam white I was a jr in HS. I can’t imagine the pain of that military representative at the door; my aunt pretty much kept things to herself. Realizing that people like trump could so easily avoid that danger is infuriating.

I wish you peace as you remember your loss.

[Freedomofspeech]

12. Thank you...

When this happens to a family your life is forever changed. I have a box of letters that my brother wrote to my Mother and his wallet that was with him when he died.. I cannot look at anything, all these years later.
I did throw away the American flag that was draped on his coffin....useless.

[luvtheGWN]

14. News people are saying "Happy Memorial Day"?

That is SO incredibly thoughtless and insensitive. November 11 is our Remembrance Day in Canada. Not one single person would ever, EVER say Happy Remembrance Day. It is the day (since November 11, 1918) that we observe a minute of silence at 11:00 a.m. to observe the passing of our soldiers in WWI, WWII, the Korean Conflict and any other wars our military served in. Even in grocery/department/big box/hardware stores we all stand in silence. And there are Remembrance services in all towns and cities. it is a day of respect, not celebration.

[Freedomofspeech]

17. Exactly.

Lucky you to live in Canada. Only way to leave this godforsaken country would be to win the lottery! Yeah...tells you what our chances are.

[Karadeniz]

13. Thanks for sharing your important message.

[ebbie15644]

15. Sorry, I live in Westmoreland

I hate the fireworks to

[Freedomofspeech]

16. That is where I am.

Do not recognize this area anymore.

[ebbie15644]

19. I'm in Penn township and they are MAGA all the way

[Freedomofspeech]

38. Scottdale...

Hate it.

[ebbie15644]

39. feel your pain

[spinbaby]

58. I'm over in Washington

Fireworks going off last night, too.

[MLAA]

18. 💕💕💕

[Joinfortmill]

20. Agree

[Codifer]

21. It has been a long while since I first read this.

But You Didn't

By Merrill Glass

Remember the time you lent me your car and I dented it?
I thought you'd kill me...
But you didn't.

Remember the time I forgot to tell you the dance was
formal, and you came in jeans?
I thought you'd hate me...
But you didn't.

Remember the times I'd flirt with
other boys just to make you jealous, and
you were?
I thought you'd drop me...
But you didn't.

There were plenty of things you did to put up with me,
to keep me happy, to love me, and there are
so many things I wanted to tell
you when you returned from
Vietnam...
But you didn't.

[bobbieinok]

27. Thank you for posting this. Had not seen it before

[littlemissmartypants]

29. Thank you, Codifer. Please consider cross posting to the Poetry Group.

https://democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1199

❤lmsp

[3catwoman3]

31. Very powerful.

Very poignant.

[Freedomofspeech]

36. Oh...

I never read this before. Thank you so much for sharing.😥

[demigoddess]

22. don't blame you. My father was in WWII and Korea

and my stepfather in Korea. Didn't die, but as many know, you don't go to war and come back unchanged.

[keithbvadu2]

23. Trump: "Happy Memorial Day" to Japanese troops

“Happy Memorial Day” to Japanese troops?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212134070

Donald recognizes the ultimate sacrifice made by the military in WWll by saying “Happy Memorial Day” to Japanese troops.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017542438

https://www.mediaite.com/trump/awkward-trump-wishes-happy-memorial-day-to-members-of-japanese-military/

[Hermit-The-Prog]

35. That goes far beyond just "awkward". I despise the Grotesque Orange Pustule.

[FakeNoose]

24. I'm here in Pittsburgh surrounded by Democratic voters on all sides

... but yeah, some people treat Memorial Day like it's the 4th of July, and it bothers me too.

Memorial Day should be a solemn, respectful occasion. It's the time to honor the Americans who sacrificed, and the ones who paid the ultimate price. It's true that not all families have lost a loved one in military service, but those who have deserve our solemn respect and our thanks.

I believe the Chump Family cannot possibly understand that, since they've never sacrificed anything for anybody.

[keithbvadu2]

25. The Trumps are not shy about proclaiming how much they have 'sacrificed'.

The Trumps are not shy about proclaiming how much they have 'sacrificed'.

Visit to Arlington Cemetery reminded Donald Trump Jr. of all his family's 'sacrifices,' he writes

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/visit-to-arlington-cemetery-reminded-donald-trump-jr-of-all-his-family-s-sacrifices-he-writes-1.606501

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212910508

"I gave up my life to move to Washington to help Americans," Ivanka Trump says in Davos interview.

[FakeNoose]

28. Give me a break

(It's the perfect time to use the "barfing" emoji)

[Squidly]

52. I hope they all rot

Disgusting human beings..
And that term, human beings, is still too good for these MAGAts

[wnylib]

66. I'm from Erie originally.

Memorial Day was (still is I think) the opening day for the summer season at Presque Isle state park -- beaches, picnics, boating, etc. Very much a party atmosphere. There was a parade in town in the morning, and fireworks at night, but most of the day was party time at the beaches or at home in people's yards. (Lot of Pittsburgh folks drove north for the beaches.)

My family took the day seriously to honor all the deceased, not just veterans. I can remrmber as a child making the rounds of graves with my parents and siblings, planting flowers, trimming shrubs at graves, and generally making them look nice. Some had flags to honor their service. We would pause for a moment of silence and then move on to another grave in that cemetery or another one until all were taken care of. Grandparents and great'grandparents, great aunts and great uncles, cousins of the grandparents, etc. Both of my parents had large extended families so this could take several hours. My father took care of the permanently planted flowers and shrubs because of his gardening skills, but other relatives brought cut flowers and we sometimes ran into them at the graves.

I remember getting impatient and not wanting to go, but being told that it was a responsibility and an honor to pay respects to the deceased.

Attitudes are so different today, except for the part about treating it as a party day.

[FakeNoose]

67. Yes that part will never change

... and I do understand about your father's reverence for Memorial Day.

We who grew up as baby boomers saw things differently (most of us did anyway) so we haven't passed that reverence onto our kids, and now the younger generations don't have it.

[wnylib]

68. My father was a WW II vet. One of

my maternal uncles spent 2 years in a German POW camp. They returned alive but never forgot the ones who didn't.

Opposition to the Vietnam war might have had something to do with our generation's changed views about Memorial Day. We have since learned to value the vets who died, regardless of personal views about the war itself. So some degree of reverence might return as we acknowledge people lost in more recent wars.

[flotsam]

26. Twofer holiday for my brother

He is bitter that he was drafted into the 101st Airborne and sent to fight for a year in the Ah Shau Valley. He is bitter about lost friends he can now only see on panel 11 west of the wall and that he turned 21 in combat. And now he is bitter that at 71 the country again wants to risk his life and the lives of comrades to reopen the economy because it only kills people like him and his wife. He loves his country but he got a real rage on...

[smirkymonkey]

30. I'm so sorry about the loss of your brother.

It must be hard to see these disrespectful idiots treat this solemn holiday like it's a day to get drunk and celebrate. They are so insensitive and clueless. I feel for you.

[3catwoman3]

32. Such a loss does change you forever.

My younger brother died when he was 23 - a scuba diving adventure that ended badly. 1978. He has been go so long that it sometimes feel as if I imagined him. No other siblings. He had no children.

I can understand about you not being able to read his letters. My brother was studying photography whe he died. For a long time, i could look at pictures by him, but not at pictures of him. The latter is still hard to do.

May I offer you a cyber hug from afar?

[Freedomofspeech]

37. Absolutely....

Thank you and I totally understand the imagining part.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

34. Fireworks here, SE MI. Probably celebrating Eid al-Fitr.

End of the last day of Ramadan. Party on, dudes!

Eat a lot, burn rubber from your tires. Mosques are closed.

There was a bit of celebratory gunfire, too. Not as much as some years. Maybe a sign of tough economic times.

[llmart]

44. I'm here also.

When they started up last night in my area I was like "WTF?" These idiots have absolutely NO idea what Memorial Day is about and I'd wager a bet none of them served. They just like blowing things up and hearing the loud noise. How immature is that?

My sister served in Nam. To this day fireworks trigger a "get under your bed" response.

[Boomerproud]

40. I'm so sorry for your loss and pain. My then 19 yr old

brother at Dong Tam in graves registration. He never talks about it. We COMMEMORATE Memorial Day, not celebrate!

[Freedomofspeech]

41. Exactly.

[a la izquierda]

42. Hi neighbor.

👋🏻 I’m in Morgantown. Fireworks galore last night, which completely terrified my dog.
I’m sorry for the loss of your brother all those years ago.

[Freedomofspeech]

43. Thanks...

We are Pitt grads about an hour away from you!!😉 Many of my students went to WVU.

[a la izquierda]

51. I teach at WVU.

I love Pittsburgh. It’s the only thing that makes this place remotely tolerable.

[Freedomofspeech]

55. We love Pittsburgh, too.

Miss going there right now.

[Texin]

45. I hope "MF34" GETS to hell first (and soonest). He can "rot in hell" later.

[Harker]

46. Up here in New Castle...

the fireworks capital, one first wonders if it's gunfire.

I'm not thinking about celebrating - I'm respecting those who traded their lives for an ideal, and hoping war ends forever.

[NNadir]

47. I don't know about rotting in Hell, but they're going to have a higher Covid-19 infection rate.

If there is a hell, they'll get there faster than people who can think.

I offer my condolences for your brother's death. Things like that never go away, I feel.

[Kitchari]

50. The loss of a brother

is never erased. Sincere condolences to you.

[sarge43]

53. Memorial Day is not a day for celabration

It is the one day when we should remember what they lost and who we lost.

May they have the peace denied them in this life.

Hell is too good for them, Freedomofspeech.

[TNNurse]

54. Memorial Day Sales offend me. I cannot imagine who would want their loved one

remembered by someone buying a mattress.

[Paladin]

56. Well said. (nt)

[DownriverDem]

57. Michigan - Last night too

It went on for quite awhile. I suspect that will happen again for the next few nights. They had to change the law here because of all the crazies shooting off fireworks in neighborhoods for days. It is more limited now. So sorry you have to go through this too.

[niyad]

59. In my neighborhood, we have signs asking people not to use fireworks, out of consideration

for those with PTSD (fireworks also happen to be illegal here)

I spent a year living in dread of that telegram or visit, and spent many years after that working with the living victims of that insane conflict, and others. I despise these clowns who have not the slightest clue about what sacrifice is, what valor is, what this country is actually supposed to stand for. They wrap themselves in the flag, figuratively as well as literally (against flag etiquette), and proclaim themselves patriots. Quite frankly, looking at the damage they are doing, They can all drop dead.

[IronLionZion]

61. Plus Memorial Day is for soldiers who died. Lots of folks confuse it with Veterans Day

or Armed Forces Day.

The sad thing is that many soldiers died for no good reason in Republican wars recently. And many veterans are dying from inadequate healthcare when they catch COVID at a Veterans nursing home due to MAGA. Sailor and soldiers are catching COVID while in the service. Some have died.

So at some point veteran and military voters must turn against MF45. Enough is enough.

[RainCaster]

62. I'm sitting between 2 reservations and it is dead silent here

Usually, they are trying to sell us fireworks for every occasion possible. Not this year. They are as silent as the rest of us.

We are in agreement.

[SCantiGOP]

63. This May 28

Will be 50 years since my best friend from kindergarten on was killed in Vietnam.
I came home from my freshman year of college to my Mother bawling her eyes out as she opened the door.
I had already become radicalized at college through the anti-war movement, and that day solidified my intent to oppose my government anytime I knew they were wrong.

[Evolve Dammit]

64. We can never forget those who died and we cannot allow a bonespur chicken hawk to take us down.

[Jrsygrl96]

65. I am so sorry

for the loss of your brother. I understand your anger at MF45 and his dodging the draft. He is a coward and a bully.

I went to IUP (many moons ago) and it was a huge culture shock! But I have to say I loved the down to earth people and made many good friends. However, recently, on FB, I unfriended and blocked an old friend from out there because of her crazy, right-wing posts. She thinks 45 was sent by God. I just couldn't take the lies and the disgusting memes anymore. Friends for 40 years. Poof! Gone because of the ass in the White House.