Memorial Day: "Please Don't Thank Me For My Service"

Camillo Mac Bica:

[P]lease do not thank me for "my service" as a United States Marine. I make this request because my service, as you refer to it, was basically, either to train to become a killer or to actually kill people and blow shit up.

Now, that is not something for which a person should be proud nor thanked. In fact, it is regrettable, and for me a source of guilt and shame, something I will have to live with for the rest of my life, as the past cannot ever be undone. So, when you thank me for my service, it disturbs me ... a lot. ...

Where is the honor, glory and nobility in killing and dying for greed, incompetence, and paranoia? ...

[I]f you really insist on thanking me for something, do not thank me for the eight years I spent as a Marine, but for the 45 or so years following my discharge from the military that I have spent as an activist fighting for human rights and social justice and to end the insanity of war. ... [I]f you truly want to demonstrate your good character, patriotism, and support for the troops and veterans, rather than merely mouth meaningless expressions of gratitude for something you don't truly understand or care much about, do something meaningful and real. Do what is truly in the interest of this nation and of those victimized by war.

Make some demands.

Demand, for example, an immediate end to the corporate takeover of our "democracy" and to the undue influence of the military-industrial-Congressional complex. Demand sanity in Pentagon spending and a reallocation of finite resources to people-focused programs such as health care, education and jobs rather than to killing and destruction. Demand an immediate end to wars for corporate profit, greed, power and hegemony. Demand that we adhere to the Constitution and to international law. Demand accountability for those who make war easily and care more for wealth, profit and power than for national interest or for the welfare of their fellow human beings. And finally, demand the troops be brought home now, and that they be adequately treated and cared for when they return.

tazman69er:

There are numerous points I would like to make in this proclamation, yet, if you only take away one thing, please, don't ever thank me for my "service." For when you thank me for my service, you are thanking me for being a dupe, an unconscious human being, engaged in the enterprise of state sanctioned murder to an "other, over there." ...

When you thank me for my service, you are unconsciously re-affirming your belief that somehow we are fighting "them, over there" so we "don't have to fight them here." You are telling me, "thank you for putting on a state sanctioned uniform costume and murdering 'them' for me, while I look away from the awfulness of state sanctioned murder." ...

My service was nothing other than committing state sanctioned murder on behalf of a bunch of old (mostly white) guys and gals with their own agendas, without regard for humanity. I don't want to be thanked for that. ...

Every time someone thanks me for my "service," it only brings back all of the emotion, guilt and shame for having been duped into the enterprise of war in the first place.

Michael Krieger:

[W]henever I find myself in the midst of a large public gathering (which fortunately isn't that often), and the token veteran or two is called out in front of the masses to "honor" I immediately begin to cringe as a result of a massive internal conflict. On the one hand, I recognize that the veteran(s) being honored is most likely a decent human being. Either poor or extraordinarily brainwashed, the man or woman paraded in front of the crowd is nothing more than a pawn. ...

On the other hand, the entire spectacle makes me sick. I refuse to participate in the superficial charade for many reasons, but the primary one is that I don't want to play any part in the crowd's insatiable imbecility. It's the stupidity and ignorance of the masses that the corporate-state preys upon, and that's precisely what's on full display at these tired and phony imperialist celebrations.

Phil Rockstroh:

Rather than continue to memorialize it, let's bury a reeking heap of noxious and obnoxious mythos: US soldiers did not and do not kill and die defending freedom. The soldiers of militarist empires are not sent to war for any noble purpose. They are trained killers and their mission is conquest in the name of power and for the purpose of plunder. And that is the reason that it is imperative for the beneficiaries of said power and plunder to make sacred the obscenities that the soldiers of empire perpetrate.

This is the task of the hagiographers of war: To make noble and heroic mass murder; to banish any lingering trace of the stench of death. All voices of doubt must be shamed and silenced -- for the lie is fragile.

If the mortifying truth was known then fielding new recruits would prove a daunting task. The empire would be hobbled. Empire's patrician class would have to seek honest work. Sounds like a plan to me.

Memorial day is a marketing roll out. If you desire to make meaningful the deaths of those lost to wars then cease believing the lies of those who grow wealthy from the hideous business of waging it.