In hailing the end of World War I President Wilson declared “Armistice Day.” In 1938 the U.S. Congress designated it as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.” It was subsequently renamed “Veterans Day” in 1954.
Credit: Steve Breen, San Diego Union Tribune
hebergeur d’images
And perhaps in another 20 years, it will be renamed yet again – maybe to “the soldiers who have given their life, but at what cost” day. SImilar to Veteran’s Day, but closer to the truth. This simple “Thank You” caption and the soldier’s left hook clearly describe the democratic conventions of the war. The white hand, shaking ‘thank you’ with great strength, is clean, sturdy and strong. There are no visual cues that represent hardship in this white man’s life. However, with the war-torn soldier, even though properly attired and with great stature, the hardships lie within him. He has fought for his country and battled across nations,yet here he is getting a mere “thank you” from the man who sent him off. A thank you for what, even ? For losing limbs at war so this white man can sleep at night? For gunning down strangers in foreign countries so that strangers in his own homeland may remain “free”? For the mere courage and bravery of becoming a soldier? We all know too well a simple “Thank You” will never be enough to show our gratitude for these soldiers fighting for our country; however, it is so easily said and far less shown.
I think one of the most important facets of this illustration is the fact that the solider doesn’t have a face. The head was left out for a reason, and just solidifies the notion that the soldiers that are fighting for us are generic-their body matters but their individuality doesn’t. As Erica said, the white gloved hand does illustrate strength and seems sturdy and grounded, and the other hand, or hook rather, that shows the implications of the war and the weakness that is inflicted on the soldiers who are so strong to fight for us in the first place. It’s crazy the power of a simple cartoon.
Well Erica you are an idiot. That man isn’t a “soldier” he is a United States Marine. He answered a calling to protect and serve the nation that has given him everything he knows. He knows that freedom isn’t free. He shakes your hand and looks you in the eye. He says what he means and means what he says. He is a Hero. It’s important for you to undertsand that soldeir refers to Army not all members of the Military.
It is embarrasing as an American that you would even make a joke about changing the name of Veterans Day to “The soldiers who have given their life,but at what cost.” If that is really how you feel you should ask any one of 3/5 families who have 64 casualties ( which in military terms means killed or wounded). These men and women continue to enlist and re-enlist because of their commitment to American posterity.
It is so typical for you to mention race and it shows just how ignorant you are. How do you know that “white man” isn’t the Marines father? How do you know he isn’t a veteran himself ? How do you know that man isn’t married to a service member or child of one? You don’t but you love to assume. You should also note that the majority of the men in uniform are WHITE – astonishing. the percentage of white active-duty recruits with no prior military service was 65.3 percent in 2006 and 65.5 percent in 2007. Based on calculations from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), almost 62 percent of the U.S. male population ages 18 to 24 classified themselves as white in 2006.[8] The troop-to-population ratio in these years was 1.05, indicating that the representation of whites in the military is similar to, although slightly above, their representation in the overall population.So you can hate all you want but that man in the Dress Blues is probably white himself. And that uniform he wears signifies his code of honor, courage and commitment. Every detail of the dress blues uniform reflects the proud legacy of Marines who have served for more than two centuries:
The buttons featuring the eagle and anchor have been on the uniform since 1804, making them the oldest military insignia in continued use.
The “blood stripe” runs down each trouser leg of the dress blues worn by noncommissioned officers, staff noncommissioned officers and officers. The solid red stripe became part of the uniform in 1849. Today, it serves to honor the memory of fallen comrades.
The collar of today’s dress blues reflects the original Marine uniform of the American Revolution, which had a high leather neck to help protect Marines from sword blows.
Because it embodies Marine Corps history, rigorous standards apply to wearing this uniform and every Marine upholds those standards with pride.
He knows the sacrifice it takes to keep his family safe and preventing terorism because he has held the hand on dying men. He has been a pall bearer to countless funerals and he knows everyday his kids wake up with out a terrorism attack is exactly why he will Kill anyone who threatens that. He doesn’t believe in peace talks anymore, he believes in fighting fire with fire. At WHAT COST ? Do you know the mission of the military it is to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi’s and Afghani’s. That is why we are building schools, giving fod and water and not aloud to take fire when a civilian is at risk even if it will cost American lives. Maybe you don’t remember Sept 11? Or
The Dujail Massacre of 1982:
In July of 1982, several Shiite militants attempted to assassinate Saddam Hussein while he was riding through the city. Hussein responded by ordering the slaughter of some 148 residents, including dozens of children. This is the only war crime on which Hussein has been charged, and he will almost certainly be executed before any other charges go to trial.
The Barzani Clan Abductions of 1983:
Masoud Barzani led the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), an ethnic Kurdish revolutionary group fighting Baathist oppression. After Barzani cast his lot with the Iranians in the Iran-Iraq War, Hussein had some 8,000 members of Barzani’s clan, including hundreds of women and children, abducted. It is assumed that most were slaughtered; thousands have been discovered in mass graves in southern Iraq.
The al-Anfal Campaign:
The worst human rights abuses of Hussein’s tenure took place during the genocidal al-Anfal Campaign (1986-1989), in which Hussein’s administration called for the extermination of every living thing–human or animal–in certain regions of the Kurdish north. All told, some 182,000 people–men, women, and children–were slaughtered, many through use of chemical weapons. The Halabja poison gas massacre of 1988 alone killed over 5,000 people. Hussein later blamed the attacks on the Iranians, and the Reagan administration, which supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, helped promote this cover story.
The Campaign Against the Marsh Arabs:
Hussein did not limit his genocide to identifiably Kurdish groups; he also targeted the predominantly Shiite Marsh Arabs of southeastern Iraq, the direct descendants of the ancient Mesopotamians. By destroying more than 95% of the region’s marshes, he effectively depleted its food supply and destroyed the entire millennia-old culture, reducing the number of Marsh Arabs from 250,000 to approximately 30,000. It is unknown how much of this population drop can be attributed to direct starvation and how much to migration, but the human cost was unquestionably high.
or The Post-Uprising Massacres of 1991:In the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, the United States encouraged Kurds and Shiites to rebel against Hussein’s regime–then withdrew and refused to support them, leaving an unknown number to be slaughtered. At one point, Hussein’s regime killed as many as 2,000 suspected Kurdish rebels every day. Some two million Kurds hazarded the dangerous trek through the mountains to Iran and Turkey, hundreds of thousands dying in the process.
Probably not. But when your liberal ideologies infest more minds , it will be a sad day when more people die on American Soil because of tolerance and complacency. I hope your children are not kidnapped and murdered, your throat isn’t slit,beheaded then televised. I hope your dead body isn’t drug through the streets and I really hope you have a fighting force that is as honest and humane as we are that are willing to sacrifice their lives so that you might be saved.