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Worth 1,000 Words After Memorial Day
On Memorial Day this year, many veterans marched in local parades and remembered what it was like to be in the military.
A number of Veterans For Peace members saw this picture in the May 24 edition of the Juneau Empire and made the comments that follow it.
Alaska Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Michael Manson helps kids climb on a HumVee and handle a M249 Saw gun mounted to the roof during the Southeast Alaska Outdoor Safety Expo sponsored by Juneau Rotary in the Centennial Hall on Saturday. Juneau Empire May 24, 2009
__________
Dear Editor:
On Sunday morning (May 24, the day before Memorial Day), the Empire did a great service to our community by publishing a photograph of a National Guardsman, a Humvee, an M249 machine gun, and a group of children, converging at the so-called "Outdoor Safety Expo" sponsored by the Juneau Rotary on Saturday, May 23.
A cynical attempt to manipulate and militarize children is the only conceivable purpose for the National Guard to show up to display fancy killing machines, and to encourage little kids to play with them. The M249 is a "light" machine gun; its only purpose is to maim and kill human beings. What in God's name did that display have to do with outdoor safety?
Shame on the National Guard, and shame on the Juneau Rotary for sponsoring this dishonorable atrocity.
Phil Smith, President
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 100
Juneau, Alaska
__________
Sadly though, it probably doesn't occur to Staff Sergeant Manson that he might well be grooming potential poster kids for the back door draft and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, if they're lucky enough to come home
Gene Marx
Naval Flight Officer 1969-76, Gulf of Tonkin 1971-72
__________
The disconnect of that National Guard guy from the fundamentals of simple humanity is apparent. That a grown man would expose what appear to be four and five-year-olds to the workings of a lethal weapon and think it fun and cute is sad. It speaks to the pervasive militarism that produced that young man and his distorted notions of what is and is not appropriate play for very young children.
Woody Powell
USAF Korea 1952-53, K9 Corps.
__________
What an amazing photograph. Those kids are now marked by some infantile fantasy that shooting this gun would be fun and that if they join the Army they will get to do that. They have no concept of death, or that this gun deals death, or that they and their victims will pay a terrible price for their desires.
Paul Cox
USMC Infantry 1968-1972, Vietnam 1969-70
_________
I'd like to see Sergeant Michael Manson sitting behind the machine gun instead of helping children sit there... and then I'd like to shoot a few hundred rounds from another machine gun at his bullet screen, while the kids watch safely from someplace nearby.
Maybe then he would think twice before glorifying the act of sitting behind a machine gun to kids, without teaching the true ramifications of being an army gunner. The children wouldn't EVER want to be there again. Shame on the National Guard for allowing this activity with our children.
And this was at a "Safety Expo"?
Ward Reilly
U.S. Army Infantry and ex-gunner 1971-74
__________
I have worked in schools for the last 27 years, and have witnessed an ever-increasing military presence, and acceptance of it by public school officials.
The thorns that I have reap'd
Are of the tree I planted,
They have torn me, and I bleed.
I should have known what fruit
would spring from such a seed.
--Lord Byron
Budda said something to the effect: The world is made up of our thoughts. What thoughts will the children leave with after seeing, touching, and being told about this article of death - except not being told of its true purpose?
Jerry Steele
Army, Vietnam 1971-72. 101st Airborne, and 1st Cav. Division.
__________
These young children look at most to be 4 year olds, the NG's are doing what their bosses told them just like in Abu Ghraib, Bagram and Guantanamo.
George McAnanama
US Army (MPC) 1966-68 Korea
__________
"Training for U.S. military imperialists of the 21st century starts early."
John C. Reiger
U.S. Army Security Agency (ASA) 1959-62
__________
Kids this age still play with their friends, sometimes with toy guns, but seeing children look in awe at the real thing...makes something designed only to kill appear common, almost friendly, like a favorite toy.
Joe Attamante
USMC 1966-68 (drafted)
__________
So many opportunities for "personal growth." Like a job in a depression -- now, that's a great opportunity. Can't get work, hey, join the imperial centurians and go hunt down and kill kids out there on the fringes of empire in some place like Afghanistan where kids just like you can't find a job either and have the opportunity for "personal growth" offered to them by some mullah & madrassa that does the work of our Army Experience Center or your local festival featuring cool Humvees and SAWs. Seems the world is full of opportunities for personal growth these days. Kurt Vonnegut summed it up best: And so it goes.
John Grant
Army Security Agency 1965-69, Vietnam 1966-67
__________
That a national guardsman would attempt to "seduce" children this young is symptomatic of a society in deterioration.
Robert Poteat
USN, 1950-53
__________
Some actions, which can occur even during times of peace, could easily be considered war crimes. Perpetuating the culture of war is one of them. War is a sickness of our society that will not be cured until we stop glorifying it, until we stop sanitizing it, until we stop pretending it's a game, and until we stop indoctrinating impressionable young people.
Kim Carlyle, President
Veterans For Peace Chapter 099
Western North Carolina
U.S. Army. 1966-69. Served in Alabama and Germany
###
Ferner is the author of "Inside the Red Zone," a book about his trips to Iraq, and President of Veterans For Peace.
25 Comments so far
Show AllThis picture is pornography, ... a smiling, ingratiating predator caught in the act of molesting little children.
The Veterans got it right.
/cm
"suffer the little children"
The overt fascination/infatuation with the military has always been disturbing in many forms.
That photograph makes me sick...and they blame Marilyn Manson for Columbine.
Exactly! Awesome point.
These veterans, these MEN, who made the comments about the picture are patriots and more, they are like I said: they are MEN.
Unlike whatever you want to call the things that are leading this country, whether they have dicks or breasts....those evil, awful 'things'....
Early training for 21st century crusaders against Islam.
So kiddies, you're either with us or against us.
odoco
Ah, come on folks - get off your bandwagon! These kids might need college money some day; maybe the military will be their only chance to See The World; or maybe the Army recruiter who tells them his "Army Story" does a better job of exemplifying fiction than do their literature teachers (see military recruitment handbook); or maybe they need a "best buddy" to show up at their basketball games (see military recruitment handbood); or call them at home when their parents are away; or get their personal information from the ASVAB test they so conveniently camouflage as a free service to the school (see military recruitment handbook); or maybe the kids need someone to talk to, you know, these All American recruiters who are actually trained in the 'youth jargon' so they will be more effective in enticing lower socio-economic young men and women away from their inner-city and rural habitat, hanging out at known rendezvous where kids routinely meet up with one another while driving their custom painted humvees with their recruiting propaganda pasted all over it - while sitting in high school parking lots from one end of this country to the other!
Now, for a serious moment. Recruiters should be banned from even talking to anyone under the age of 24 or 25 - then it should be voluntary. I would consider what the National Guardsman in this picture is doing as child endangerment. We normally wouldn't let a stranger teach our kids how to play with C-4, or dynamite, or a weapon of any kind - yet many think nothing of the US government's attempts to infatuate our youth to the mindless killing machines that this country uses with impunity throughout the world.
It angers me. It makes me sick to my stomach. And - it feeds a growing doubt in my gut about what this government, this military's actual purpose is.
Teach your children peace. Teach them to love all mankind - not just Americans. Teach them to see possibilities for justice rather than opportunities for mindless vengeance. Teach them a better way.
good post.
I would also like to point out the immigrunts - foreigners enticed with a hollow promise of citizenship.
and what happened to standards?
back in the 60's the army considered pot smokers too immoral to induct.
now they've set up recruiting stands outside prison gates.
it wouldn't surprise me if enlisting could knock a few years off a murderer's sentence.
maybe they won't need to go that far - the way they're messing the economy, the Services will soon be the only jobs going.
a friend of mine's youngest son tried to enlist in the USNavy - there's a two year waiting list.
that's a long time to be treading water.
One thing is obvious. The man in uniform, did not have the benefit of council with those who have served an ungrateful nation, in an illegal war of aggression. If that be the case, then he needs those who have to council him.
If he is conscience of what he is doing----he needs to have his head placed in his lap----on a towel of course so as not to "soil his uniform".
But then, consider the source; Juno, Alaska----another illegal state, in an illegal nation.
Criminals usually produce criminals, whether by selective "reproduction"---or indoctrination.
Good Luck America, you really need it.
Hate will eat you up. You are not a victim of things long gone. I hope you find peace someday.
well said Thom.
NativeSon needs to join the world and forget the shits what fucked his people around.
he dreams about riding horses through cities.
horses brought by the same whitemen.
(it is one of history's lovely ironies that the Redmen became perhaps the world's finest battlefield equestrians.)
but I'm certain if Son looks around he'll find other blessings that the palefaces brought.
does he drive a truck?
on the other hand, too few are appreciative of the domestic foodstuffs these "primitives" have added to the world's menu.
I usually do not take the time to answer those with the pseudo 'medical' condition known as CRIS*---but I always make an exception when arrogant fools use words to make a foolish point. Your level of "factual information" seems to be on a par with many who respond as you have---'microscopic'.
I would suggest that you first acquaint yourself with your Constitution--it clearly spells out that "all treaties are supreme law". This being the case, when the Fed Government entered into treaties with the Native Tribes of North America, those treaties after ratification were in all intent and purposes, entered into by both parties with the clear intent upon ending a war. Treaties and contracts share much of the same content, and intent, and in the business world when a contract is broken by one party, the other party has standing for suit, and the contract is rendered null and void.
When the US Gov. began breaking the treaties in 1883 with the first piece of illegal legislation known as the "Seven Major Crimes Act" the treaties were rendered null and void; and the tribes who were parties those treaties; were rendered to the legal status of" at war wit the USA".
I would recommend that you read. 'The Nations Within' by vine Deloria Jr.
"Disinherited " by dale Van Every, and use those two excellent sources to study the "factual history" (as opposed to what you learned on 'Gun-smoke' and other asinine forms of entertainment the US has passed of as history.
Then stretch your imagination (I know this is difficult for you by try) and assume that you are from another planet and you are learning about American history, and you compare it to the present activities (which will be history next week for example) and you will learn that the USA is illegally in possession of more that 60% of its geographic territory, and trillions of dollars in wealth taken from those states which were part of that territory; that was surrendered by the tribes, in exchange for sovereign nations status----that does not exist. Therefore, putting it on a simple level (you'll appreciate that) if Barney Madoff, goes to jail for stealing billions----why is the USA not being held accountable for stealing trillions? Now this is a personal question, and you do not have to answer it; but, are you really so stupid as to think that the USA will 'get away' with the crimes against those tribes---and now as is being revealed many other crimes against many other nations?
The USA will be held accountable for ALL of its crimes against humanity. When this occurs (an it will)people like you will be the first to feel the effects of being a "proud American, aka---a lawless, blood thirsty, "liar nation", that does not keep its word, and has proven to the world that it cannot be trusted, and should be partitioned, and forced to make reparation payments for many generations---to all of those they have stolen from, and the heirs to those they have killed by the thousands. This I am sure will occur, because the world cannot possibly tolerate the USA much longer; and history reveals that those who came before American----are no longer in existence; or mere shadows of what they were----it is simply a matter of time.
just one good example: After the Bush admin lied and manipulated the circumstances and reasons for going to war in Iraq; it was ostensibly because Iraq was in 'violation of UN Resolution 1441" "a valid treaty"; while at the same time, the USA was in direct violations of over 243 treaties, which gave them the material wealth to make the war in Iraq possible. Do you really think that this was lost on the world at large; or (now stretch that tiny imagination of yours) perhaps the world is simply waiting for the USA to extend itself to the point that "taking them down, would be simple" and make the threat that America has shown itself to be: "null and void" as a trustworthy world power, and in serious need of elimination as it is presently represented.
The world will be a little 'safer' that way.
For you to assert that the feelings I express are somehow flawed; I would suggest that if the 'shoe were on the other foot' you would feel the same as I. If not then you are truly unworthy to be the 'son of any nation'----or a liar of insane proportions.
"CRIS" is an acronym for "Cranial Rectal Insertion Syndrome----and you would make an excellent "poster child"-----
(How's that for a "primative's view point"---)
Good Luck America, you really need it.
Thomas More, I can't believe you actually wrote that. You must be jiving.
you'll know it's all come full circle when some snot nosed kid of about fifteen or sixteen bangs down your door at three am and sticks a gun in your face demanding to know where your loyalties lie. heil herr unkle sam.
I remember that as a child I climbed on and played with out of service cannon and machine guns of the 30 caliber size that were used as lawn ornaments around town in Independence, Mo. and Kansas City, Mo. I also thought it was fun, and much of my childhood was playing soldier battling the Germans and Japanese, who were the most recent enemy of the day. We have always been indoctrinated into a militaristic attitude. This country has always done this. There has always been a program of nationalist/militaristic indoctrination. Start with group pledge of allegiance, cherry picked history, glorifying of the military, and war for "freedom" and "American Values". A few obsolete weapons laying around helps get the hands on physical contact, and it is much easier for our corporate democracy to protect "its" assets in other peoples countries because "we" are always right, using military force is "honorable" and "glorious", and the children can't wait to shoot those guns at the "enemy". This didn't just happen, this country has always been this way. Always using the brainwashed common folk to do the bidding of the affluent; ALWAYS. Take care of your immediate family and friends, because the America you thought was there, never was.
" ... and it is much easier for our corporate democracy to protect "its" assets in other peoples countries ... "
Precisely. This is the "American interests" commonly referred to when we are told we must protect "American interests" overseas. It's really the multinational corporate interests that have no loyalty whatsoever to this country that are being protected by 19 year old kids' blood and guts and minds, not the average working stiff American's interests. In fact HIS interests are often diametrically opposed to these corporate "American interests" who are firing people like him and moving his job to Communist Red China, America's main creditor. (So much for stopping the spread of Communism in order to protect "American interests", eh?)
There is no America. There is only the S&P 500.
The man in uniform obviously didn't join the army because of his intellect. I know, I know: do not judge a book by its cover...But just look at him. The man looks, well, stupid.
This guy shouldn't be allowed to drive a car.
Your comment shows where the stupidity is. Intolerance and bigotry doen't belong here.
Thomas, you have learned the English language, now try to learn to use words properly. You do not belong here.
This article is a farce. Reality does sometimes enter into this world. Yep, written by a guy that took "trips" to Iraq.
this "article" is not an article.
it is a list of observations from people better than most.
the majority still sadly see a "need" for arms.
Our children need to be allowed to live in boisterous joy that gives them an understanding of the beauty of all life. Too soon we force them into worrying about real time, the subtle real smell of gunpowder and the reality of cruel death. Please let them hang onto their innocence just awhile longer in order to faithfully remember the meaning of ....
Peace
VFP Chapter 156
Interesting to note that none of the comments were from vets of Iraq or Afghanistan.
Interesting, and sad.