There has been a big push in our recent past and currently about getting rid of statutes of civil war Generals of the Confederate Army. It seems that some Americans are offended that these despicable people from our history are celebrated or remembered and that causes harm to folks now. I honestly didn’t know how that is possible but as the saying goes, “anything is possible if you put your mind to it.” So evidently these people who have problems with these statutes are living proof that anything is possible.
Those of you who know me from my daily dose know that I am not a fan of political correctness. I don’t subscribe to it, I never have and chances are I never will. So when I tell you that I am in favor of removing all the statues and anything to do with the Confederate Army from public display please don’t think I’ve lost my mind. I am 100% for the removal of these items.
I don’t want to stop there though; I am in favor of all public displays that have any reference to any war removed from public display in the United States. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, if one statue or memorial is a problem then all statues or memorials are a problem. Let’s not stop at statues and memorials either, any public building, school, detention center or court house that bears the name of military leader should also be renamed.
During the course of my travels for work I come across several displays around Texas that fit the above list of places that have such items or are named after such people. On Friday I was in College Station, Texas and while I was there I had to make a trip over to one of the local sports parks, Veterans Memorial Sports Park. I have been to that park several times in recent years but I never really paid much attention to anything but the ball fields. Earlier in the day I heard a news report that there is a controversy up in Denton, Tx. over a confederate statue and that a citizens group had been formed to study the issue and make a recommendation as to what the city should do about the statue. The recommendation was to add some plaque to the statue that said the people of Denton don’t condone what had taken place in the civil war with regard to how the Confederate army fought the war or some BS to that effect.
This park is a youth sports park, each and every time the youth enter and exit the park they are subject to seeing this display if they are paying attention to their surroundings at all. Even if they are not paying attention there must be a subliminal effect on them if these displays even come into their vision if only for a brief moment.
The Vietnam War was a very controversial war as far as the American public was concerned at the time of the war. There are even some people who say that the incident that lead to the US becoming an active combatant in the war actually never took place, that it was a fabricated story. That incident was known as Gulf of Tonkin incident in August of 1964 where enemy torpedo boats attacked two US destroyer ships.
Whether it happened or not isn’t relevant to what I have to say. The fact is we got into a war that ended up in a substantial loss of lives on both sides, and a whole bunch of civilians as well. All told the total loss of life in that war was over 58,000 American soldiers, and 2,000,000 Vietnamese soldiers and civilians. The total cost in dollars to the US was over $120 billion for a war that some say was nothing more than a way to funnel money to US weapons manufacturing companies that had contributed heavily to senators and congressmen’s election campaigns.
I had a neighbor who lost his life in the Vietnam War; my oldest brother was drafted and ended up fighting in that war as well. I ended up being lucky as the war ended just as I was eligible for the draft. They had also implemented a lottery system in the US for the draft, the US put 365 lottery balls in a container, each ball had a corresponding day of the year and then they drew the numbers out. I can’t remember how many numbers down the list ended up being drafted for service but I wasn’t one of them as my number was never drawn. I guess the people in the Pentagon had never heard of Leap Year, February 29th, and since it wasn’t a Leap Year the calendar they worked from didn’t have the 29th on it is my guess.
I’m not against having a military to protect and defend this country or any country for that matter, I just don’t believe in celebrating or memorializing war. There are far better things that we could be doing than putting up controversial displays and then fighting about them among ourselves. So take them all down and let’s move on with life.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
All photos are property of @sultnpapper
I never understood why people are proud of the ones who kill others.
However I do understand the loss of the lives of the boy's who went to war.
It just would have made more sense to remember them as the humans that they where, instead of 'the uniformed slaves of the state'
It's about time that the human race would evolve and let war be a thing of the past.
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Lots of history packed into this blog... problem with most of history in the United States is that is isn’t told accurately for the most part. War is mostly the result of greed of the elite and the central bank. Check to see who doesn’t have a central bank yet and that will be the next war zone.
Loved the view you put to these 2-3D pieces of art. They are truly art... if we really stop and think about it, those boys should be remembered because they were asked to go into battle for the greater cause. They believed in good. Fought against evil. With that being said, the memorials don’t do good or evil. They’re just art. However I don’t stop and stare at them either ... are they graven images that scripture warns us of?
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Yes, the thing about history is the people in charge control what is written for the most part, they surely control what is taught in the schools. So it should come as no surprise that few people in the US know the true history of the country. Your statement about the central banks is spot on, the quickest way to get into a war with the USA and it's allies is to back your currency with gold bullion, you need look no further than Iraq for that proof. The US kept saying "weapons of mass destruction" as the reason, and they weren't lying about that, they just didn't say "destruction of what", Iraq was about to destroy every Fiat Currency in the world by backing it's Dinar with gold. That was the true weapons of mass destruction, their gold back currency.
I have to disagree with you from that point on in your reply, well except for the art, those are nice pieces of art as far as construction and detail.
They boys weren't asked to go into battle, the draft had them in there, they had a choice of jail, the service or Canada as a draft dodger.
As for the greater cause, that was to increase military spending and rewarding the elites who had a dog in the hunt through weapons and ammunition companies. The confederate soldiers also believed they were doing good and fighting against evil, but since they lost their memorials need to be removed? Memorials may not do good or evil, but the are a constant reminder of such based on a person's perspective , that is why any confederate monument is under scrutiny for removal. They are art, but like any piece of art they convey a message or thought, it is not uncommon to hear people describe a piece of art as having "spoken to them" in some way.
As for the scripture warning I don't know, I'm not a bible scholar. I believe that if we treat each other the way we want to be treated we would all be in a better situation. Speak, hear. and do no evil will just about cover all things in life, we just need to learn how to do it.
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You have a valid point on the draft... I’m too young to remember there being a requirement. I remember hearing about drafts but you won’t hear talk of it now. That’s what they want you to do ya know... forget. Thanks for the reminder
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My concept is that
The third world war has become an introductory
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I see your point but am in two minds about them myself
I do think perhaps there may be to many war memorials, but i am also of the belief that they perhaps do not celebrate warm but are a memorial to those who lost their lives fighting for their country
and I feel the memorials do serve a purpose and would hope for some they may be a symbol to foster people to strive to do what they can to help to ensure the chance of new wars are reduced
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Up until Friday I never gave it much thought about the intent of such statues and displays. Memorials , such as the Vietnam War Memorial Wall that has the name of each serviceman who died fighting in the war engraved in the wall, seem to honor the fallen Americans who gave their lives.
The display featured in this daily dose from College Station doesn't seem to do that, at least not for me.
When you look back at the history of the United States and the involvement of the country in wars it appears the country can't go more than 10 years or so without getting involved in a war since WW1.
So if the purpose is as you hope, " would hope for some they may be a symbol to foster people to strive to do what they can to help to ensure the chance of new wars are reduced" it doesn't appear to be working.
Maybe it is time we do away with any war related displays and try that for 100 years and see if that might have a better effect . The display at that park in College Station didn't sit well with me as it seems to glorify the typical type of battle engagement from that war. Almost as if to say to the kids going into that park, "when you grow up you can do this too".
When I think back to the Vietnam war and the war protests that were taking place at that time I am immediately reminded of the Kent State shootings. Young college students were peacefully protesting the war at their campus and the Ohio National Guard, which is a reserve branch of the US Army, were called in to break up the protest. Four Kent State students were shot and killed by the ONG that day, so much for freedom of speech and the right to assemble. When the government will kill their own people who don't agree with what the government is doing it is a scary situation. It might also be an indicator on just how important war seems to be to government officials. The Vietnam war served no purpose with regard to protecting the United States, it was a war that we had no business being involved in and about half the country agreed with the students protesting the war.
After the Kent State shootings college campus protests were few and far between, college kids didn't want to fight in Vietnam but they also didn't want to be killed at home for saying they didn't support the war.
Maybe I'm just getting old and cynical or maybe I'm just wising up to how things really work here in the USA. I'm not sure which it is, but I'm inclined to believe it is the latter of the two, given the history of the USA and the involvement in wars.
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i would be all for taking them all down if I thought it would help stop glorifying war
I would try anything if it would help cause an outbreak of peace
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please visit my blog
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