Remembrance Day

[Smokeheim]

Tomorrow, on the 11th hour, Australia should in theory stop all actions and give one minutes silence too the fallen soldiers who have died in all war. It is a tradition that started at the end of the First World War (and was originally called Armstice Day, later renamed Remembrance Day after the Second World War).

Traditionally Australians (and other Commonwealth nations) wear poppy's as a symbol of the brave and courageous that lost their lives fighting for what they believe in. I would like too think that we remember all the death that war causes, too all nations, not just those that were allied or part of the British Commonwealth. The poppy is also a tax deduction over here.

The tradition in Australia seems too be fading as we rush more about mundance lives. A shame really, for many millions of people died too give most of us this mundane lifestyle that we live in. I remember people asking me what I was doing last year when I stopped and started my silence. I could have punched them for there ignorance. People died so (insert idiot here) could be stupid and not remember? ¬¬ :no: ¬¬

Unlike some nations on this fair planet, Remembrance day is not a time for the military too show off, fire lots of guns and be general dopeheads. In the land Downunder, The Last Call is played on the bugle (hauntingly beautiful piece of music) and wreaths are laid. There are no parades of soldiers or stuff of the like... Meh..

I believe this day is Veterans Day for the Yankee Scum. I don't know if the celebrate it with the style and finesse that the Commonwealth does though.

Just thought I'd share some Australia (and Commonwealth) with you.
:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

[Licensed Luny]

Wow Smoke! Have you considered joining a self-righteous, hypocritical, evangelical church?

I thank every man and woman that's risked their life to help and protect people they've never met, and I bow my head in sorrow and respect to every soldier and civilian that's been killed or injured because of some fat, old farts' hormonal imbalances.

And I feel that way all the time ... not just for the one minute a year while I manage to keep my mouth shut.

Oh, and Veterans' Day is tomorrow here in Yankee Scum land.

Have you risked your life in battle, Smokey? I hope so, for if not, I don't see where you get off judging the way those who have choose to remember and honor their actions.

Then again, you're Smokey ... you rarely come off as reasonable or sensible, so I won't sweat this one anymore.

Luny

[Black Scorpion]

Ammm... well, i dont have the pleasure to meet anyone of you, but its seems to me that both are somewhat intolerant with each others ideas, i think smoke has the right to be proud of the tradition of his country and i believe you need to remember the past of your country or people to understand what are you standing at the moment means, i dont see any bad in that, after all as the sentence says, "the truly dumb its the one who doesnt remember his past", so... for you smoke i agree with your thoughts, but i dont agree just in one sentence of your post, the one where you mention the U.S. as "Yankee Scum", i should say before i continue that im proudly Mexican, so i dont have feelings for any of your nations to defend one, more than the other, i just think that intolerance about each other its the main reason why war starts everytime, to have a good comunication the main point to me its not to insult someone for their nationality, since after all we are all made of the same, it doesnt matter what nation you live in... this is just my humile opinion on this matter.

I hope im just getting the wrong the idea of the words both of you used and maybe youre pretty much pals and just teasing each other... but well i "had" to speak up my mind, and i apologyse to both of you if you feel im out of place with my comment, but well... this is the screwed way i am, if you wanna call it that way :p :giggle:

Peace.

PD. Ammm i think the dumb ass in here its me, i hadnt saw the forum this message belongs at the begining so... sorry, i just read it and didnt realize it was on the hkk forum, sorry for that guys, i think you should be pals both of you, so i guess i had the wrong idea then... well as a probe of my stupidity i will not delete what i have wrote here, but i promise i will check in what forum i am next time before i speak my damn mind :p

[Hell³]

They just love each other to the death, just grab the popcorn and watch the fireworks go!

Edit:
Ok, here go my thoughts about it:

1. The Hutt got it right on the fact that some people are too self-involved to realize the true meaning on some remembrances/holidays/celebrations/etc. and don't seem capable of empathizing on stuff they believe didn't affect their way of living.

2. In my nation we don't even have a holiday for this stuff. Our involvement in WWII was marginal at best, so, no parades nor any other mention of it on our culture, so, I appreciate the thought of letting us know how it goes in another countries.

3. I also dislike military parades, they just feel like a real showoff and vain way to celebrate any special day. Like we do here on Independence day. To me they are just a waste on resources that could be used on a more constructive way. But since I'm no leader of any country (yet), I can't really do anything about it but vent, much like the Hutt does.

4. I don't think the Hutt meant to seriously dismiss Veterans Day like a lesser version of Remembrance Day, he likes to pun the US as the Yankee scum, though, just like I know he does love me when he calls me a filthy mexicasa :love:.

[wolfey]

ugh
I thank my grandfathers for giving me the opportunity to do as i wish for without their (and millions of other grandfathers) sacrifices i wouldn't be able to sit here and type this. I'm not sure where you're going with this smokey but without the sacrifrces of the millions(from all over the globe) who gave everything(their lives) none of us would be able to ponder this modern day issue.


I for one am exstatic i am able to converse on such topics because persons from around the globe stood as one, gave their lives , and said "You can't do this anymore".

[Hell³]

Read it again. He's not dismissing the Remembrance nor the Veterans day, he's criticizing that in Australia the common folk aren't interested in this tradition of the Remembrance day anymore.

[wolfey]

Read it again. He's not dismissing the Remembrance nor the Veterans day, he's criticizing that in Australia the common folk aren't interested in this tradition of the Remembrance day anymore.

At that point HellC it come down to public awareness!. You're grandfather diest so you can walk this street. Cold you possably spare a minute to remember him?

You abosfuckinlglutly right I can and more

[wolfey]

Perhaps I misundstood .. but it seems that there are fewer poeple remembering why they can go about their daily lives as they do

[Hell³]

Well, actually my grandfather didn't. Nor many mexicasa grandfathers, I appreciate the things the other nation's grandfathers did. I can relate and empathize with those grandsons today. The problem it's not that. The problem is the people who even when they may have lost someone in that conflict, they don't seem to care anymore.

You and Luny and many other US citizens may be very respectful of your veterans, not only from the WWII, but other wars the US might have been involved into, but the point it's not that. The point it's not make fun of the veterans day.

He's just precisely calling awareness of the fact that some people just doesn't seem to care for this kind of stuff anymore. At least in Australia.

He does poke tasteless fun at the american way?, yeah. But as Luny said, it's the Hutt way.

[HeliogabaluS]

i tottally agree, so many have died, so many are dying and much more will die in future wars.
if, only they were fought for freedom...
any war u like has been fought for the power of the few over the many, we are all slaves to a ghost, all the sacrifices have been for nothing.
the ones in power dont give a shit over any one of us, the victims are jsut statistics, if we were really free we wouldnt need money, we would not be fucking conditioned in school to obey, to accept without doubting the word of the master that allows us to be somebody in this sad , sick society of ours, we are fed lies all the time, lies about freedom and peace.
as someone once said, the perfect slave thinks he is free!

all the occidental nations sway to the same tune CAPITALISM, free markets , open borders , freedom! while the rich get richer and the poor are dumped in mass, unmarked graves!
if u dont pay your taxes ur evil, if you disobey authority you are a terrosit, if you do not believe in the american way you are the enemy!
its just that back in the day when it wasnt the US, it was germany, and later it was the prusians, and before them rome fighting the barbarian hordes!
its all been the same.
the winners make history, the losers are history...

as long as we continue to live in a society that values paper and oil above the lives of the brave who fight in the wars of the wealthy we are fucked!
national holidays were created to legitimize the atrocities of war, to justify all the shit we are fed, to distarct us from all the important stuff in life, like love, friendship and ESP!

[Smokeheim]

I feel that way all the time ... not just for the one minute a year while I manage to keep my mouth shut.
People should remember at all times the sacrifices made so 'we' the lucky few can buy $10000 televisions, Hummer Jeeps that guzzle a natural resource that costs too much and live in houses that would fit an entire three generations of a poorer family. You miss the point though Luny. Most people are not like you Luny, and most don't remember the dead civilian or soldier of war. So a day for it is the way hopefully we can make them remember. You are doomed too repeat your forefather's mistakes if you don't learn from history
Have you risked your life in battle, Smokey? I hope so, for if not, I don't see where you get off judging the way those who have choose to remember and honor their actions.
Relevance of me risking my life in battle Luny?! Bah! The post wasn't about me going too war or being in battle or not, it was there too firstly explain an Australian tradition that is slowly and unfortuantly fading and too hopefully make some people aware, if they were too read the post, of the importance of the day. I do judge people for NOT remembering at all the people who have made sacrifices for those fat hormonal leaders.
Then again, you're Smokey ... you rarely come off as reasonable or sensible
Generally my dear Luny I wouldn't take offence too your jests and off-hand remarks but in this case I think I will. Did you bother too bloody read what I said? Every other person that replyed and saw what I had written, understood the meaning of what I had too say. It was about NOT forgetting. In your case you don't have too worry about that because you are one of the 'Holy' who remembers the losses suffered due too war everyday as you say.
i dont agree just in one sentence of your post, the one where you mention the U.S. as "Yankee Scum"
Firstly, it's a pleasure too hear from you dear Black Scorpian, comment whenever you feel like it whether it be in HKK sub forums or not! Intelligence is always respected. I should probably explain the Yankee Scum comment. I will admit, in a serious post I should not have called them Yankee Scum as it may have given people the idea that it wasn't a serious post. Generally though it is just a joke that I pass off too people and like HellC said, I call him a filthy Mexicasa. No offence is meant by that comment tis just my way of picking on people I think highly of. I wouldn't call an American I just met a Yankee Scum. I would have too get too know them first.
4. I don't think the Hutt meant to seriously dismiss Veterans Day like a lesser version of Remembrance Day, he likes to pun the US as the Yankee scum, though, just like I know he does love me when he calls me a filthy mexicasa
Acutally I wan't trying too dismiss Veteran's Day at all. I thought that it was on the same day as what the Commonwealth refers too as Remembrance Day. I was trying too add significance too the fact that the Americans also recognise the day and also adding some extra information on the day. For example; the Germans don't 'celebrate' this day (not just because they were the ones that lost WWI) but because they didn't want a national day of mourning too begin at the start of a great weekly celebration.
At that point HellC it come down to public awareness!.
Not you know what I was trying too do Wolfman when I wrote this post in the first place. I was trying too increase public awareness on an issue that I think is important. Shit, my family fought on the 'enemy' side of both World Wars. It doesn't lessen the day too me any at all. People should remember, whether they were Turks, Germans, Americans, French or British. For shites sake, even the bloody Mexicasa's should remember! The losses suffered in those two wars alone were disgustingly high that it should reverberate around the globe, not just too those country's that participated in the big 'scraps'.

The thing is, my fellow HardKorians, the post wasn't meant too be inflammatory. It was meant too increase awareness in my own way too people I spend time with. In Britain, they did a survey of 10,000 British school children just starting High School. They asked if they knew who Adolf Hitler was. only 10% of those children had any clue at all. For a nation that was bombed too nothing, lost hundreds of thousands of lives, had there entire economy destroyed and someone that changed the way the world is today only a tiny proportion of 13-14 year old children had any idea. If people do not learn from history we will make the same mistakes again and again! People have too remember!!!! :cool: :cool: :cool:

[Licensed Luny]

Hi all,

FYI, Smoke and I have continued this discussion in PM. We wind up at agree to disagree.

I do not concede the argument (to my knowledge, neither does Smokey.) However, I regret if any of you were uncomfortable with my earlier response here. I apologize for any awkwardness.

Luny

[HeliogabaluS]

no prob luny!
at least we can have those discussions!
some aint that lucky!

[Licensed Luny]

WARNING - serious post, no jokes below. I apologize if you find it too serious for this forum, but I did warn you up front. :)

I've debated posting this here, on deuterio where we laugh and joke. I might not have, either, but Smoke's already started such an appropriate thread.

Holidays, ones where people are used to being with family, are another good time to spare a moment of recognition and respect for the sacrifices people make.

I just got this email. I don't make a habit of the mass forwarding of inspirational emails. In fact, I never have before, nor have I posted one on a forum. Given the content and the subject, I don't feel I have the right to strip out the request for forwarding and the (I assume) author's contact information at the end.

Hell, if you're unhappy or uncomfortable with this here, please do remove it (or tell me to.) No hard feelings, it's your site more than anyone else's.

Respectfully,
Luny


A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
"Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he s! ighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always
remembers." My dad stood
his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ', And now it is my
turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or la! y down my life with my sister and brother...
Who stand at the fron t against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right"
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, Would you do me the kind favor of sending this
to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our U.S. service men and! women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

[Hell³]

You're free to post whatever you please. That's the main idea behind this forums.

[Smokeheim]

Nice piece of poem.. Could be hotly debated in some areas but I believe the soul of the whole thing is right... Good find Luny.. :cool: :p :cool: :p

[HeliogabaluS]

Nice piece of poem.. Could be hotly debated in some areas but I believe the soul of the whole thing is right... Good find Luny.. :cool: :p :cool: :p

lol, just what i thought too!

[Licensed Luny]

.. Could be hotly debated in some areas ..
and
lol, just what i thought too!

Yep! Thus another reason why ...
I've debated posting this here, on deuterio

That's ok, get your jabs in! I can take it.

And no matter what gets posted here, I *know* that the poor subdued little human being trapped somewhere inside Smokey was touched by that poem, too. :p The poor little subdued human being in me was, too, or the damn wuss wouldn't have gotten to post it here.



And finally ...

You're free to post whatever you please. That's the main idea behind this forums.

:love: for having an admin so into free speech ... or ... :eek: watching the pot that is us boil. It's one or the other or both, but it works! See Hell? We have smilies here, too!

Seriously, *nod* to whoever did take the time to read it.

Cheers folks,
Luny