If you’re off today – or even if you’re not – find yourself a vet and thank him or her for everything they’ve done to help ensure our way of life. It’s the least we can do.

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79 COMMENTS

  3. Not being a veteran makes me appreciate them all the more. Thank You one and all!! I wish my dad was still here to thank today.

    • I was going to post this lower but I don’t want it getting over looked in the totenschlock below.

      I show this video to my cadets every year and speak to them of the responsibilities as future officers to their troops and their nation. Since I have a large number of students not pursuing commission I talk to them about remembering Vets and making sure that our military is used wisely. I hope everyone can take just a moment (well 5 minutes actually) to listen to this song about Rememberence Day as our Commonwealth friends so fondly call it.

      [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kX_3y3u5Uo[/ur]

      EDIT: Sorry I can’t get the link to embed and I don’t want the video embedded in case it autoplays on people. Please cut and past the link if you are interested in watching.

  4. Don’t thank us. Give our service meaning. Vote, hold the pols accountable. Military service is not the only way to serve your nation. No more comments like “I’d leave this place and move to……… if their gun laws were better.” There’s no place better than here.

    We learned a lot of things during our time in uniform. One of the most basic was that as a team, a unit, we could prevail. POTG need to learn that lesson and take it to heart.

    Thus endeth the sermon.

    • This a thousand times over. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ll say this: I didn’t serve in order to get a bunch of free stuff one day a year. I served to make a difference (naive I know), and to stand for my principles. And yes, I eschew all the free crap that comes today. Help those of us who actually care to do so make this country great again (that would be most of the fine folks here).

      Sorry for the rambling post.

    • Yep. And don’t neglect giving our wounded brethren (physically, mentally, and emotionally) a hand when they ask for it.

      We leave none behind.

  5. Unless you’re talking to a very old vet from WWII, they haven’t done jack to “protect our way of life”. All they’ve done is terrorize citizens of foreign nations for having different values than those of American politicians. Seriously, this blind worship of the military is both absurd and dangerous to our liberties.

    • Riiiiight…. I spent 5 years on active duty in the US Army, I can assure you that I did not terrorize anyone, foreign or otherwise. You have no clue as to what things I did to serve my country. Dangerous to our liberties? I served to protect not just my rights, but yours too. Kindly pull your head out of your ass and go thank a veteran for their service, because you don’t have a clue.

      • First off, you served the will of politicians – you did not serve the country. Do not ever confuse the two.

        Secondly, unless you were in WWII or one of the handful of men who killed Bin Laden, if you were deployed in a combat zone, then you were terrorizing people who committed no crime against the US nor did they pose any threat to us. You may have been shot at, but that is because you were the criminal invading their nation and murdering their citizens.

        Thirdly, every day politicians use the threat of police and military violence to keep Americans cowed and afraid to stand up for their rights. Your willingness to murder anyone they tell you to is what gives them the power to violate the Constitution. Without your blind obedience, they would be powerless.

        • And remember, totenglocke says it, so it must be so. Course he tells people to stand up to the cops all the time, but we’ve never heard of him doing the same. During the Zimmerman/Martin bruhaha he talked of one of his Ohio cities where the cops tried to arrest a local inner city yoot and the neighberhood interfered. Did tote cheer them? No. He was aghast that they fought back, after all the cops had a warrent.

          He serves no one but himself. Has stated that he’d move to New Zealand if their gun laws were better(but he’d probably wait until others did the heavy lifting for him) and he’s a hypocrite in his stance about the cops.

          But because he says so we vets are guilty of murder and war crimes. Fuck you tote.

        • Funny because if I had “murdered” somebody I think I’d remember that….
          What have you done, if anything to support and defend the Constitution of the United States besides toss insults on the internet?

          Your display of ignorance is astounding. As are the many baseless assumptions you make here about the service of millions of veterans. I almost feel sorry for you, but please, since you have it all figured out you should run for public orifice considering you seem to be quite the asshole.

        • Don’t worry, I know that you hide behind the excuse of “just following orders” to pretend like you did nothing wrong. We hanged Nazis who used that excuse, though. Why should we hold our soldiers to a lower standard than we held Nazis?

        • Well, there you have it, folks. American soldiers are the same as Nazis. I think this discussion is now over, or at least it ought to be.

        • Disgraceful words. Remember that other people are being maimed and dying so you can freely spew your screed. You should be ashamed of yourself.

        • You probably spit on soldier in airports during Vietnam(if you were even old enough) and probably would run around today with signs saying “Thank God for dead soldiers”.

          Fraking Totenglockdumbass.

    • Hey Toten…

      Just a word of advice. I know you probably wouldn’t anyway because everyone online is a tough guy, but never say what you just said to a vet’s face.

      Especially if he was combat arms.

      • I’d absolutely say it to their face. Just because a politician told you to kill someone for having a different religion / skin color / political views doesn’t change the fact that it’s murder and terrorism. Sadly, since they know that they have no logical rebuttal, they would resort to the only thing they know – violence.

        • Please people, no more feeding of this particular troll. This is the kind of guy that spat on my father after returning home from Vietnam. Twice. Fvck him and the horse he rode in on.

        • I love how none of you have any facts to defend your position and instead result to name calling. I guess the fact that our soldiers aren’t doing a god damn thing to protect this country is too hard to reconcile with the brainwashing as a child that “US soldiers are the good guys and never do anything wrong”.

    • I can’t exactly remember the meme, but it is something to the effect of: If you can’t stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them. The US Armed Forces are comprised of men and women, who risk and sacrifice their lives for the greater good of our nation. You may not support the cause, but you should damn well support every man and woman who has served or is currently serving in uniform. Those of you who don’t, can feel free to kiss my lilly white ass.

      • “The US Armed Forces are comprised of men and women, who risk and sacrifice their lives for the greater good of our nation.”

        Jesus Christ, do people actually believe this bullshit? How does murdering Muslims or Communists who posed no threat to us doing anything “for the greater good of our nation”?

        • Because Communists and Muslims have never killed anyone? I can think of a few dozen million people who would disagree for the first point all around the world, and even aside from the few thousand Americans who went down with the WTC, there’s been more than a few incidents in the not too distant past that make me think we should be ready for organized violence by Muslim extremists.

          In no particular order, Beslan. Mumbai. Ma’alot. Beiruit. Benghazi. Nord-Ost. The first bombing of the WTC. Dozens if not hundreds of attacks in Israel by rocket, mortar, rifle, and bomb vest. The same by Chechens against the Russians. You don’t need to wait for someone to bomb Pearl Harbor to think maybe we should stand up against them somewhere in the world to make it a better place.

        • “Because Communists and Muslims have never killed anyone?”

          Their governments have never initiated a war with the US. We have been in wars with them, but WE started the war out of aggression.

          “I can think of a few dozen million people who would disagree for the first point all around the world, and even aside from the few thousand Americans who went down with the WTC, there’s been more than a few incidents in the not too distant past that make me think we should be ready for organized violence by Muslim extremists.”

          So, instead of going after those handful of Muslims, you think all nations that are mostly Muslim should be massacred until they convert to Christianity?

          “Dozens if not hundreds of attacks in Israel by rocket, mortar, rifle, and bomb vest.”

          WTF does Israel have to do with defending the US? Not a damn thing. Again, you (like most of our military and our politicians) are just a psycho who wants to murder anyone who doesn’t follow your religion.

        • Tote, my final word on this matter. Anything we did in those countries, whether you list it as a crime or patriatism we did not do for the pay or the pols. We did it for you and in your name. You and the other 300 million Americans that can’t or won’t step up and hold your elected officials accountable.

          If we are to be compared to Nazis what does that make you? Did you stand by and watch the smoke bellow from the smokestacks in the death camps and do nothing? Is the guilt of being a failed citizen of this nation what drives your hatred of us?

          If you wish to see the cause of our failure as a nation, look in the mirror. You and your fellow bedwetters couldn’t man up enough to stop the crimes.

          That’s if you truly believe that drivel you spout here.

        • If you think terrorist groups are going to wait until they have a legislative majority in any country, then issue a formal declaration of war and show up on the beaches of US soil in Higgins boats and wearing full uniforms, then you really haven’t been watching the news lately. I think you know exactly what I meant, and you’re being deliberately ridiculous because ignoring the facts makes it easier to support your own narrative.

          The problem is not Islam, the problem is state sponsored international terrorist organizations that have the ability to conduct operations here in the United States. Or rather, they did, until we killed enough of them that those capabilities to reach out and touch us are nearly gone. Of course, most of these terrorists called themselves Muslim, but that doesn’t matter as much as the terrorist part does.

          Last thing before I sign off on this one- the current crop of bad guys our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are facing don’t give a crap if you call yourself American, Israeli, Spanish, Russian, or anything else. They don’t care about your flag. They don’t care about your borders. They don’t even care if you hate the government that protects you. They just want you dead.

    • Totenglocke, why not call us baby killers again. If you can’t stand the military, why don’t you go somewhere that doesn’t have a strong central government and military. Most of the Middle East comes to mind.

      • If you killed innocent children, then you are a baby killer. Just because the government told you to do it is no excuse. Quit being a coward and take responsibility for your actions.

        • Nazis, cowards, baby killers, etc. Pretty tough words for somebody hiding behind a computer screen. Nice try eunuch.

        • So sayeth the self-centered keyboard kommando, who never did anything anyone else told him to do. Coward.

    • Toten,

      Once again I disagree. You speak in generalizations and as if you are an authority in such matters, when I can assure you that I know my own military service better than you do.

  7. Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, & Airmen are only right when their cause is just. Never ever give them a free pass. Never let your patriotism be unfettered. A short glance at the history of man, including our own nation, should tell anyone that the greatest threats to life & liberty are internal. From Kristallnacht to Kent State, from Gettysburg to Gethsemane your enemy is usually born not far away. I am thankful for Veterans and Veteran’s day but I see nothing wrong w/ returning to Armistice Day.

    I am a veteran but does/should that affect how you the reader view the above?

      • Too late for an edit… but, what I meant was, Politicians could not conduct war if soldiers refused to fight. And when the wars are obviously unjust, immoral, and un-Constitutional, it is a soldier’s DUTY to refuse.

        • Not to overstay my welcome here, but I have a few counter points to your statement.

          It is a soldier’s duty to defy orders that are illegal. Service members are only obligated to obey lawful orders. Determining whether or not wars are legal, moral or necessary is not within the realm of a soldier, sailor, airman or marine’s duty. The military answers to civilian leaders who theoretically answer to the people of the USA. Don’t like the wars? Vote for politicians that will not engage in them. I didn’t like the war in Iraq, but you know what my opinion was worth? Not a tinker’s damn. There are words for refusing to fight and obey lawful orders from superiors; cowardice, dereliction of duty, and desertion.

          Feel free to dislike the wars, but don’t blame the guys fighting it. It’s easy to take an ideological stand in the comfort of your home. But don’t talk to service members and those who served about duty. Until you’ve heard an 18 year old boy cry for his his mom while getting loaded into a helicopter with his legs blown off by some jihadi rat; don’t tell us about duty. Until you’ve marched all day with an 80lbs ruck and a rifle in sweltering heat, don’t talk to us about duty. When you’ve been deployed at sea for months on end with minimal contact with your family, feel free to pontificate on duty.

          We obey orders because without the chain of command and discipline, there would exist no order in the Armed Forces. People sign up for many reasons, but all have something in common. They believe in America. They fight for their brothers. They fight for the people they love back home. I think it was Orwell who said, “Those who ‘abjure’ violence can do so only because others are committing violence on their behalf.” No one asks that you praise or worship people in uniform, in fact, most service members and those who served are made uncomfortable by such statements and praise. Just don’t disrespect the dead and wounded by telling them that they should have deserted or that their sacrifice was in vain. Sorry if that sounded harsh, but I’ve heard enough of this horse shit for one day.

        • could pols conduct a war if the citizens refused to allow it? The 3 million or so serving members of the forces have what, another 300 million + citizens sitting at home that allow the pols to do their wars and other business with little or no interference. Don’t just put an unpopular war on the shoulders of those enduring it.

  9. Most people in the real world are working today. Holidays like Veterans Day and their ameliorative effect on rush hour traffic serve as a reminder of just how unGodly many government bureaucrats there are comfy, cozy, toasty in their beds this morning.

    Being familiar with their existence is nothing compared to knowing them by their absence. Somehow I don’t think the boys at Normandy had “Making the world safe for Bureaucracy” on their minds as they were dodging bullets and leapfrogging mines.

  10. To every veteran of every conflict who did the right thing, thank you.

    To every person who is considering joining the nation’s armed services, DON’T. Your government will exploit you and turn its back on you while politicians wipe their collective @sses with the freedoms you thought you were fighting for. Don’t be a chump.

    • If enough HONORABLE people join and work to change the culture, it will change. Perhaps not overnight, but it will change. It will not change, however, by staying out of the process. God speed, God bless.

      • I want them in the process, I just don’t want them in the military. The military is under political control, and there’s nothing that soldiers can do to change that. And while the soldiers are having their limbs blown off, the same politicians back home are busy selling them out.

        This process has rarely changed. Only WW2 vets were given a break when they returned home. WW1 vets, Korean vets and especially Vietnam vets were completely fvcked over. Meanwhile, scum like John Kerry and Hanoi Jane were making millions.

        • Mesopotamia
          1917

          They shall not return to us, the resolute, the young,
          The eager and whole-hearted whom we gave:
          But the men who left them thriftily to die in their own dung,
          Shall they come with years and honour to the grave?

          They shall not return to us; the strong men coldly slain
          In sight of help denied from day to day:
          But the men who edged their agonies and chid them in their pain,
          Are they too strong and wise to put away?

          Our dead shall not return to us while Day and Night divide–
          Never while the bars of sunset hold.
          But the idle-minded overlings who quibbled while they died,
          Shall they thrust for high employments as of old?

          Shall we only threaten and be angry for an hour:
          When the storm is ended shall we find
          How softly but how swiftly they have sidled back to power
          By the favour and contrivance of their kind?

          Even while they soothe us, while they promise large amends,
          Even while they make a show of fear,
          Do they call upon their debtors, and take counsel with their
          friends,
          To conform and re-establish each career?

          Their lives cannot repay us–their death could not undo–
          The shame that they have laid upon our race.
          But the slothfulness that wasted and the arrogance that slew,
          Shell we leave it unabated in its place?
          Rudyard Kipling

  11. I’m OK with folks going on about how vets are stupid because they served, and other comments of that ilk. I mean, hey it’s your opinion and in a free society you are welcome to it. I’m just wondering if the people with those kinds of comments reflect upon the sacrifices throughout our history, made by such “murderers and baby killers” that afford them the opportunity to voice those opinions. Eh, probably not.

    11th Armored Cav vet
    Non-baby killer

    • “Murderers and baby killers” was the common accusation by students and other Communists during the Vietnam era. In all honesty, I have no idea how Vietnam vets were able to preserve their sanity and dignity during those times, or how they were able to see any good in this nation. Their treatment at the hands of their “countrymen” was despicable.

      It was one of the things that changed my own perspective on America.

  12. It’s Veterans Day, the trolls are a’trolling and the BS just gets deeper. While atrocity is part of war the US shows a better track record than most, and so much better than many as to hold it’s head high with pride that we fight justly and with just cause.

    I’ll bet that the whole contingent who have intentionally killed innocent civilians could be hosted in a common living room, while of course all those who have served with honorable distinction would more than fill the largest venues on the planet.

    But on this august occasion let us by all means confront those of us so patriotic as to leave family and friends behind and risk life and limb for their ideals in defense of their nation because we have political disagreements with the leaders they served. In fact I can think of no better way to honor ones country and demonstrate a mature and reasonable position that to launch personal attacks against those who fight for our freedom to engage in personal attacks over politics.

    Let us not stop there, but my all means excoriate anyone who would dare risk and sometimes give all in defense of the ideal of liberty for surely such people are worthy of our derision and malice and deserve our hatred. Why, I’m certain that if only we were to call them out on this, the one day a year set aside to remember their service, that we could convince the populace at large that military service is merely acquiescence to the political whims of the ruling administration and deserving of nothing more than our disparaging of their service, thus ensuring that no one would choose to serve and so hasten the day when rather than being destroyed by progressives from within we can simply be conquered by Islamic totalitarians or communists from without.

    Oh to think of the sweet day when no man shall have been proud to serve his country in uniform and under arms so the political will of his nation cannot be expressed and piece and prosperity shall surely spread across the earth. . . ok, think I just threw up in my mouth a little. . . enough sarcasm.

    Seriously though, if you can’t find a reason to thank a vet you merely demonstrate your ignorance regardless of your political or social ideology. The mere fact that you are free to express your opinion is directly related to action of those who were willing to fight for the liberty to do so. So thank a vet and prove that you’re not an ignorant, selfish, immature and undeserving caricature of a citizen of a free country.

    • Thank you. That was excellent. Better than anything I could put into words. Like JWM said, I don’t always agree with you on here, but I’ll tip my glass to that, and if you ever make it to Tampa, I’d be honored to buy you a beverage or three of your liking.

      • Thank you for the kind words, it’s nothing more than the heartfelt emotion and patriotic expression of the vast majority of the citizens of this country put to words in honor of the service you’ve done. I’d be honored to share those drinks and buy a you around as well.

  13. Well said, Ardent. We do have our disagreements but i’d buy you a beverage of your choice if we ever meet.

    • Thank you JWM and I’d be proud to return the favor, that we disagree at times but can remain civil is testament to our maturity and I think we’d find we share more commonality of thought that differences.

  14. With 12 years in service punching holes in the ocean supporting a nuclear deterrent, followed by a medical discharge I can say I appreciate the collective appreciation of my efforts and those of my comrades-in-arms from the other services. I also appreciate their service. We know, or should know that liberty and freedom are not free. For those who believe my comrades and I did nothing but kill children, I invite them to put on the uniform themselves and serve and find out for themselves what we do.
    Of course, being as this is still a relatively free country, they are certainly able to decline.

  15. If our military really wanted to protect the rights of Americans, they would have razed Washington DC to the ground already. I can’t think of a greater threat to the world than a bunch of petty tyrants holding the keys to a massive arsenal, and who stand to lose practically nothing no matter how bad a decision they make. The military (purposely or not) protects jackoffs like Schumer, Biden, Holder, et al., so it’s important to look at the *unintended consequences* of our war policy.

    • They don’t need the military to protect them. The citizens of this country continue to vote them into positions of power. It’s easy to lay blame on the soldiers, sailers, and airmen. They simply serve the will of the people that elect schumer, biden etc. into office.

      • “They simply serve the will of the people that elect schumer, biden etc. into office.”

        Thank you for admitting that A) they do not uphold the Constitution and B) they do not refuse immoral orders. It’s about time you said something smart.

    • But that would require soldiers to have free will, intelligence, and courage. They’re nothing but loyal dogs for corrupt politicians and their boasts of “upholding the Constitution” are a complete joke since it’s the threat of them committing violence against Americans that allows politicians to piss on the Constitution.

      • “But that would require soldiers to have free will, intelligence, and courage.”
        All that I have met or served with have more of those qualities in what they flush down the toilet than you will ever be able to imagine.

        Those who have seen war firsthand are the very last to promote it.

  16. Wow, this post went full retard.

    In honor of Veteran’s day I went out and shot all of my U.S. milsurps. It was a dang good afternoon.

  17. Like my father, they are mostly gone now, but. If you can read, thank a teacher. If it’s English, thank a vet.

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