What are you doing on this wonderful 3 day Memorial Day weekend, and are you going to remember to thank a vet?

I’m going backpacking, yes.

I thanked a vet this morning when I looked in the mirror. It has been my practice to thank any combat vets I meet on a daily basis. I’ll never forget the time it brought a Vietnam vet to tears. He then told me I was the first, and he’d come home 20 years before. I then apologized on behalf of all the oafs from his past who HADN’T thanked him.
I’ll be gardening this weekend with my daughter.

Hahaha, no.

I’m working. It’s gonna be busy at my store. I never get weekends off.

There’s nothing wrong with thanking Veterans for their service, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be done any or every day. We also have Veterans Day in November as an official holiday in the USA.

Memorial Day is the holiday to honor those who gave their lives in the name of service to their country. Whether or not we agree with the reason for the conflict in which they died, or the military system itself – which I generally do not – I still appreciate that their are those who are willing to trust their government and military leaders and pay the ultimate price in the name of preserving our way of life.

nothing wrong with thanking the SchutzStaffel and Wehrmacht for their service either~

I’ll be selling my car to a junkyard so I don’t end up homeless by Tuesday, because we live in a Right to Work state that is allowed to simply end a person’s job with no warning and no severance pay, and unemployment compensation takes for-fucking-ever, and at 40% of pittance isn’t enough to pay the damned rent anyway.

Someone stop the world and let me off, mmkay?

Oh, the plan was to be at the SCA Trimaris Crown Tourney this weekend. That didn’t happen.

This morning I fought with my husband, because I was asked to help his parents get a hotel for a last minute trip and I guess I didn’t do it “quietly” enough. I’m pretty pissed.

I think my husband is going to trade in our car this weekend for a new one (lease). Our plan was to look at cars today, but he said that he doesn’t want to see me today. I don’t think he has ever said such a thing.

We have tickets this weekend to see the Florida orchestra. A stars and stripes tribute. Some military sings, and some very American compositions.

Work in the yard, hang with the kids, visit with my father (a vet) who is in town, and have a family BBQ for Dad and my nephew (also visiting) who currently serves and just arrived home from his fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan.

@ragingloli – As mentioned, I do not generally agree with the military mindset or system, nor most of the conflicts in which my country, the US (which this thread is referring to our Memorial Day holiday), has engaged during my lifetime (which started as the Viet Nam conflict was beginning). I can not speak to Hitler’s military – most of whom are dead now. My grandfather left Germany as a young man in the 1930s because he did not like the direction it was going. He brought my mother as a very young girl to the attic, from where they saw neutral Zürich being bombed by the Allies. I was raised very anti-war, but I do recognize that humanity is nowhere near a point where a military is unnecessary. I do not hold the lower ranking pawns accountable for the choices of their leaders, and I am glad that someone will be there to defend me if we truly need it.

As for what we are doing this weekend: We learned that an exhibit of two of my fiancé‘s favourite artists is starting today in a nearby University Museum, and we made reservations for one of our favourite restaurants afterward. We started watching the X-Men films in order last night, in preparation for the new one that opened yesterday. Tomorrow we have no specific plans, and Monday my BFF is coming over for brunch to celebrate the three May birthdays in our household.

@JLeslie My wife pulls that stuff on rare occasion. It’s usually when she has too much stress and can’t get a break.

I’m going to laze out all weekend—oh wait, I do that every weekend.

But this weekend I’ll watch a lot of WWII movies and personally thank any vet I see.

A co-worker volunteered to help put up a “healing field” where they put up 1,000 3’x5’ flags on 8’ tall posts in an open field and I am heading out there this weekend to experience this amazing display of honor to our servicemen.

I am going to a BBQ/party tomorrow and went to the lake with a friend yesterday. I don’t know any vets to thank, but if I meet one I will, that said, however, while I support the vets/troops, I do not support the war machine.

I am in Disney World celebrating my wife’s birthday.

@cookieman Is it very crowded? I was thinking about going this weekend. I haven’t checked the Disney app to see the wait times. Probably better if I go on a weekday. In another two weeks I won’t go until October when the kids are back in school and the ridiculous heat is over.

@ARE_you_kidding_me We have been under a ton of stress. This partiulcar “fight” is an ongoing frustration of my husband coming from a family that doesn’t plan for shit, me being more of a planner, and all too often my efforts to help with anything, not just planning, coming back like a slap in the face. Thank God my husband is generally more of a planner than his family, and I am actually less of one than my family, so we are not that far apart in my own household, but still have problems with it.

I’ve met too many who enlisted in the military as an outlet for their own psychopathic tendencies to be willing to simply blindly thank any veteran I come across.

Not to mention that no veteran, at least since the close of WWII, has actually fought in my defense.

@Darth_Algar I was jus talking to my son about the fact that there hasn’t actually been a war to protect the freedom of the US since WWII.

After seven years of voluntary un- and underemployment, I am excited as shit to start my new full-time editing job on Tuesday. I’ve been on unemployment for the last six weeks, which has been driving me nuts, but this week has been like a real staycation. I have plenty to keep me busy including some yard work, some theatre errands, my niece and nephew’s talent show, a party in the mountains and a day trip to my parents cabin. Plus, we’ve gotten some rain. It’s going to be a really pleasant weekend.

@FlyingWolf

Well to be honest I’m not sure that our freedom was ever really at stake during WWII, but I’ll allow that maybe it was a justified war.

@JLeslie: It’s certainly busy, but not ridiculously so. Longest wait time so far has been 30-minutes. Of course, we don’t do the super-popular thrill rides. Weather is ugly, but it’s Florida — and I hate Florida weather anytime of year; but if ya wanna go to Disney World…

@cookieman The best ride is Soaring’ in Epcot. That always has a fairly long wait though. I just checked it, 100 minutes currently. I would never wait that long, gotta get a fast pass, do the other ride in The Land, eat there, and then go back in line at Soarin’. That’s my only bit of advice I will bore you with if you go to Epcot. Disney has many times during the year with good weather and barely a line. You just have to go while the kids are still in school and it is not a holiday weekend.

I can’t believe I am in agreement for the 2nd time with @Darth_Algar (I’ve met too many who enlisted in the military as an outlet for their own psychopathic tendencies to be willing to simply blindly thank any veteran I come across.)

As for WWII @FlyingWolf You might also mention to your son that although the US fought to protect our freedom, we (the wealthy elite) actually funded the Nazi party and so we put into power the maniac whom we had to remove from power because he went berserk and refused to follow orders of those who funded his rise to power.

I am going fishing this weekend and am going to try to forget that wars are only fought to enrich the war profiteers and are never ever fought to protect our way of life nor our freedom.

Freedom must be fought for on an individual level. I fight for mine daily. So far I am winning.

Today I tended the animals as usual: milked the goats, collected the eggs, sheared three sheep. I spent the rest of the morning checking Betsy’s tackle, massaging the leather with saddle soap, getting it ready for the cane harvest. She won’t like it. I better hitch her to the grinder now and then to get her used to it again before we bring in the cane. Cane syrup, molasses, and sweet water. Mmmm. The blackberries are almost ready. Blackberry Doobies. Double Mmmm. Everything happens sooner down here. I bought some cured goatmeat in town yesterday. It’s a specialty here. Their marinade is different, they don’t use curry like the Jamaicans. It’s good thinly sliced on toast with their special goat milk horseradish sauce. After lunch Sam and I are taking the mare, Shy, out for some exercise. I’ll take Betsy along too. Maybe some of Shy’s good temperament will rub off on her.

The only Vet I’m in contact with is about 600 mi. NW of here. I’ll be seeing him in June on a charter. Army Combat Medic, 75th Rangers (Tiger Stripes), two tours: Nam, Laos, and Cambodia at the tail end of the war. He came back home, went to Loyola, then Gregorian University, and came out a Jesuit. Got big into liberation theology and now sets up schools in developing countries. Somewhere along the line, he learned to sail and now whenever he needs a break, he calls and we go sailing. We’ve had the conversation. Thanks, Mike. And thank you to all the Vets here on Fluther. I hope you all have a great weekend.

I just got home after a hard day of engineering work.
Maybe future Vets will thank me.

Well….sadly, a lot of California kids and their families wonderful 3 day weekend has been devastated by yet another crazy shooter that went on a killing spree here in Santa Barbara last night. So. Fucking. Sad. :-(

OMG @Coloma I just read it. “GOLETA, Calif. (AP) — The family of a man they believe went on a shooting rampage near a Santa Barbara, California, university called police several weeks ago after being alarmed by YouTube videos “regarding suicide and the killing of people,” a lawyer said Saturday.

Police interviewed Elliot Rodger and found him to be a “perfectly polite, kind and wonderful human,” family attorney Alan Shifman said.

Edit: They don’t say this is the gunman.

@Dan_Lyons Yep, spoiled rich, fucked up kid who felt rejected by the college girls. This world. :-(

When that other German cocksucker tried to take over the world a lot of good people gave their lives so we could be free. Yeah, we owe them.

Well, unless I go for overtime, every weekend is a 3-day weekend for me. This could’ve been a 4-day weekend, but I volunteered to work Monday; they’re offering double-time, and I need the money.

I may also spend a bit of time shaking my head at people like @ragingloli who are so anti-military that they’re actually delusional.

My wife and I will be picking up our election equipment on Sunday: we’ll be working as reservists for the CA primary election on June 3rd.

After that we’re going to the Her HRC dance party.

I’m going here this afternoon, about 15 miles up the mountain from me.
Going to be 90 today, oooh icey cold river here we come.

www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Photo/detail/photoid/878437/

I felt compelled to update about the weekend. Last night we went to see the Florida Orchestra as I mentioned above and it was awesome! Thank goodness, because I needed something to switch my husband’s mood. There were only about ten of us there who were under the age of 60 I think. Not that it matters, but it was hard to miss. I had bought cheap seats, just $15 a ticket, but the place is on the small side and all seats are good. What a bargain. I have a feeling all the best from Boston, Chicago, NYC, and other great cities move to FL eventually and so the orchestra here is amazing for being in a smaller city (not very small, but not huge).

They played some of the well known and not so well known very American songs. Towards the end they did a sing along and the whole audience participated. Songs like God Bless America, My Country Tis of Thee, I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, and a couple of others. They turned up the house lights and did a salute to the armed forces and when the song from your branch played that you served in, or someone in your family served in, you were asked to stand. There were a lot of people in the audience who were able to stand.

It was very nice, the conductor was wonderful. He gave background to most of the songs and he told a few bad jokes that made you giggle.

The best part was my husband said at the end of the night, “we can see the orchestra any time you want.” I should have done that a long time ago. We talked about how nice it would be to take his parents since language is not a barrier. Not for the most part anyway.

Great night.