Please Take One Minute

inthecircle · June 17th, 2008, 06:48 AM

The following is a link to one of the most beautiful videos I've ever seen. I ask only that if you click the link please watch the video all the way through. It doesn't matter what your political views are, just watch........it brought me to tears.

[MEDIA]http://s259.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid259.photobucket.com/albums/hh289/Impish_Dragon/Untitled.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1[/MEDIA]

**tooncesthecat** · June 17th, 2008, 07:06 AM

I have heard parts of this as a commercial on the radio (let's you know what I listen to). Very moving. PERSPECTIVE is everything. Our worries are usually pretty insignificant...REP to you inthecircle and my thoughts and prayers to those serving in all branches of our military!!!!!!

**griffo2** · June 17th, 2008, 08:29 AM

Ok ITC.....I am on dial up here of that i will tell you(DL time)...If this is one of these,OMG how do I live with myself threads again I will scream.I have watched these till the cows came home...If I was to take on board what you yanks did to the natives Indians of the US....What the foocking poms did the aboriginals of Aussie....Or what the bombs did to Dresden,I would have a major problem with getting out of bed in the morning....let alone anything else....Let me look at this before Emreka and heaps more pm/ring me with complaints.

Edit,edit...some mins later i may say....Whilst I hear ye bro....I really do,believe me.

Here is a forum of head beaters for you to look at.Bombing of Dresden - The Education Forum

The problem is there is no answer mate....There is a life apart from the military and the society that
we live in.Its a sick sad focked up world we live in..

Many mins later....Ok I could have gone back and edited out my earlier script....Yeah I now think we all need to look at some thing like that more often than not....Mostly the scum that live their life like the scum from sex and the city.

I think I'll listen and play " he aint heavy he's my brother "

Good thread...It deserves more than reps that I gave it.

inthecircle · June 17th, 2008, 10:01 AM

Thanks griffo.

This post is not about support of any war or any decisions made by superiors, but support for the men and women who are there or anywhere in the world serving their country, whichever country it may be.

Being an ex-Navy man myself, I know the hardship of being away from family and friends for extended periods. Missing holidays, birthdays, etc. I served on a submarine for 4 yrs. I missed many specials occasions. We worry all to often about things, in the grand scheme of things, that don't mean all that much compared to what military personnel deal with on a daily basis trying protect the rights/laws/land of whatever country they serve.

Those serving may not agree with their superiors decisions on where they should or should not be, but they go and sacrifice. I have and always will have a special place in my heart for all service men and women all over the world.

**ckn** · June 17th, 2008, 11:43 AM

Great thread. Reps added.

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One minor quibble though... one thing that the author got wrong though was the personal admin side of the soldier's life.

A good soldier will ALWAYS make time to get clean socks & underwear, brush his teeth, do other personal maintenance and act as an example to his peers.
A good junior NCO will make sure his not-so-good soldiers do their personal admin whether they want to or not. A junior NCO with soldiers with bad personal hygiene is dangerously incompetent, if needed, get the disinfectant and a hard brush until the soldier "learns" how to do it themselves.
A good Sgt will ensure his soldiers get their food every day when in the field and have enough to last until they get more. A Sgt with soldiers without food and plentiful clean water is incompetent and does not deserve his rank.
A good Lt will ensure his soldiers get no more than their fair share of nasty duties and that their Sgts are doing their logistics job well. A Lt who gets to Capt or Major without shouting at a more senior officer over soldier welfare doesn't deserve the promotion.
A good sub-unit commander (Major) will make sure his junior officers are looking after their soldiers. A Major who has not threatened a "fail" grade on a Lt on their annual review due to their soldiers not being looked after properly is either in a miracle unit or is incompetent.
A good unit/battalion commander who does not know his exact logistics situation is incompetent and needs to be replaced immediately.

In short, there's one hell of a lot of people looking out for soldiers' basic needs.

**SAINT_X** · June 17th, 2008, 11:43 AM

...are you kidding? This is supposed to be non-political? Every other frame seems to be a criticism of those who oppose the war. How deep did they have to dig to find those crazy people with anti -troop signs?....I've never heard of such. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was faked. I am as anti-Bush and Cheney as you can get...I think the war is a stupendous blunder of epic proportions, but my respect for the kids over there trying to make the best of a bad situation is boundless.
Of all the anti-war people I know I have yet to hear a single one say denigrating things about the troops themselves.
I am descended from American ( and Confederate) soldiers dating back to the revolutionary war all the way to WW2...and I am not afraid to say that this little film is a crass and craven play on soldiers pain and suffering just so the author can get in some cheap shots on people who oppose the lies and deceit that our leaders used to start the war.

**ckn** · June 17th, 2008, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAINT_X

...are you kidding? This is supposed to be non-political? Every other frame seems to be a criticism of those who oppose the war. How deep did they have to dig to find those crazy people with anti -troop signs?....I've never heard of such. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was faked. I am as anti-Bush and Cheney as you can get...I think the war is a stupendous blunder of epic proportions, but my respect for the kids over there trying to make the best of a bad situation is boundless.
Of all the anti-war people I know I have yet to hear a single one say denigrating things about the troops themselves.
I am descended from American ( and Confederate) soldiers dating back to the revolutionary war all the way to WW2...and I am not afraid to say that this little film is a crass and craven play on soldiers pain and suffering just so the author can get in some cheap shots on people who oppose the lies and deceit that our leaders used to start the war.

I agree in some ways with that sentiment. Those "god hates fags" lot that picket soldiers' funerals are an extreme minority that are not representative of the anti-war people.

You CAN be anti-war and pro-soldiers. I am fundamentally against the Iraq war, while being broadly supportive of the Afghanistan war, yet still have many friends in the army serving in both countries right now.

I've said it before and I'll say it again here, every death of a soldier in Iraq is a indelible stain on the soul of every politician who voted for the Iraq war. Scum, every single one of them.

**SAINT_X** · June 17th, 2008, 11:51 AM

I totally agree.

inthecircle · June 17th, 2008, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAINT_X

...are you kidding? This is supposed to be non-political? Every other frame seems to be a criticism of those who oppose the war. How deep did they have to dig to find those crazy people with anti -troop signs?....I've never heard of such. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was faked. I am as anti-Bush and Cheney as you can get...I think the war is a stupendous blunder of epic proportions, but my respect for the kids over there trying to make the best of a bad situation is boundless.
Of all the anti-war people I know I have yet to hear a single one say denigrating things about the troops themselves.
I am descended from American ( and Confederate) soldiers dating back to the revolutionary war all the way to WW2...and I am not afraid to say that this little film is a crass and craven play on soldiers pain and suffering just so the author can get in some cheap shots on people who oppose the lies and deceit that our leaders used to start the war.

I debated as to whether I would respond or not. I did not intend for this to become a "political" thread. It was, honestly, as I saw it as way to say "Hey maybe we don't have it that bad over here compared to what our troops deal with everyday."

As far as the people with the signs I can say I saw that first hand. We had a large community memorial service at the International Exposition Center here in Cleveland to honor our returning reserve troops, the Third Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment, and those who gave all about a year ago. These people were standing on the road to the entrance of the IX Center. There were about 12 of them. If I remember right they were from some radical church group saying that because of homosexuality, that was the reason our troops were dying and the reason 9-11 happened. They attempted to demonstrate at many of the funerals of dead servicemen here.

As I stated earlier I served our country for 6 years, 2 in various Navy schools and 4 on the USS Minneapolis Saint Paul SSN-708 nuclear submarine as a Sonar Tech. I am proud of our military, not so much the non-uniformed "leaders" and where they have put our troops. But I feel for their families and friends. If it is the least I can do is to bring to the attention of others to think about or even pray for them and their families....then that alone puts a proud smile on my face.

**SAINT_X** · June 17th, 2008, 02:00 PM

...how crazy are those people? Protest soldiers funerals as a way to express anti-Gayism?..I have heard of this. I swear...I don't know if I could restrain myself from knocking some teeth out if I saw that.

**A1food4U** · June 17th, 2008, 02:27 PM

I have looked over the responses here and need to go back to something I posted earlier.

Agenda, Agenda, Agenda, on both sides, some see a sad but beautiful story, others see rhetoric and jabs....Set aside the differences that have formed in ideaology and political leans.
Reduce this to "they deserve our support and a situation better than they've been givin". There will always be nutbags, be them political, ideological or theological to distract us during any argument. If we let the distractors rule we will all be lost in the end.

"And they shall know us by our love" is this really true????

**PythonPower** · June 19th, 2008, 03:06 AM

That was......Beautiful and very well put and said. its not about war or no war, but what the troops do.

**Insex** · June 19th, 2008, 03:41 AM

That was a very inspirational video. This war is not just about politics, it's about our troops too, and their lives are at stake every single day.

The part of the video that showed clips of that crazy church group protesting at solder funerals really saddened me. Remember this psycho on Hannity & Colmes?

YouTube - Fred Phelps supporter on Hannity &...

**ckn** · June 19th, 2008, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Insex

That was a very inspirational video. This war is not just about politics, it's about our troops too, and their lives are at stake every single day.

The part of the video that showed clips of that crazy church group protesting at solder funerals really saddened me. Remember this psycho on Hannity & Colmes?

YouTube - Fred Phelps supporter on Hannity & Colmes

One of our better investigative journalists, Louis Theroux, did a one hour special showing him living with these people for three weeks.

Youtube Link

Very disturbing TV.

I'm not sure I really agree with the restraint shown by the US people in that programme. Theroux goes along with the idiots to a couple of funeral "protests", sees some of the hate banners they have and at one point they're within feet of a group of mourners. In the UK, they'd have received a good kicking and have thoroughly deserved every bit of it.