A Noise That Adds Fuel to the Fire
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Please tell me that noise from Fort Bragg is not the frightening recoil of what sounds like atomic cannons. Or the resounding thunder of the military industrial complex making money and fighting wars we can’t win, wasting trillions of dollars and abetting the bankruptcy of average citizens.
It’s the same kind of noise patriotic cant and propaganda make, designed to deafen you, blind you, and stop you from thinking so that you’ll mindlessly rally round the flag and get on board with agendas of extreme nationalism that make nations further apart, fierce competitors and bound off from one another.
Perhaps instead of making so much noise, the cannons should emit balloons with peace symbols or little flags that say “bang.”
Maybe something like that would serve to defuse a society stoked on destructive hyper-masculinity that trains its discarded working class to fight wars that practically no one wants so they can have a job, making many of them unemployable and scarred for life either physically, mentally or emotionally in civilized society when they return.
Bob Katrin
Southern Pines
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Comments
JER 1 year, 7 months ago
Let me first say I admire you for writing this letter Mr. Katrin. Thank you for your comments.
bigD 1 year, 7 months ago
Our country’s veterans have highly desirable job skills. Leadership training and strong work ethic put these folks at the top of any employers list. Your statement that these people are “unemployable” shows a total lack of understanding on running a business and a total lack of understanding as to the quality of person our military turns out.
Sound to me like Mr. Katrin should pack up his bags and move to a country that does not have the means to defend herself. He may also consider taking a Chinese or Russian language course.
RmeMP 1 year, 7 months ago
As a veteran, I am doing my best to hold my tongue and respect your personal views about our military men and woman - and the equipment we use to maintain our superiority.
I am sorry that we don't live in a perfect world, I am sorry there are evil men who wish to do our country harm, I am sorry that the machinery and training that our military needs is an inconvenience to you, but I am also NOT sorry for the sacrifices that myself and other veterans have made for you to able able to have your personal views, even if I do not agree with them.
I hope you have a good weekend, and I hope you sleep tight tonight in your warm bed with your family while brave men and woman are away from theirs defending this great nation :)
LB67 1 year, 7 months ago
I'll bet Fort Bragg was there when you moved to the area, if you don't like the noise leave
dustyrhoades 1 year, 7 months ago
Perhaps instead of making so much noise, the cannons should emit balloons with peace symbols or little flags that say “bang.”
Mr. Katrin, we've met, and I do like and respect your opinion. I'd love it if big guns never had to be fired in anger. But if at some point they do, I'd like for the people firing them to be competent enough to hit what they're supposed to be aiming at. You only get that way through practice.
dustyrhoades 1 year, 7 months ago
Leadership training and strong work ethic put these folks at the top of any employers list.
I wish that were true. Unfortunately, the unemployment rate is higher for veterans than non veterans.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/5594894-418/yyyyyy.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/obama-to-announce-veterans-unemployment-initiatives/2011/08/04/gIQA1gNKvI_blog.html
not2us 1 year, 7 months ago
"Perhaps instead of making so much noise, the cannons should emit balloons with peace symbols or little flags that say “bang.”
Really? Do you live in a cartoon?
I bet you wouldn't have submitted this letter ten years ago. Shame on you for forgetting.
bigD 1 year, 7 months ago
Yes, the unemployment rate among veterans is higher. But it is not higher because these individuals are unemployable. Your post lists a couple of reasons for this and I can think of a few more. These unemployed vets need to take advantage of the GI Bill benefits that pay full cost of education. Once they become full time students they will no longer be unemployed.
geoffcutler 1 year, 7 months ago
RmeMP I respect your restraint. I'm sure that wasn't easy. Letters like this? Really makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Sean 1 year, 7 months ago
.
Hembloche 1 year, 7 months ago
"making many of them unemployable and scarred for life either physically, mentally or emotionally in civilized society when they return."
Maybe I'm just not reading this right but it doesn't seem to me that Mr. Katrin is saying veterans in general are unemployable, just that many are from injuries (physical and mental) sustained overseas.
bigD 1 year, 7 months ago
I am willing to give Mr. Katrin the benefit of the doubrt regarding your point. A better word for unemployable is disabled if this is his point.
Not that I am an English teacher by any stretch of the immaganation.
teufelhunden 1 year, 7 months ago
Hembloche-you make a good point and that's many time true unfortunately.
RmeMP-I can relate. Yes we fight for freedom so that everyone can have free speech.
A great resource for active duty servicemen/women is their reserve counterparts. I knew reserve pilots who were doctors, lawyers, professors, brokers, etc. who found time to devote to their country! They can be great contacts in the civilian world (networking).
MikeNC 1 year, 7 months ago
Bob Katrin: You may have to move 'up up and away' in your Beautiful balloon to escape the noise. Diane
DaveyNC 1 year, 7 months ago
Well, somebody needs to go to Zucotti Park this weekend where you will find solace.
skylinefirepest 1 year, 7 months ago
Military-Industrial Complex....WOW, haven't heard that since the hippies of the Viet-nam era!! Back when the "peace mongers" would spit on our returning soldiers. Didn't happen to me, probably because in my Air Force uniform of the time they thought I was a bus driver or something. But it did make an impression and I didn't care for those types then and have even less of respect for it now. Especially now, after the attacks of 9-11. Our soldiers keep the country safe through their patriotic service. The shame of it is that our politicians seem to enjoy putting them in Harm's way.
BIONFROST 1 year, 7 months ago
Bravo Mr. Katrin for your insight.
dustyrhoades 1 year, 7 months ago
Military-Industrial Complex....WOW, haven't heard that since the hippies of the Viet-nam era!!
The term was coined by a Republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Some hippie.
RmeMP 1 year, 7 months ago
"Military-Industrial Complex" - haven't heard that one since moonbeam, I mean moonchild, stopped commenting... she used it every other comment she made ;)
moonchild7 1 year, 7 months ago
Our MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, that's been bombing and booming it's Howitzer's thru our nice October air, uses, abuses, and then throws away as many human beings as it needs to, so it can maintain it's power grip on our country. Along with the Wall Street Bankers, Hedge Funders, Brokers and "Stinker's", the rest of us do whatever we can do or have to do just to survive this all out ASSAULT on the working class of America....the 99%. I'm one of them. I imagine many of you are too. When I hear the planes flying low overhead, or the machine guns rat-a-tat-tats, or the windows shaking, I don't think about their needing to practice but rather whether or not those young men and women thought over their choice of joining the military well enough to realize the possibility that their carcass might be all they can ever be. Thank you Mr. Katrin. See you on Wall Street in November?
RmeMP 1 year, 7 months ago
ahhh, there you are moonbeam; i have an idea for you, why dont you try starting one of your liberal, hippie, soros funded, rallies here in carthage - see how well that goes over for you in a military community ;)
JER 1 year, 7 months ago
Things that make you go hmmmmm: Members of the military, both past and present, as well as all "patriotic" Americans, explain how great the sacrifice and how difficult the job of being a defender of our freedom is. Yet if anyone suggests that there might be other ways to keep us safe, the response is: Oh no, we can't do that!! What are you, some sort of an unpatriotic scum ball? War is a part of the fiber of mankind. For a few of us, that fiber has worn thin and we're able to see through it. We are not you enemy, we are your friend and neighbor. We don't want to see you deployed for long periods, away from your loved ones. Yes,we want our country to be safe and we need the special kind of people, like you, who defend it. We just want you to be here, with us, defending OUR country, our borders, our people. We are not naive, we understand that we must keep our ear to the ground and know what is going on outside our borders. That is the job of our embassies. We also know that we have friends and allies throughout the world. When they need help in defending their country, we contribute to that help through an organization made up of many countries. That is the job of the United Nations. Help us all work together to make this country the best that it can be. We need to start today!!
skylinefirepest 1 year, 7 months ago
Hey Moonie...yes, those "kids" are some of the most patriotic people you'd ever want to meet...Oh, I'm sorry, you don't care to meet them do you?? Funny you should ask whether they thought about signing up or not. I know firemen that joined after 9-11. That's one group that surely knows about risking their all for their fellow man. I've also worked with the SF "Robin Sage" program for over twenty years and as you know, well, again, you probably don't, that they are all volunteers.
You are proud you're a 99er but from your posts I realize that you've simply decided that industry, the rich, the job producers, the capitalists, are responsible for the un-employed in this country and certainly not the policies of the current administration. When Obama is defeated in the next election the economy and the job situation will improve within days.
Yukonjohn 1 year, 7 months ago
To all the vets on here, from one to the other, Thank You for your service in keeping our nation free. You know, I have long hair and a beard, and I am very liberal on many social issues, but I am also reaching retirement age, and while I am so proud of my time to my country, so these kids have the right to peacefully assemble. I wish they had the sense to realize it. Our freedom does not come free, and with their protest, they do precious little towards keeping our nation that way!!
Yukonjohn 1 year, 7 months ago
Moonchild, Please know that as JER posted earlier, We are not your enemy, we are your friends, your neighbors, and people that love our nation so much that we would have given our lives for it. And there have been so many that have given it their all. Just as you feel so strongly about your ideals, this is one issue that you will get same response from vets. None of us wants to see our great country at war, but it is inevitable. Just know, it is a very sensitive subject for many vets. Wishing you a good weekend from the frozen north!!
Iam 1 year, 7 months ago
Mr. Katrin, I applaud your courage to speak your truth. Too many in our country have been brain washed by the Military Industrial Complex that Eisenhower, the great WWII general and Republican President, warned us about so many years ago. Too many have lost sight of the important difference between patriotism and nationalism. Our world is changing rapidly now and we are finally waking up and seeing that it is time to realize we are all citizens of one beautiful planet and that we can and will learn to treat each other with the greatest respect. Those with the most invested in the current war and fear and greed and intolerance will cry the loudest for maintenance of the status quo. Their views must be tolerated but not condoned.
Toda 1 year, 7 months ago
With all of that training and state-of-the-art technology, equipment and munitions, we could win one for all of the veterans who have served our county so gallantly. Someone please explain why our warriors are ordered to establish a fire base (fishbowl) with mountains surrounding their base? Where were the 155's during those operations that put our servicemen in direct fire from surrounding mountains?
Tatoosh 1 year, 7 months ago
"Our world is changing rapidly now and we are finally waking up and seeing that it is time to realize we are all citizens of one beautiful planet and that we can and will learn to treat each other with the greatest respect". Would someone convince the Radical Muslim Extremists that it is a beautiful planet? Their interpretation of the Koran tells them that it is their duty to kill (nonbelievers). What a wonderful world. Get your head out of the sand!
RmeMP 1 year, 7 months ago
details toda - please site your source?
Tatoosh 1 year, 7 months ago
The United Nations is a sham. We pay 1/3 of the budget for the entire world. We sacrifice more treasure and blood than any other nation. It has become a vehicle for Presidents to carry on conflicts disguised as UN Operations circumventing Congress. We can put our taxpayer dollars to better use.
JER 1 year, 7 months ago
Tatoosh: If your comments about the UN are correct, all the more reason for us to concentrate on protecting OUR people and OUR borders. The perfect use of our tax dollars.
moonchild7 1 year, 7 months ago
I've posted this "info" about my families MILITARY HISTORY previously. Here's the short version. My nephew will soon finish his 5 yr TOUR of DUTY with the US ARMY. He served in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN, and lucikly he survived both. My family gave enough "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" in America's Warz, with men serving in WWI, WWII, and Vietnam. I lost an Uncle(never met him but his Mom was my favorite aunt)over the North Sea in WWII. My father joined the Navy in WWII after working in the Baltimore shipyards as a "Mast Gang" member. He said he saw so many men fall to their deaths while putting up the mast's on America's Liberty ships that he felt he'd be safer in the Navy My brother was in Saigon, Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968. So, perhaps my "problems" with the military has been because of the "many sacrifices" my family made to help defend our country. I might be witnessing "Occupy Wall Street" in November since I'm planning a visit to see my son then. He called yesterday and told me he went to the Times Square demonstrations on Saturday and he said I'd "enjoy" them. I told him that I "enjoyed" the Anti-War demonstrations I went to in the 60's and 70's very much....until they sent in the National Guard and Tanks.
bald_dude 1 year, 7 months ago
I am not going to sit here and give any of you a history lesson. If you are familiar with all the conflicts that the US military has participated in then I am sure you are aware of the outcome and major governments that were involved. If you don’t know your history, then I feel you really have no right commenting on things that you know nothing about (go back to school and pay attention to your history teacher.) To those who are supportive of our Armed Forces members and families, thank you so very much and we truly appreciate your words of support and encouragement. To those who would sit in the comfort of their home or office and belittle the very fiber of what makes our Armed Forces great I say “Thanks to those of us serving and those who came before us – “You can enjoy those privileges!” If you have an issue with where and what our Armed Forces are doing, then maybe you should be smart enough to realize that we are “professionals” doing the jobs that our Commander and Chief and the civil political powers that be (whom we all elected) “tell us to do.” That’s our job, so please show some intelligence and respect by directing your frustration and political views to those venues, and let our Armed Forces be and do as we are directed. I would love to be at home right now and participate in my daughter’s senior year of High School instead of sitting in a wooden building, eating crappy food, and getting to tell my wife and daughter I love and miss them maybe if I am lucky every other day. I am here to tell you that without “your” Armed Forces, you quite possibly could be sitting in a dark home, wondering where your next meal will come from and wondering not if, but when, someone will come in your home and take what little you have. I have mentioned only our Armed Forces but the same thing could be said about our Civil Servants who also put their lives on the line every day. Do you complain about a siren wailing in the middle of the night as it passes by to save a life or prevent a home invasion? Are you one who complains about getting a speeding ticket because you were "breaking a law" or having to wait a few minutes to get through a police check point because a drunk driver is out on the road driving his car and looking for yours so he could hit and kill someone you love? Bottom line direct your comments to the venues they should be directed and quit demonstrating exactly how ignorant you are. Sincerely, A member of “Your” Armed Forces
moonchild7 1 year, 7 months ago
History lessons, bald_dude, are needed more than ever since no one reads anything anymore and what history people seem "to know" is either simply distorted or absolutely untrue. When the wealthy start TAKING EVERYTHING from those "underneath" them and maybe a few crumbs are distributed...well, revolutions happen. The MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, along with WALL STREET and I guess the "SUPER WEALTHY" too, just keep taking, and taking and taking. The results have been the same thoughout HISTORY. Read it sometime. Armies, from different countries and the same countries too...they have fought one another while being on different sides of the argument. This time is no exception, the victorius truth is on the side of the oppressed.
JER 1 year, 7 months ago
bald-dude: I don't know how old you are or how long you have been a member of the armed forces. Based on the comments you have made, I have a rough idea. What was "history" for you was real life for many of us you call ignorant. The one thing that history should make apparent is that fighting a war on terrorists is not the same as fighting organized armies of individual nations. What worked to defeat the Germans and Japanese armies won't net the same results against a band of terrorists. I don't put the blame on the grunts who do the bidding of their superior officers and the elected officials who control the entire operations. The only thing that I will say to the rank and file of the military is that you did volunteer and they can't have a war without you. If we had a draft to fill the ranks, we would not be doing what we currently are doing because the American people would not stand for it. Many (probably most) in this geographic area of Ft. Bragg will disagree with these comments because it's like be anti-car in Detroit. Our current method of fighting terrorists is like playing Whack-A-Mole at the carnival, a game designed to take in money not give out prizes. The point of my comments is to encourage more people to demand a better way to keep terrorists from terrorizing.