Thank you to all the veterans on this board and all veterans past and present.

[Lovebears65]

And a special thanks to my hubby who served 25 years . Without all off you this nation would not be free. Lets hope it stays this way~~~

 

[waltky]

Granny says dat's whats wrong with dis country...

Fewer members of Congress today also served in military
10 Nov.`11 WASHINGTON – Just 22% of members of Congress today have also served in the military — the lowest number since at least World War II.

The decline has been steady since the end of the draft in the 1970s, when the World War II generation was at the height of its political power. Then, four in five members of Congress had military service on their resume. Even the 4.8 million new veterans from the Gulf War era and later haven't reversed the trend. And while women have grown to 17% of Congress, they're only 7% of veterans. Only one female veteran now serves in Congress: Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Fla. The facts of military life work against veterans as modern candidates, says Donald Zillman, the president of the University of Maine at Presque Isle and an Army veteran who has studied veterans in Congress. "You're moving around frequently. You have significant restrictions on political activity. And you're not making a lot of money."

Zillman argues that the decline has political consequences — particularly in foreign policy and civilian-military relations. Recent veterans, for example, are likely to have a greater skepticism about America's capacity for "nation building" overseas. "I'm almost at the tipping point," he says. "If we start dropping even further, and the expectations is we will, you really start losing that experience base that's really valuable." Seth Lynn is more optimistic. He's the director of the Veterans Campaign, a non-partisan project at George Washington University that trains veterans for political office. He says today's veterans are arguably more prepared for political leadership than ever. "There are young guys who have been in charge of entire towns in Iraq, who have had to worry about how to get clean water into town, how to control different factions — and they're dealing with people who don't speak their language and people are trying to kill them."

The party makeup of congressional veterans has usually reflected the overall control of Congress, but has trended Republican. Of the 92 House veterans today, 63 are Republican. In the Senate, the 24 veterans are split evenly across the aisle. So Democrats are reprising their "Vet Strategy" of 2006, in which nine high-profile Democratic veterans ran for Congress. This year, there are 11 running in what the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sees as winnable districts. To Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., veteran candidates fit perfectly with a key theme of his campaign for Democrats to take back the House in 2012: "There is an unquenchable thirst by Americans for problem solvers. They want members of Congress that aren't about moving to the left or moving to the right but moving the country forward. And what better candidate to carry that message than a veteran?" Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and a military history buff, says military service shouldn't be a prerequisite. "But show me a vet and I will show you someone who is patriotic, who is disciplined, who is willing to sacrifice," he said. "With non-veterans, you often get one of those, sometimes two. With a veteran, you instantly get all three."

One candidate Israel is bullish on is Brendan Mullen, a decorated former Army combat engineer who's running in a Republican-leaning open seat in South Bend, Ind. Mullen said he hopes to put a face on veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. "It's a big part of who I am. It's very personal to me, the war," says Mullen, who graduated from West Point in 2001 as part of what he calls the "Class of 9/11." "When I sit at a coffee that my mother's friend-of-a-friend has hosted for me, everyone knows of a soldier who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan in a sort of six-degrees-of-separation kind of way, but a lot of folks have yet to meet one." Other Democrats include former general John Douglass, running against Rep. Frank Wolf in Virginia, and Tammy Duckworth, an assistant Veterans Affairs secretary running for the second time in what looks to be an open Illinois seat. The National Republican Campaign Committee wouldn't discuss its veteran recruiting efforts, but provided a list of 74 GOP veteran challengers looking to run in 51 Democratic districts. Many will face off in primaries, and few of the districts are considered competitive.

Source

 

[WatertheTree]

From one American to the troops, I am sorry that we consistantly disregard your lives and personel safety for wars intended to further increase the wealth of the oligarchy. I am sorry that so many of you have died not for freedom or the spreading of democracy, but for lies and mistruths. I am sorry that apathy and complacency has so permiated our society that most people are not interested in anything more then what the propaganda tube broadcasts. I am sorry that your feelings of patriotism and nationhood when you enlisted have been raped by the desires of corporate power. I am sorry that our government has created such hatred and disdain throughout the world that your risk is increased tenfold. I am sorry that I to was duped and originally supported the Iraq war. I am sorry that our nation consistantly violated international treaties designed to keep all soldiers safe if captured by the enemy, which in turn makes you not safe in that situation. I am sorry that our country is ran by such a pitiful group of lowlifes that they see a soldier only a tool for revenue, and not a instrument of freedom and hope.

One day we will take control of our government once agian, and we will never put a soldier in harms way unless there is a clear and present threat to the United States. One day we will make it up to all the dead soldiers who died for the ideals of America, that the last couple of generations has tossed into the toilet. One day we as Americans will learn to not only stand up for ourselves, but for the ideals that once made America great. One day we will reject military conflict by executive order. One day we will require congress to debate the validity of a war before allowing the government to commit soldiers to it.

The words 'thank you' are just two words. In my opinion those words are hollow and empty. They make as much sense as spending 1.98 on a magnet to put on a car. No you guys watch your back there, and we will watch your back here. The few of us left that actually care that daily you guys are dodging bullets and watching roadsides for bombs, we support you. We want you to come home.

 

[Lakhota]

You're welcome.

Who served?

 

[eots]

All veterans past and present have my sympathy and condolences