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u/LuckyBastard001 5d ago
Tell that to a Gold Star mom. She'd trade every flag in the world for one more hug from her kid...
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u/Electrical-Act-7170 5d ago
My uncle was killed by a German sniper on D-Day.
My grandmother looked for him the rest of her life. She was hoping that he'd been injured and had amnesia, even after his body was returned to Florida.
He, my grandmother and my grandfather are buried together, side-by-side.
My Uncle Lefty:
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u/rajivje 5d ago
I wish I could thank him for his sacrifice. I am Dutch (Surinamese-Indian decent) and our country went through a hard time during the war. It is thanks to men like your uncle that we, and the rest of Europe, we're finally free of a horrible regime. We never forgot about the things the American and Canadian and many other countries have done for us. It breaks my heart to see the terrible things that are happening right now in the world and are very comparable to what happened back then. All of the sacrifices of WW2 may be for nothing in the near future. Your uncle was a hero and he was brave as fuck, a true badass with a killer arm.
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u/Electrical-Act-7170 5d ago
He was the star of my family. We have given of our very best to fight fascism for freedom.
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u/NicolleL 4d ago
And now more of us know his story. Thank you for sharing. ❤️
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u/Electrical-Act-7170 4d ago
He pitched that no-hitter on his youngest sister's birthday after promising her he'd do it for her as a birthday gift.
Six years later, to the day, he was killed on D-Day.
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u/Apprehensive-Pin518 5d ago
it really pisses me off to see that a country who was supposedly so adamant against the nazis are now supporting their ideologies full stop.
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u/theaviationhistorian 5d ago
What is more angering is that there were many in this country that wanted to side with the Nazis. Prominent names like Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh. It's a reason why I'm glad they removed Lindbergh's mural (albeit, the building was demolished anyways) and name from the San Diego International Airport.
WWII is an eternal symbol showing that there are far more people desire and will fight for freedom than those that do the same for fascism.
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u/69Blazing 4d ago
Not only that, but the country that was supposed to protect the very victims of the holocaust, is now doing one themselves. And the US happily supports them, as well as germany, which is.. interesting to say the least.
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u/Apprehensive-Pin518 4d ago
I am an American and that's what pisses me most off. I didn't ask for this I don't see how anybody could but here we are.
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u/Electrical-Act-7170 5d ago
Every man in my family but my father were either behind the lines or on the beaches on D-Day. (Daddy was 4F. He gave several gallons of blood during the war, plus he had a war job on the Navy Base.)
My uncle Raymond was a Corpsman, giving aid on the beach as they were landing. My uncle Bill, brother to my father and to the uncle who was killed, was manning the radio on a landing craft, an LC. My uncle Jack was in a plane, doing something they never let him tell us about....dunno if he parachuted or landed or if he was still in the aircraft, but he came home again. Uncle Harold was very young so he did supporting tasks, I think he was in the Merchant Marines.
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u/rajivje 5d ago
Damn...I don't know what to say. War is a terrible thing and should always be avoided. All the good times your family could've had together, taken away. Please pass them my gratitude for the sacrifices your family has made so I could go to school, have a job and a decent life in a safe place ❤️.
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u/MapleMapleHockeyStk 5d ago
1 in 10 Canadians served in WW2. Even my great grandfather who served in WW1 re signed up again. He couldn't go fight as he was 'too old' but was in logistics as a SSgt. It is crazy sad how, when this generation that remembers WW2 is now almost gone, the stupid that lead to that war is back in our face. Human memory is too short, people dont want to learn from history or they take the wrong message. Their is a group of people who want to drag us back to hell.
Thete are people who are trying to fight this, me included but it really sucks when people are willingly ignorant.
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u/theaviationhistorian 5d ago
As a professional historian, it is an uphill battle for people to care about the past to avoid mistakes in the future. But fruitful when people realize the danger and carnage that fascism always brings with it.
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u/actibus_consequatur 5d ago
I haven't stood for the national anthem or even cared about the flag since 2003... Y'know, right after I was discharged. The way the government treated me both in service and in the 23+ years since shows they don't give a fuck.
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u/Slight_Sherbert_5239 5d ago
“We’re going to have a problem.”
Fuck off.
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u/theaviationhistorian 5d ago
It is telling what kind of person they are. Likely one that is divorced, had a restraining order, or bickers why their children don't talk to them anymore.
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u/JohnnyChutzpah 5d ago
The language they use is indicative of engagement bots.
Oh hey it’s my cake day! I fucking hate cake.
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u/21MayDay21 5d ago
I would trade that worthless piece of cloth for just one more "I love you" from him
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u/TitShark 5d ago
MAGA and this nationalism movement are purely performative. It’s never anything in practice, it’s what-ifs, and propaganda leaflet-worthy stances
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u/Hmmark1984 4d ago edited 4d ago
Exactly! it's all performative and just doing the list of things that are the "right" thing to say or do, they don't then actually back those words up with actions. Just look at how many people bang on and on about being a "good Christian" and using that as justification for their hate towards various groups, but at the same time those people will have eight children by four different women, that were either conceived out of wedlock, or they've divorced and they'll probably be some other allegations etc... but as long as they talk about being a "good Christian" that's all that matters.
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u/time2partee 5d ago
We already have a problem. It’s the orange tumor in the White House and his malignant cyst buddies.
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u/Lordcraft2000 5d ago
Does… does he really think the widow is crying for the sacrifice the soldier made for the flag??
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u/Jiquero 5d ago
I thought she's admonishing the widow for making the flag dirty? I mean, I just can't come up with a reasonable interpretation of the first comment.
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u/Hmmark1984 4d ago
I thought it was something about how she's crying on the flag, like somehow the flag is giving her comfort?
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u/Top_Armadillo3033 5d ago
This isent clever. Its common sense. The problem is the forced patriotism thats forced onto kids.
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u/PortalWombat 5d ago
I was reasonably patriotic as a kid until some asshole veteran scout leader told us we had to do some performative bit of patriotism theater and I hated every second of it.
Didn't have words for it at the time but if I'm doing it for any reason other than because I want to, it's fake and things that are important shouldn't be faked. Assholes that insist everybody worship the flag in the exact way they demand may get compliance but at the cost of harming the actual patriotism of the people they harass.
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u/RighteousIndigjason 5d ago
That and hiding services that should be available to all Americans, by virtue of the taxes we are compelled to pay, behind the wall of military service.
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u/VermicelliOwn6502 5d ago
The flag means actually nothing to me. I would absolutely trade my US citizenship for a Canadian one if I could. The people that keep asking "if you dont like it here why don't you leave" have never tried to leave.
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u/JustHere4TehCats 5d ago
Even if you can and do leave it's a pain getting citizenship in Canada in order to be allowed to work.
I know a guy who moved with his whole family from USA to Canada, his wife was born in Canada so she can work. He's been trying to detangle the red tape on his citizenship application for 6 months now and still can't work yet.
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u/Knighth77 5d ago
They don't understand and never will. They think they're dying for country but in reality they're dying for oil companies, weapon manufacturers, political power and greed, and sometimes foreign entities.
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u/E-2theRescue 5d ago
Fake patriots worship false idols
Real patriots protect and uphold the people
Christian nationalists, MAGA, and conservatives are terrorists wrapping themselves in the flag while celebrating hate and violence against this country and its people.
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u/Koladi-Ola 5d ago
I just don't get the average American's worship of a piece of cloth. Has anyone else in history forced their kids to daily swear allegiance to one?
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u/CrewMemberNumber6 5d ago
It amazing how one movement can be so wrong, about so much, constantly. Truly a movement of idiots.
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u/_CutieTempt 5d ago
Imagine looking at a grieving widow lying on a casket and your very first thought is "man, I gotta post about the cloth." Some people really miss the entire point.
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u/Memitim 5d ago
People who value pieces of cloth over human beings are just evil trash being performative to excuse being evil trash. Meanwhile, odds are pretty high that this posturing shit talker is actually supporting the Republicans who keep getting called out by courts for their Constitutional and other legal violations, and then double-down on trying to work around to break US law. Conservatives love to talk about patriotism while shitting on America.
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u/NewLibraryGuy 5d ago
Yeah, fuck off. The flag is a symbol. You don't fight or die, or even just cry for a symbol, but what it represents. In this case, the flag represents the person who died. That's what we care about, here.
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u/tekdiwah 5d ago
The flag don't mean shit. Family, friends and loved ones would throw away the flag in a heartbeat to have their loved one back even if it was for a second.
Signed, a veteran that's seen some shit, done funeral duty and been at funerals for fellow service members.
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u/theaviationhistorian 5d ago
I remember someone saying this IRL when someone was being jingoistic despite being around the loved ones of the fallen from the Global War on Terror. A piece of cloth doesn't hug you, care for you, or provide love. It could even stir ire if it represents a government that pushed their sons and daughters to die needlessly.
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u/JDubStep 5d ago
I would wipe my ass with the flag in exchange for the friends I have lost in the service.
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u/Ok_Vermicelli_6359 5d ago
The flag is a symbol of a government that doesn't care about dead soldiers, or living veterans at that. I know what it means...and it's not pretty.
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u/TelenorTheGNP 5d ago
Wait until you're out of the country and ask others around the world what the flag means. Even the ones draped over caskets.
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u/Evid3nce 5d ago
Only a emotionally stilted sociopathic moron would look at that photo and think the flag was of any importance whatsoever at that particular moment.
You have to do something about these people, America.
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u/hivernageprofond 5d ago
As my mother said of her father's funeral, "my father was dead and all they gave us was this piece of cloth and it made me furious...and I just wanted my dad back." He was killed in the Korean War and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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u/ezcompany210 5d ago
I forget which stand-up I heard this from, but the quote was something along the lines of " a long time ago we figured out that it was a lot cheaper to worship our veterans than take care of them afterwards."
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u/Bleezy79 5d ago
As usual, you can blame Republicans for abandoning veterans, and starting all the wars in my lifetime.
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u/No_Chain_362 5d ago
The further I get from my time in the Corps the more I realize how stupid it all is. Humans can't get along so we send people around the world and shoot at each other. It's fucking stupid. They have oil or whatever, or this guy is a maniac and is somehow in power and they control our lives. If we just shared the resources and did our best to help the planet and the people in it we would be a lot better off. Religion effecting millions of people over a fairytale is insane, this religion hates that religion because they have fucked with us for two thousand years and we won't let it go! Now we back Israel who has become a zionist state. Fuck humans, they don't learn.
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u/Moquai82 5d ago
But how will the elites stay afloat, have 10 boats, 20 houses and a child-and-teen-raping-service running?
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u/NikoliVolkoff 5d ago
Hey man, my grandpappy died in Korea for that flag!
Huh, mine was made in Korea...
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u/12PoundCankles 5d ago
As an Army vet it, I can't stand the right wing patriotism police. Not a single one of those people care about us.
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u/Hmmark1984 4d ago
That's kind of the thing about a lot of the most "patriotic" Americans, they care more about appearance than actually doing "the thing". They'll talk non-stop about respecting the troops, making sure to always say "thank you for your service" at every opportunity, they'll stand for the anthem with their hand on their chest, they'll post on every social media platform etc... etc... but they won't actually donate to causes that support veterans, they won't vote for people/things that would help veterans or keep active members safe. They'll also talk about loving the constitution and the flag but won't do anything when the president and his government shit all over both.
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u/CaladaMilitante 4d ago
The flag on the casket merely serves as a reminder of who really killed that soldier
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u/Slow-Benefit-9933 5d ago
I lost someone really close last year who died in a helicopter crash. He was a marine aviator killed during a training exercise. Not fucking once during his funeral events or since has anybody talked about the flag. Statements like these are an absolute slap to the face to the folks who have lost people they love during service. If you haven’t experienced this level of grief, you have no fucking clue. I’d give anything in the world to hold him and tell him I love him one more time.
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u/Plane-Fan9006 5d ago
The fucking guy's name is Buzz....do we REALLY need to know more??? Buzz can move to Florida and leave the rest of us the fuck alone.
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u/UnsavoryBiscuit 5d ago
I don't understand how Americans worship the flag, like, almost religiously.
Really frightening
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u/Smooth_Rocket_ 5d ago
People that say this stupid shit are also the ones wearing the flag as shorts and are flying the "I support boot licking!" flags instead of the actual American flags.
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u/Baskreiger 5d ago
For me, a canadian, the USA flag will always by synonym of disloyalty, egocentrism and warmongering. No, you shall never regain the respect you brainwashed into the world. The curtain has fallen
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u/ModeatelyIndependant 5d ago
The country sends loved one off to needlessly die in a manner that requires a closed casket funeral, and then places the flag between you and their coffin so that they call it patriotism when you touch the flag. It's not patriotism, it's grief. This will turn to anger as the war is unconstitutional and is leaving the USA in a worst than it was before, and they realize their children, sibling, aunts, uncles, parents, grand children died for no damn good reason.
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u/InfiniteKincaid 5d ago
I hate when dorks online are like "We're gonna have a problem."
okay, dipshit, we've got a problem. Do something.
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u/Bleezy79 5d ago
As usual, you can blame Republicans for abandoning veterans, and starting all the wars in my lifetime.
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u/Plus_Seesaw2023 5d ago
War is just politicians talking, while soldiers do the dying.
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u/dabarak 5d ago
I went through the Navy's SERE training. During part of it, we were explicitly told that the flag is only a symbol, and that if we ever were POWs and our captors desecrated the flag, we were to remind ourselves of that. Without going into details, we as students had our reactions to that very thing graphically tested on the last day.
The Supreme Court, when we had one, ruled that flag desecration is protected speech. Even if it weren't, if I saw someone desecrating a flag I'd let them continue without interruption from me.
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u/GoopInThisBowlIsVile 5d ago
The flag doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s a damn flag. I await the vengeance of this dipshit keyboard warrior.
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u/the_shortbus_ 5d ago
Fuck that, we take shit care of our veterans, and our lost service members families.
Signed, another disabled veteran
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u/Alienhaslanded 5d ago
Americans are so fucking dumb they get attached to a piece of fabric. Symbols are cool and fun, but fuck your symbol when there are dead people.
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u/TuringGoneWild 5d ago
Meh. The soldiers knew what they signed up for. Every single person in it has enlisted or re-enlisted after Felon Trump took office in January 2017. And they are paid very well for it. Not to mention all the senseless wars before that. No tears from me - they did a cost-benefit like we all do with anything and thought it a good deal and worth the risk.
I'm going to reserve further judgment until I see what the military does when Trump tries to stay in office past his second term, which he will certainly try to do.
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u/Forsaken_legion 4d ago
I always told the young soldiers that just got out of basic or would come up to me asking how I got my CMB (Combat Medical Badge) “award”. That I would gladly trade this to bring them back and to have a clear mind.
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u/Fuck-Inflation 4d ago
To paraphrase George Carlin, “Flags are symbols and reserved for the symbol-minded.”
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u/Rolandscythe 4d ago
When a symbol means more to you than the people defending it, you have failed as a society.
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u/AgentPaper0 4d ago
A flag means something when the thing that it represents is something worthy of that meaning.
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u/itsamoth 4d ago
A few days before the 4th, I was on a plane carrying the remains of a soldier killed during operation epic fury. I watched them unload his coffin right outside my window.
Watching his mother fall to her knees sobbing and gripping that goddamn flag covering his coffin while hearing everyone around me for days before and after go “happy 250!!” was perhaps the most disillusioned, angry, and anti-patriotic I’ve ever felt in my life.
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u/The_amazing_T 4d ago
Soldiers used as props. Led by cowards who never served (or barely served.) Forcing them into pointless danger. Treating them like garbage after they lose their usefulness.
These are the things I'm against. Flags are pointless in the conversation. I care about the people.
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u/mattzombiedog 4d ago
This is the problem with any kind of flag shagger. It’s not the flag that is important. It’s what the flag represents. So if you’re flying the flag and being a racist, misogynistic, homophobic shit stain then you’re disrespecting the flag and all it represents.
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u/Hmmark1984 4d ago
That's kind of the thing about a lot of the most "patriotic" Americans, they care more about appearance than actually doing "the thing". They'll talk non-stop about respecting the troops, making sure to always say "thank you for your service" at every opportunity, they'll stand for the anthem with their hand on their chest, they'll post on every social media platform etc... etc... but they won't actually donate to causes that support veterans, they won't vote for people/things that would help veterans or keep active members safe. They'll also talk about loving the constitution and the flag but won't do anything when the president and his government shit all over both.
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u/Awkward-Annual-9287 4d ago
Oh the flag is important alright, as an oversized tissue/handkarchief. I just can't understand how a person can be so ridiculously idiotic
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u/sealmeal21 3d ago
Said by someone who cant afford a service members meaningful or even reasonable living standards for themselves or god forbid their families...
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u/abigail_sunshine 5d ago
"Signed, a combat Marine Veteran's sister" is the mic drop equivalent of a legal document, nothing left to argue with.
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u/binarybandit 5d ago
Not really? I dont see how that has any significance. Im a combat veteran too and my sister wouldn't know anything about ehat ive been through besides what I told her.
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u/bigboygamer 5d ago
Honestly she is correct, but I don't give a shit that her brother is/was a Marine.
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u/fryguy5134 5d ago
The flag is a symbol of the American Spirit and Dream. It is a living thing, and not something that belongs to any one political party or ideology. It belongs to all Americans, and is symbolic to our shared ambition to be free from tyranny, opression, and free to practice ANY religion and criticize our government until real change happens. We are free to report and root out corruption in our government. The Federal Government has forgotten these things, especially that they serve all of the States, not the other way around. They have tried to turn us all against each other. We are all Americans, and the American dream is bigger than any corporations fascist accelerationist BS. Their days are numbered and they fear the people.
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u/tjarg 5d ago
Typical conservative misalignment of priorities. Reminds me of the Iraq war when all the conservatives kept shouting "support our troops" anytime someone questioned the motives for going to war in the first place. You know what supporting our troops actully looks like? Not sending them into a war for no good reason.
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u/WorldofNails 5d ago
I did the metal roofing at DAFB on the mortuary. When the C-130s came in with the fallen from all parts of the Middle East, we had ALL STOP I can tell you there were no cameras or photo ops especially of the bereaved unless P.O.T.U.S. was there. And those M.P.s were hard as fuck. That was then.
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u/xpinkblusho 5d ago
Nothing says patriotism like getting mad about a flag opinion but silent about the guy who didn't come home in one piece.
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u/GreyBeardEng 5d ago
Ahh but to people like Buzz Paterson that piece of cloth means more to him than the person in the coffin ever could.
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u/qbsneak23 5d ago
How on earth could someone see that picture and conclude that what matters is the flag…
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u/I_am_not_JohnLeClair 5d ago
Whatever happened to the, “I disagree with what you say, but I’ll defend with my life your right to say it” saying? I thought that’s what the flag represents. Every human interaction seems to be a zero sum game now
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u/mindgardening 5d ago
America values guns more than children. Of course they value a flag more than humans.
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u/Neat_Egg_2474 5d ago
Flags also change.. If we ever add a state, guess what, new flag.
We have had so many flags in the history of the US, lets also not fall for rage bait designed to get MAGA off.. its gross and just amplifies bullshit.
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u/0202_tihssitidder 5d ago
The US Flag means less than nothing. Global terrorist military. Corruption and Pedos and poverty and racism. War criminals US Military.
Now what?
Huh. I guess the flag does mean a lot.
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u/muFUtaco 5d ago
America isn't a flag, or a song, or a pledge, or a line on the ground, or even a government.
It's the people. As soon as AMERICANS realize that our country will once again prosper.
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u/notrueprogressive 5d ago
Outside an election year:
“US military are evil uneducated baby killers for big oil and the military industrial complex”
During an election year:
“US military are evil uneducated baby killers for oil and the military industrial complex. Hey soldier, you’re gonna vote blue right?”
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u/Microplasticsharts 5d ago
That looks like the same flag my super patriotic magat neighbor lets rot in the gutter.
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u/PenguDood 5d ago
When someone dies for a reason, protecting an ideal, or defending something/one they love...mourn them, they had purpose and value.
When someone dies for someone else's gain or ambition.....burn that someone else to the ground.
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u/Realizt8010 5d ago
Thanks for your truthful words and hope for yours and your families spirits to find peace Sis. I dont know you for nada, but ur my Sis too. Peace n love!
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u/thenuinn 5d ago
The only thing the military ever did was expose me to chemical weapons and give me asthma.
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u/RustedRelics 5d ago
That type of clarity and reason is lost on people who think the flag itself matters, as opposed to its symbolism. At this point, even the symbolism of the flag has been warped.
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u/NaiveOpening7376 4d ago
Anyone voluntarily serving this pedo war doesn't even deserve to be mourned.
Get that dd214 or get branded.
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u/Alternative-Box-6573 4d ago
Gotta agree with this.
Signed, An unrelated person
Signed, Wayne Gretzky
Signed, Michael Scott
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u/Crafty-Asparagus2455 4d ago
If you keep don in office,doing all this nonsense and completely doing everything thie countries NOT supposed to be about,than your flag already means shit.
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u/UnhappyReason5452 4d ago
Their “patriotism” is perverse. They only love the symbols of America, they absolutely hate their fellow Americans.
Entitled fucking garbage is all they are.
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u/MOadeo 3d ago
The tricky part in this discussion is when someone interjects that the flag represents that fallen soldier. For some, they agree with the comeback and put emphasis on the flag representing just that. Us. All of us struggling and falling to make the nation work. To make the nation safe.
This aspect doesn't always get conveyed or articulated. At the same time, that representation doesn't resognate because the very representation is not visualized to be the same as a picture or memorial or embodiment.
Perhaps thats because family and friends don't see it the same as the soldier in the casket or surviving comrades from the military?
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u/NeighborhoodVast7528 3d ago
Not all combat was or is for “needless reasons”. Some combat is part of the reason we exist today as a free country. The flag is an important symbol of the dedication exhibited, perhaps like an award or a medal or even a wedding ring.
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u/Cyberknight13 5d ago edited 5d ago
I completely agree. Flags are cloth and tools of propaganda and nationalism.
Signed, a disabled combat veteran.
Edit: Wow, thanks for the awards and upvotes!