Veteran's Day
#1
One of my pet peeves has been the way our Country uses, abuses and discards our service men and women.  It is shameful!  It is disgusting!  

This Veteran's Day I want to share something with you... written by the daughter of a service man in Grants Pass.

We need to fix this bullshit!  It happens WAY TOO MUCH!  

Quote:My dad is being cremated today. On November 2nd, at just barely 40 years old, he took his own life in his apartment. He was a veteran of the war in the Middle East, he served multiple tours there over his nearly 20 years in the Army. His time in the military scared him in ways none of us could see, and the same military that sent him to collect those scars could not and would not help him heal when he returned. The Army failed him, but he did not fail us.
He defended our country, our rights to freedom of religion, freedom to peacefully protest, freedom of speech, etc. He gave and gave and gave until he had nothing left.
My dad and people like him went to war, returned at war with their own minds, and came back to a country where people would know their sacrifice and spit in their faces anyway. Having to experience the horrors of war and come home to a country that would walk on and burn the flag that they defended. And we wonder why these young, physically healthy men and women would chose to end their own lives.
The flag is not a "representation of our bigoted/sexist/racist/homophobic " etc country. The flag does not directly represent Donald Trump, or those in our country that are oppressive. The flag represents those who have given everything to protect your right to burn it. The flag represents a country who has fought tirelessly toward a nation where you can feel safe, and live the life you want to live. We aren't there yet, not even close, but don't try to tell me there hasn't been progress.
I'm sorry that your candidate didn't win. Mine didn't either. To my friends who fall under the categories of POC, LGBTQ+, female: I am here for you, I will fight right along side you to defend the rights that have been so hard won over the years and to continue progress forward instead of backward. I believe in us, the women, the girls, the POC, the LGBTQ+, and I believe we can fight together without disrespecting the flag.
I see you, I see your (valid) fears, I'm scared too. But I will no longer stand for you when I see you burn the flag, or offer explanations or support for those who have.
As American citizens, the flag DOES represent people such as the KKK, Westboro Baptist Church, murderers, rapists, sexists, and yes, Donald Trump. But it also represents my dad. It represents his friends that he went overseas with who returned in boxes. It represents the people who left to war whole and returned broken. Burn photos of the people you are really fighting, or better yet, burn oppressive constructs with powerful conversation and burn for the issues and burn with all of the passion I've seen over the last few days. And continue to fight for your beliefs, I will fight with you. But please, don't tell me that our flag represents hatred only, especially today, on Veterans Day, barely a week after my dad's death. You of course have every right to do as you please, but my dad is dead, and I hope you will remember that.

[Image: 14947751_10209496917292671_9125961113123...3D588EF8CA]
Thank you for your service, Anthony James Mersino.  May you finally rest in peace.
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