Rolling Thunder

MoonHowler

Rolling Thunder was born out of the Vietnam War, more like a vengeful, loud phoenix arising from the ashes of what was never going to be shame. They would not allow it.

A lone marine pays respect to those earlier fallen buddies and to those who ride in memory and honor.

This year is the 25th anniversary of Rolling Thunder.  One does not have to be a veteran to be a member of Rolling thunder.  All members are united in the cause to bring full accountability for Prisoners Of War (POW) and Missing In Action (MIA) of all wars, reminding the government, the media and the public by our watchwords: “We Will Not Forget.”  (from RT website)

Some Rolling thunder History

Rolling Thunder participants  will assemble at the Pentagon and ride their motorcycles across the Arlington Memorial Bridge, down Constitution Avenue towards the Capitol Building, turn at 3rd Street and again at Independence Avenue proceeding around the National Mall and ending near the Lincoln Memorial.   Best view sites are on Memorial Bridge and along Constitution Avenue.  Rolling thunder leaves the Pentagon at noon.

 

 

Some Gave All

MoonHowler

Remember those who gave all.

My special salute goes out to Charlie Milton, an old high school buddy.  He was just a kid the last I saw of Charlie and I feel certain he was just a kid when he was killed in Vietnam 3 days before his 20th birthday.  He should have been in college with the rest of us instead of in the Marines.

Special salutes for anyone in particular?

Walt’s “Buddies”

MoonHowler

 

Happy Memorial Day weekend. I usually overdo it with my rememberances so please just bear with me.  I love Memorial Day.  I love the sound of Rolling Thunder and I love to grab hold of that American feeling and hold it as tightly as I can.  I love a weekend that forces us to say thank you to those who are dead and gone and were it not for this national day of thanksgiving, might be forgotten.  I love the PBS Memorial Day tribute on Sunday nights each Memorial Day weekend.  I like that Memorial Day forces me to think and yes, shed a few tears.  I owe it to my country.

 People sometimes confuse Veterans Day with Memorial Day. I think that is a forgivable sin, actually. Memorial Day grew out of Decoration Day, which started during the Civil War to honor those who had fallen. Many boys were buried in far off states and the good people of the towns where they lay cleaned up the graves and decorated with flowers on Decoration Day.

In Virginia, perhaps they weren’t as charitable at northern grave sites except they thought of their own sons, husbands brothers, fathers and uncles lying in some distant land and suddenly, it didn’t matter whose side the soldier had been fighting for.

I would like to thank my dad, a vet who made it home from WWII, for teaching me to remember those who have fallen, not just on Memorial Day, but every day. It’s hard to go through Virginia without passing one of the many cemeteries lined with Civil War dead. There is a particular one, on route 250 as you head into Staunton where I first learned about recognition- Staunton National Cemetery.

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Meghan McCain: you can’t kick me out

MoonHowler

Meghan McCain, daughter of John McCain is a moderate and she knows pretty much what it means to be a pariah in the Republican Party. She, like many people, feels that she is being pushed out of her party because she isn’t conservative enough.

However, Meghan hits the nail on the head when she says that in order to elect Republicans, there are going to have to be moderates. The uber-Republicans just don’t have the numbers.

So how does it work?  50% of the voters aren’t hard core conservatives.  You need over 50% of the votes to win.  If you throw out the moderates, where will they go?  Who will they vote for?   How will the math work?  Is Meghan right?