Memorial Day and this Forum

[AuburnNTexas 7,165]

Today is a day to thank the men and women who have made it possible to have a political forum where no matter your view be it Marxist, KKK, BLM, White Supremist, Democrat, Republican, Far Left or Far Right you have the right to come onto a forum like this or countless others and express your views. This is a country where the ACLU defended Freedom Riders and the right for Nazi aligned group to march through a Jewish neighborhood. 

All of this is possible because of the sacrifices of these brave men and women. Today it is very important  no matter where we stand an any other issue we stop and take a few moments to remember these men and women and to thank them.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

Definitely think of my dad, occupation army in Germany post WWII, Korean War and Vietnam vet who passed in 1988, often, but especially today. Also a HS classmate who was killed in Afghanistan on Memorial Day 2009.

Rest in peace, gentlemen.

[AuburnNTexas 7,165]

21 hours ago, SLAG-91 said:

Definitely think of my dad, occupation army in Germany post WWII, Korean War and Vietnam vet who passed in 1988, often, but especially today. Also a HS classmate who was killed in Afghanistan on Memorial Day 2009.

Rest in peace, gentlemen.

Our Dad's are same generation. Like your dad mine was WW2, Korea, Vietnam. My dad was Pacific theater in the navy

[cole256 17,084]

I thank some of them. The people who really believe in the phrase all men are created equal.

 

[aubiefifty 16,846]

my grandfather was in the calvary believe it or not in ww1. eight and a half to twelve million died in that war mostly in trench warfare. in ww2 he was in occupied japan for the rebuild. every single year i honor him and anyone that fought for the betterment of people. and cole i am not sure you ever saw it but a bunch of black vets who fought in ww1 came home in full uni's and were drug off the bus and hanged. that is a fact if anyone cares to google it{ in case someone calls me a liar}. so for the fact i understand what you are saying. look below.............

Reaction to returning veterans

During a homecoming celebration for African-American veterans of World War I in Norfolk, Virginia a race riot broke out on July 21, 1919. At least two people were killed and three others were injured. City officials had to call in the Marines and Navy personnel to restore order.

On August 16, 1917, Senator James K. Vardaman of Mississippi spoke of his fear of black veterans returning to the South, as he viewed that it would "inevitably lead to disaster."^[2] To the American South, the use of black soldiers in the military was a threat, not a virtue. "Impress the negro with the fact that he is defending the flag, inflate his untutored soul with military airs, teach him that it is his duty to keep the emblem of the Nation flying triumphantly in the air," and, the senator cautioned, "it is but a short step to the conclusion that his political rights must be respected."^[2]

Often violence broke out between serving members of the military. In both the Bisbee Riot (July 3, 1919) and the New London riots of 1919 active African-American service members were attacked by white mobs or white military units.

Many black soldiers in the years after the war were threatened with violence if they were caught wearing their uniform.^[2] Many others were even physically attacked, sometimes barely escaping with their lives. During an April 5, 1919, market day in Sylvester, Georgia, black veteran Daniel Mack was walking through a busy street and brushed against a white man. The white man was offended that Mack did not show the proper amount of respect and the two got in a scuffle; police came on the scene and promptly arrested Mack for assault. He was sentenced to 30 days in prison. A few days into his sentence, on April 14, a white mob broke into the prison, took him out into the wilderness and lynched Mack; he survived by playing dead.^[3] No arrests were ever made.^[4] Elisha Harper, 25 years old, was the son of the Rev. T. F. Harper, a respectable and "well-behaved preacher" living in Helena.^[5] He fought in the army during World War I and just returned from Europe. On July 24, 1919, while walking the streets of Newberry, South Carolina, he allegedly insulted a 14-year-old girl, who promptly reported him to the authorities. Harper was arrested and thrown in jail. Soon a white mob had gathered and would have lynched Harper if it was not for the local Sheriff who hid him away.^[6]

Lynched African-American veterans

The following is an incomplete list of African Americans who had served in the military during WWI and were killed by white mobs with no trials for alleged crimes.

Name	City	County or parish	State	Date	Accusation	Lynching	Ref
Unknown	Pine Bluff	Jefferson	Arkansas		Insult of white woman – refused to move off a sidewalk for a white woman	Tied to a tree with tire chains, and shot as many as 50 times	[2]
Private Charles Lewis	Tyler Station (near Hickman)	Fulton	Kentucky	December 16, 1918	Alleged robbery	Masked men stormed the jail, smashed the locks with a sledgehammer, and hanged him from a tree	[2] [7]
Black vet and a black woman	Pickens	Holmes	Mississippi	May 5, 1919	Insult of white woman – black woman wrote an "improper note" to a young white woman		[2]
Sgt. Maj. John Green	Birmingham	Jefferson	Alabama	June 12, 1919	Asking for change from a conductor aboard a segregated outbound Pratt-Endsley streetcar to Dozier Park	Shot three times in the head	[8]
Robert Truett	Louise	Humphreys	Mississippi	July 15, 1919	Insult of white woman – alleged indecent proposal to a white woman	Hanged Robert Truett, a veteran who was 18 years old	[2] [9]
Clinton Briggs	Lincoln	Washington	Arkansas	August 3, 1919	Insult of white woman – moved too slowly out of white woman's way	Chained to a tree, shot till dead	[2] [10]
L. B. Reed	Clarksdale	Coahoma	Mississippi	September 10, 1919	Suspected of having a relationship with a white woman	Hanged from the bridge across the Sunflower River	[2] [11]
Robert Crosky	Montgomery	Montgomery	Alabama	September 29, 1919	Alleged assault of a white woman	Shot by a mob	[12]
Miles Phifer	Montgomery	Montgomery	Alabama	September 29, 1919	Alleged assault of a white woman	Shot by a mob	[12]
Frank Livingston	El Dorado	Union	Arkansas	May 21, 1919	Alleged murder	100 people gathered to burn Mr. Livingston alive	[2] [13]
Bud Johnson	Pace	Santa Rosa	Florida	March 12, 1919	Alleged assault of a white woman	Chained to a stake, burnt alive his skull was split with a hatchet and pieces given to onlookers as souvenirs	[2] [14]
Lucius McCarty	Bogalusa	Washington	Louisiana	August 31, 1919	Alleged attempted assault of a white woman	Mob dragged his body behind a car killing him before burning his corpse in a bonfire	[2] [11]
Powell Green		Franklin	North Carolina	December 27, 1919	Allegedly shot R. M. Brown, the white owner of a movie theater in Franklinton	Rope tied around neck, dragged for 2 miles (3.2 km) behind an automobile, then hanged from a pine sapling	[2] [15]
Herman Arthur	Paris	Lamar	Texas	July 6, 1920	Alleged fatal shootout with sharecropper landlord and son over a dispute	Herman and his little brother, Ervie, tied to a stake and burnt alive	[16] [17] [18] [19]
Wilbur Little	Blakely	Early	Georgia	Spring 1919	Refusal to remove military uniform	Beaten to death in uniform by a mob	[20]
Leroy Johnston	Helena	Phillips	Arkansas	October 1, 1919	Was killed by a mob during the Elaine massacre, after the mob claimed they fired first.	He, along with his three brothers, were pulled off a train by a group of white men. All were shot several times and killed during a scuffle. Leroy was a bugler in the Harlem Hellfighters.	[21]

Aftermath

Main article: Red Summer

These lynchings were among several incidents of civil unrest that are now known as the American Red Summer of 1919. Attacks on black communities and white oppression spread to more than three dozen cities and counties. In most cases, white mobs attacked African American neighborhoods. In some cases, black community groups resisted the attacks, especially in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Most deaths occurred in rural areas during events like the Elaine massacre in Arkansas, where an estimated 100 to 240 blacks and 5 whites were killed. Other major events of Red Summer were the Chicago race riot and Washington D.C. race riot, which caused 38 and 39 deaths, respectively. Both riots had many more non-fatal injuries and extensive property damage reaching up into the millions of dollars.^[22]

Similar racial violence and lynchings occurred again after african-american troops returned from service in WW2.

this is why i take a lot of patriotism with a grain of salt because it is only memorial day for some folks. and remember the men  in wheelchairs who got the crap beat out of them at the 68 dem convention? now i love my country with all her warts but i know better than to assume americans loved all the troops. my stepfather had a friend who was a colonel and fought in nam. he was white. his company was ambushed and he got shot all to hell. they were pinned down with no help coming. a black soldier ran through withering fire and grabbed his colonel and picked him up and ran back through withering fire until they reached safety. after he was through telling the story i will never forget him telling us that the black was a pretty good N..... i have never forgotten that and it did happen in the late sixties.

 

 

[AUFAN78 3,926]

Ignorance in rebuttal to Memorial Day is nothing new.

Memorial Day is in no way intended to pay homage to fringe radical elements that protest war nor its participants. It is intended to honor those who gave all for our freedom.

Hopefully one day everyone understands the difference. 

 

[autigeremt 6,657]

On 6/2/2021 at 9:29 PM, cole256 said:

I thank some of them. The people who really believe in the phrase all men are created equal.

 

Most of us just followed the orders given to us by our superiors in the face of combat. We were all equal to die so you could make the free comment without being subjected to reprisal by a government. 

[cole256 17,084]

17 minutes ago, autigeremt said:

Most of us just followed the orders given to us by our superiors in the face of combat. We were all equal to die so you could make the free comment without being subjected to reprisal by a government. 

Maybe you were all equal when you were enlisted but that certainly wasn't the case all the time. And still to this day there are many who are trash. 

Like I said I thank the GOOD men, if it bothers you that all men that serve aren't good.....don't know what to tell you

[AUFAN78 3,926]

19 minutes ago, autigeremt said:

Most of us just followed the orders given to us by our superiors in the face of combat. We were all equal to die so you could make the free comment without being subjected to reprisal by a government. 

It's as if we picked certain days to fight for a certain race or gender. That absurdity needs to be called out and corrected. We fought for our country and for the freedom from tyranny. 

[cole256 17,084]

2 hours ago, AUFAN78 said:

Ignorance in rebuttal to Memorial Day is nothing new.

Memorial Day is in no way intended to pay homage to fringe radical elements that protest war nor its participants. It is intended to honor those who gave all for our freedom.

Hopefully one day everyone understands the difference. 

 

Ignorance in rebuttal indeed......but expected

[AUFAN78 3,926]

1 minute ago, cole256 said:

Ignorance in rebuttal indeed......but expected

I agree. Sadly.

[AUFAN78 3,926]

9 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Maybe you were all equal when you were enlisted but that certainly wasn't the case all the time. And still to this day there are many who are trash. 

Like I said I thank the GOOD men, if it bothers you that all men that serve aren't good.....don't know what to tell you

I served 24 years and every single man and woman served with the knowledge that there would be those that denigrated their service and our country. Did not matter. They did it for all, man, woman and child, red, yellow, black or white and for our great country. 

[cole256 17,084]

7 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

I agree. Sadly.

No you're not sad. And that's sad. Some of you really are so far gone that you'd celebrate the most vile people in the name of "trying" to make a point.

If you get triggered by a phrase honor the good men because you want the bad men to be honored as well you are just speaking clown now

[AUFAN78 3,926]

2 minutes ago, cole256 said:

No you're not sad. And that's sad. Some of you really are so far gone that you'd celebrate the most vile people in the name of "trying" to make a point.

If you get triggered by a phrase honor the good men because you want the bad men to be honored as well you are just speaking clown now

Certainly not triggered and I engage many clowns.

[cole256 17,084]

2 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

I served 24 years and every single man and woman served with the knowledge that there would be those that denigrated their service and our country. Did not matter. They did it for all, man, woman and child, red, yellow, black or white and for our great country. 

That's cool. I work in an industry 85% served and a great deal of them are bigots and they speak openly about it and tell stories of many people they served with. 

Everybody knows that there was and still to this day issues in the armed forces. Don't care if you don't like it. What I do know is if you're going to try to say not one person was bigoted.....well you just lost that debate

[cole256 17,084]

4 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

Certainly not triggered and I engage many clowns.

I imagine you did engage many and that's why you'd facepalm a post of soldier's who fought for this "great" country and were lynched....that doesn't bother you. Somebody saying I honor the honorable men is what gets you🙄🤡

[AUFAN78 3,926]

4 minutes ago, cole256 said:

That's cool. I work in an industry 85% served and a great deal of them are bigots and they speak openly about it and tell stories of many people they served with. 

Everybody knows that there was and still to this day issues in the armed forces. Don't care if you don't like it. What I do know is if you're going to try to say not one person was bigoted.....well you just lost that debate

People change post war, some for better some for worse. My point is not to hold them accountable post horror, but to honor their sacrifice.

Plenty problems. The military became far to political of late. And no, I don't like it. Precisely why I left. 

I'm certainly not describing modern sainthood, but past valor. Big difference. Try and understand it.

[AUFAN78 3,926]

8 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I imagine you did engage many and that's why you'd facepalm a post of soldier's who fought for this "great" country and were lynched....that doesn't bother you. Somebody saying I honor the honorable men is what gets you🙄🤡

That post was one that missed the point of Memorial Day, thus the facepalm. 

[cole256 17,084]

32 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

People change post war, some for better some for worse. My point is not to hold them accountable post horror, but to honor their sacrifice.

Plenty problems. The military became far to political of late. And no, I don't like it. Precisely why I left. 

I'm certainly not describing modern sainthood, but past valor. Big difference. Try and understand it.

Like I said the work I do I'm with people who served every single day. No they didn't change into bigots and racist after the war. Why wouldn't I hold grown men accountable? That's the problem, far too many think that because they served they get free passes to do or say whatever they want? You trying to paint a picture that every person is of honor shows your bias.

Like I said I honor the honorable men. The other men are worthy and they don't get any respect

[cole256 17,084]

33 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

That post was one that missed the point of Memorial Day, thus the facepalm. 

Right.....and here you are advocating for the scum instead

[AUFAN78 3,926]

11 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Like I said the work I do I'm with people who served every single day. No they didn't change into bigots and racist after the war. Why wouldn't I hold grown men accountable? That's the problem, far too many think that because they served they get free passes to do or say whatever they want? You trying to paint a picture that every person is of honor shows your bias.

Like I said I honor the honorable men. The other men are worthy and they don't get any respect

How would you know? No one gets a free pass. 

You are conflating Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Learn the difference.

[AUFAN78 3,926]

14 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Right.....and here you are advocating for the scum instead

[SLAG-91 1,483]

On 6/1/2021 at 9:25 AM, AuburnNTexas said:

Our Dad's are same generation. Like your dad mine was WW2, Korea, Vietnam. My dad was Pacific theater in the navy

79 years ago this past weekend was arguably the U.S. Navy's finest hour by flipping the script in the Pacific by winning the Battle of Midway. I used to read and re-read a paperback book about that battle as a kid.

My pop was 19 in 1946 when he was in Germany as part ot the post-war occupation army. He didn't talk about Korea much, if at all, but a letter a good friend of his wrote to my mom, who later shared it with me, led me to believe that it was a horrific experience...he was still infantry then, before moving to intelligence. He retired in 1970...got pretty disillusioned with the Army and decided he'd had enough. 

He was pretty fluent in both Russian and German...my mom dictated a grocery list to him once and he very dutifully wrote it down...in Russian. She looked at it and said "What the hell is this?" He said "eggs...milk..." with a wry smile on his face.

Much like he took on the duty at age 23 of commanding a group of greener than green troops, he took on the duty of being a stepparent to this 11-year-old boy and I'm a better man today for it.

[cole256 17,084]

22 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

How would you know? No one gets a free pass. 

You are conflating Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Learn the difference.

How would I know what? And shut the hell up. I'm not conflating anything. I replied to a post and meant every word of what I said. You're conflating the thought of you speaking means anything.

[AUFAN78 3,926]

12 minutes ago, cole256 said:

How would I know what? And shut the hell up. I'm not conflating anything. I replied to a post and meant every word of what I said. You're conflating the thought of you speaking means anything.

On Memorial Day we honor the fallen. That means they are deceased Cole. Yet you keep talking about people you work with. Trying to help you with your ignorance of the subject matter. You're welcome.