"Thank you. For Freedom!" Message to our Soldiers from a farmer in Nebraska

[Mira]

I got this email today:

it said:

WHAT PILOTS SEE
WHEN LANDING AT OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE.

A farmer does this with his tractor He uses GPS to get the letters readable.
He has done this every fall for several years now.

Here's the view from the flight pattern into OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE
Bellevue, NE., just south of Omaha .
This is what our servicemen see when landing at Offutt AFB.
Hat tip to the Bellevue farmer who made it happen!

This should have made national news.

Imagine how this must feel to all those servicemen
seeing it for the first time.

It tells them that we do care and that we do support them.





I say:

It's not so often now I get emails along these lines. I have imploded and then exploded over a number of them too many times and am quite known as a person well ignored when it comes to sending them.
This one is one that did not annoy me too much, so I chose to answer in a very mild way to this person and I thought I'd let you see it, too.

I'm of a frame of mind these days (subject to change depending on my mood and what's happening) to just invite thinking a bit and encouraging a peek beyond beyond the shiny surface, and dispense with anything more. I've had more success at peaceful interaction this way.


So here is what I replied:

This is very very nice.

Of course,
these service men and women did not have a lot of choice about "giving us Freedom" and one could credibly argue that their work of waging wars is responsible for us having more fear, less money for our own needs and a less stable country.
I could go on about what the work of such an inflated army does to reduce our freedoms over all while predictably increasing our risks of the threat of retaliation.
So our freedoms at home and in airports are curtailed on an ongoing basis as a direct result of what our Army is asked to do by its command.
But,
it's still very nice.
And to those who chose not to think too hard about all that is covered up, cleaned up and prettified by that message, it can warm the heart.

[ixion]

1. soldiers enforce tyranny, not freedom.

The military is an institutionalized thug, to be used sparingly as a means of last resort, and monitored closely, not celebrated.

War is Hell, not Freedom.

[KansDem]

6. Maybe he meant freedom from Iraqis?

This little girl's parents were gunned down by US troops...that's two more Iraqis we're free from.


I got 'em! I got 'em! Two more less Iraqis will make us freer!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

12. They're not thugs. They come from all walks of life, from our families and neighborhoods

But too many people talk about soldiers as if they come from cloning vats and have no human soul.

They don't pick where to go to war; they politicians do. Politicians we voted for and will vote for again so long as they have the proper party affiliation.

BTW - "War is hell" was said by a soldier.

[ixion]

13. They may not be when they go in

but they're trained killers when they come out.


And YES, I know it was said by a solider. That's why I used it. It's called nuance.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

14. They don't cease to be human. They still have their own minds and a conscience

Military bases are virually cities in their own right. They have shopping, schools, residential neighborhoods. And yet they have a lot less crime than civilian neighborhoods and a lot less violent crime. That doesn't sound hair-trigger killing machines to me.

So instead of slandering decent people with cheap stereotypes try saying something that actually contributes something meaningful to this world.

[ixion]

15. No, they don't, and that is exactly my point.

Boot camp is designed to tear all that down do that they can be reprogrammed. They might still be human, but they're not the same person, and they are indeed trained to kill, and to do so on command. If they do make it out of the military with some type of humanity left in tact, they're human wreckage.

You're not going to convince me that the military is good for people, so you need not bother trying.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

16. How about when they're trained to NOT kill?

They have lots of training on that too; not that you would know. Leave behind the sci-fi comic book caricatures.

"reprogrammed" What a farce. What's your next bogey man? Video games? Rap records?

[ixion]

17. I've seen it happen too many times to too many people, including my close friends and family

so save it.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

22. Yeah. "Close friends." Sure.

Close friends always like being described as programmed killers.

I met my husband when he was fresh back from deployment. I spent plenty of time with him and his buddies and yes, they were rambunctious and they drank plenty but they are good guys. They weren't twitching wrecks. They weren't violent thugs. They have an affection for each other most people can't even conceive of. Yeah, that's right, affection. As in, they care deeply about each other. That requires emotions and committment and a sense of caring for someone else. I enjoyed their company a lot more than some of the twits I had the misfortune to meet at college. My husband certainly is not some programmed killer.

So spare me.

[ixion]

27. Yes. Close friends, and my family.

if you can't accept that, that's your problem, not mine.

[11 Bravo]

18. Sigh ... I guess I'm human wreckage.

I went through boot camp, AIT, and combat. I was wounded twice and still set off airport metal detectors.
Yet somehow I still managed to convince the most beautiful woman in the world to marry me, fathered two incredible sons, coached Little League, served as a Cub Scout leader, and taught in public schools for over 30 years.
We don't all emerge from the meat-grinder as ravening beasts. If you had been there, you would know; and those of us who were resent your assumption.

[ixion]

19. your resentment is part and parcel of what I'm talking about.

I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I really am. Humans are simply not designed to endure that type of life.

[11 Bravo]

20. Sorry, but I don't even resent the people who shot me. My resentment is directed at those ...

who assume, without ever meeting me, that I must somehow be "human wreckage".
(You said it, now own it.)

[ixion]

24. I own it, and I stand by what I said, although I don't mean it as an insult

but you're obviously taking it as such. It's not personal. I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about the institution and what it does to people.

There isn't really much more to say, because we're not going to change each other's mind.

[pinboy3niner]

26. Ouch!

I'm with you there 100 percent. :patriot:

[pinboy3niner]

21. At least you're right on ONE point

Human beings should not have to go through war.

[pinboy3niner]

23. Me, too, bro

I also served, was trained and sent to a fucked-up war, and made it home. I fought in the Infantry, in the jungles of Vietnam. Was WIA (Only once, for me, but that was enough). And, though I might describe myself in a lot of ways, trained killer' would never be one of them.

If anything, my 'trained killer' war experience taught me to be a pacifist. Not an absolute pacifist, as I came to understand that there are things worth fighting for, and worth dying for. But I've seen war--up close and personal--and I hate killing, and I hate war.

These days, I work for peace and justice. Not bad for us 'trained killers,' huh, brother?

:patriot:

[11 Bravo]

28. What you said, pinboy3niner.

I may be the most peace-loving individual I know.
It's funny, I made it back, spent a little time at Walter Reed, and went to college (thank you GI Bill), earned a degree in Education, taught for over 30 years, retired, and now substitute teach pretty much every day. I subbed in a kindergarten class last week, (I usually work with older kids, but like to change it up every now and again.)
I wonder if the five year old who sat on my lap during story time knew she was danger close to a trained killer piece of human wreckage.

[pinboy3niner]

30. To a dedicated teacher like you, I have only one thing to say...

:patriot:

[Cid_B]

29. Yawn...

Really? Everyone who "makes it out" of the military is human wreckage?

Also, if you say that you can't be convinced of something then why even leave your house? You could just stare at the mirror all day and tell yourself how right and awesome you are.

I have to say.. again.. how utterly and supremely ignorant your initial statement was...

[ixion]

31. Yawn all you want.

that doesn't change anything. My belief about what happens to people in the military is based on what I've read and the many people I've know, and still know who were in the military.

And an anonymous poster isn't going to be able to change that simply by insulting me with a few snarky posts. As I said, I'm not speaking to anyone personally, I'm speaking of the institution. However I don't think anything I would say would change your impression, either. So here we are.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[11 Bravo]

32. Yup, every fucking one of us - trained murderers - lusting for nothing more than ...

another shot at snuffing an innocent human life.

[provis99]

2. the Constitution gives us freedom, not the military.

The military is coercive and anti-freedom, by its very nature.

The Founding Fathers themselves didn't have very many nice things to say about standing armies.

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. +1

[ixion]

5. exactly.

[NightWatcher]

3. How are Iraq, Af/pak, Yemen et al threatening our freedom

DC threatens our freedom in the name of security.

I love the troops, but their sacrifice isn't benefitting me. I don't own oil stocks or defense contractor stocks.

[L0oniX]

7. Fucking military psych shit. n/t

[LAGC]

8. Unrec.

Fuck the Military Industrial Complex.

[kctim]

9. Thank you Mr. Bellevue farmer

Your thanks and hard work are very much appreciated.

[Ian David]

10. ...

[truebrit71]

11. To which I ask "from what, or from whom?"....because blowing up, and then re-building schools...

...in Afghanistan has fuck all to do with anyone's freedom as far as I can figure out...

If the message had said just "Thank you!" I would be fine with it...but this relentless insistence to suggest that somehow they are "protecting our freedom" is complete and utter horseshit...

"Thank you for your service" Hell yeah, "Thank you for our freedom", not so much.

[lumberjack_jeff]

33. Service? Yes. "My freedom"? Not so much.

The pilots of B1 didn't give my my freedom.

[TwilightGardener]

34. That's nice! I used to pass by there all the time, but never saw this.