Let's Say Thanks

Mystery · Post by **Mystery** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 8:47 am

The following link takes you to a site that allows you to select thank you notes, designed by students throughout the U.S.. It's sponsored by Xerox. Once you select your card and add a message Xerox gets them mailed to troops overseas. there's also a link from the site to messages from various troops who've received them.

Some of you may know about it, but for those that don't......

http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html

Mystery · Post by **Mystery** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:11 am

Maybe for their service and sacrifice?

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:23 am

Maybe the service they are doing is the fact they volunteered to be in the armed services, so there's no drafts forcing you to be in. :wah:

Mystery · Post by **Mystery** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:27 pm

Most of the soldiers don't consider themselves as being sacrificed, as they willingly join the military out of a sense of honor and duty. Regardless whether you agree with the war or not, it's our duty to give them support.

RedGlitter · Post by **RedGlitter** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:24 pm

Our duty? I disagree with that.

mrsK · Post by **mrsK** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 1:29 pm

Thanks to all of them for doing their job.

I may or may not agree but I will still thank them.

Our politicians send them there .:-6

Mystery · Post by **Mystery** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:09 pm

jimbo;739494 wrote: i have many friends in the armed forces who good kind family man

they have left their loved ones

they have not gone away to fight for freedom or stop some country from invading our shores

they are invaders for oil , one of my friends words not mine ,so i will not thank them i am sorry to them for my government sacrificing them :-5:-5

tony blair is a murderer in my opinion

there were no weapons of mass destruction

Iraq was not involved in 911

and now it seems the same lying war mongers are planning the same fate for Iran

and it seems if you speak up against this then your branded unpatriotic ,i could not be more patriotic if i had a life sized map of England tattooed on my chest

love soldiers defending my country yes

thank our soldiers for invading Iraq no

just my thoughts and opinion to which i'm entitled i do believe

jimbo don't get my meaning wrong. I wholeheartedly agree that you have the right to either believe in or not believe in the war. I simply don't equate support of the war to support of the troops and vice versa. Our governments did send them into battle, but they signed up to do the job and they do it with honor, that's what I thank them for. I thank them for standing up regardless of personal belief and for doing what they do away from their friends and families. They didn't make the decision to invade, they just followed orders. And that's my opinion.

Snooze · Post by **Snooze** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:11 pm

I think it's a privilege to thank our service members. Bless them during this holiday season.

Mystery · Post by **Mystery** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:19 pm

jimbo;739528 wrote: i totally want every soldier that went out there to stay safe and come home , many of the people i know are soldiers and they are out there

i want them safe make no mistakes about it my friend

i just dont see what there is to thank them for thats all

i'm not looking to argue but you said say thanks i dont see what there is to thank them for

they dont (my forces friends) want to be there i dont want them there ,i dont see what there is to say thank you for

i seem to be on my own on this one but any way that not exactly unusual for me

i would rather say sorry to my buds out there for being treated this way

I'm not looking to argue either Jimbo

I dont' see a discussion as argument anyway.

Mystery · Post by **Mystery** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:33 pm

jimbo;739545 wrote: thats your point of view

just kidding its really nice to be able to have a different view to someone else without a dozen missfits jumping on the thread and pm's flying every where ,thanks very much :-6:-6

If everyone agreed all the time, discussions would be pretty friggin boring don't ya think :p

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:35 pm

Mystery;739567 wrote: If everyone agreed all the time, discussions would be pretty friggin boring don't ya think :p
I agree..:wah:

Mystery · Post by **Mystery** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:48 pm

YZGI;739569 wrote: I agree..:wah:

wisea$$ might fit better

YZGI · Post by **YZGI** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:12 pm

jimbo;739609 wrote: i'll say thanks for that :wah::wah:
I knew someone would agree with ya Mystery..:wah:

Snooze · Post by **Snooze** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:14 pm

Just my unwanted opinion, but this sort of reminds me of threads that someone might start to express their pleasure at reality TV or maybe a favorite actor and someone pops in to tell them they're wrong.

Mystery doesn't seem to mind, but I thought it was kind of weird to see all the dissenting opinions when this was just a nice little thread trying to generate some Christmas mail for our troops stuck in a foreign country during the holidays.

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:18 pm

jimbo;739528 wrote: i totally want every soldier that went out there to stay safe and come home , many of the people i know are soldiers and they are out there

i want them safe make no mistakes about it my friend

i just dont see what there is to thank them for thats all

i'm not looking to argue but you said say thanks i dont see what there is to thank them for

they dont (my forces friends) want to be there i dont want them there ,i dont see what there is to say thank you for

i seem to be on my own on this one but any way that not exactly unusual for me

i would rather say sorry to my buds out there for being treated this way

No you're not on your own. Like most britishers I know people in the armed forces, I've got close relatives that are about to go out there. If you care for your soldiers then opposing the war and not just blindly accepting that they should be sacrificed for the stupidity of politicians is the way to go. Nobody should be expected to sacrifice themselves and the perpetuation of the idea that dying for your country, right or wrong, is a noble ideal died a long time ago with the empire. Warfare is a last resort when politicians fail. It's not unpatriotic to criticise your government or to call a politician an arsehole in the UK it's our right and that was won by the people not the soldiers nor is it given or taken away by anyone.

Maybe it's a cultural difference between the UK and the US but not to question the reason and call politicians to account is an insult to the freedom so many have died for. Sending wee cards saying well done lads is ever so slightly patronising. Support your troops by questioning why they are out there and demanding they come home. Most people here have tremendous admiration for or troops and also tremendous anger at the way their dedication is being taken advantage of by our politicians.

posted by snooze

Just my unwanted opinion, but this sort of reminds me of threads that someone might start to express their pleasure at reality TV or maybe a favorite actor and someone pops in to tell them they're wrong.

Mystery doesn't seem to mind, but I thought it was kind of weird to see all the dissenting opinions when this was just a nice little thread trying to generate some Christmas mail for our troops stuck in a foreign country during the holidays.

Not really dissenting opinions more a slight culture clash perhaps-although I may speak out of turn and i certainly don't speak for jimbo. In the UK someone telling you not supporting the war is the same as not supporting the troops and unpatriotic is likely to get a smack in the mouth. They're not in iraq and afgahanistan preserving anybody's freedom. My holding that opinion is not disrespectful to the troops or unappreciative of what they are going through but it is disrespectful of the areseholes that got them in to there in the first place. I can understand where mystery is coming from and share the sentiment but imo you support the armed forces by not allowing warfare to be a first choice available to politicians.

Post by **spot** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:15 pm

Might I offer yet another point of view, or is the thread over already?

Mystery;739516 wrote: they signed up to do the job and they do it with honor, that's what I thank them for. I thank them for standing up regardless of personal belief and for doing what they do away from their friends and families. They didn't make the decision to invade, they just followed orders.

There's been several expressions to this effect and they're unjustified. Some of them signed up because they're patriots. That's not, of itself, honourable. Neither is it honourable to sign up to follow a family tradition of military involvement. It's most certainly not an honourable position to sign up because the pay and conditions will bring personal gain, further education and enhanced career prospects which, I'm told, forms the basis of most recruitment drives.

It would be honourable to join a military restricted by law to Homeland Defense, if there's no weasel words which allow such a force to be used for civil control. Joining a military with a history of foreign deployment, foreign engagement, foreign invasion and massive though deliberately uncounted foreign deaths is not an honourable service, it's an abdication of moral responsibility and a sworn commitment to kill on command. It's a dishonorable service and "I was only following orders" doesn't bring wedding party guests back from their graves.

By all means wish them the season's greetings but don't pretend they're honourable.

pantsonfire321@aol.com · Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:00 am

Snooze;739522 wrote: I think it's a privilege to thank our service members. Bless them during this holiday season.

I agree whole heartedly . Their brave Guys and Gals, they deserve to be blessed .:-6:-6

Mystery · Post by **Mystery** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:51 am

spot;739673 wrote: Might I offer yet another point of view, or is the thread over already?

There's been several expressions to this effect and they're unjustified. Some of them signed up because they're patriots. That's not, of itself, honourable. Neither is it honourable to sign up to follow a family tradition of military involvement. It's most certainly not an honourable position to sign up because the pay and conditions will bring personal gain, further education and enhanced career prospects which, I'm told, forms the basis of most recruitment drives.

It would be honourable to join a military restricted by law to Homeland Defense, if there's no weasel words which allow such a force to be used for civil control. Joining a military with a history of foreign deployment, foreign engagement, foreign invasion and massive though deliberately uncounted foreign deaths is not an honourable service, it's an abdication of moral responsibility and a sworn commitment to kill on command. It's a dishonorable service and "I was only following orders" doesn't bring wedding party guests back from their graves.

By all means wish them the season's greetings but don't pretend they're honourable.

I'm not pretending they're honorable at all and it's insulting for you to insinuate that. Perhaps that's the way you feel, and you're entitled to that, but don't lump me in with the same load of crap. And while I generally have a deep well of patience, it does get a bit tiring saying the same thing over and over again. For the sake of more than likely causing yet another friggin argument, I'll say thanks to snooze for what she said. I didn't post this thread to push my ideals at someone else. i just saw it as a good idea and thought I'd share it. I don't remember demanding that anyone participate or that they change the way they see things.

I'm not particularly interested in how you, or anyone else for that matter, sees the soldiers, as that's your right thanks to them by the way. But by the same token, don't patronize me for mine either. I happen to believe that our troops deserve respect and dignity for the fight they're fighting. True, these men and women didn't choose to be in Iraq, but they by God chose to serve their respective countries, and they do the job with valor. That, in and of itself, is honorable.

Post by **spot** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:50 am

Mystery;739892 wrote: I'm not pretending they're honorable at all and it's insulting for you to insinuate that.You what? The sole reason I posted was that you began with "they signed up to do the job and they do it with honor, that's what I thank them for", and now you're claiming you didn't post it?

Mystery wrote: that's your right thanks to them by the wayAnd that's the greatest pro-military lie of them all, I'm amazed that it's still doing the rounds. What protects my country from invasion is a nuclear arsenal for which I have no need at all of an army or an air force and I could settle for a tenth of the size of the navy while I'm at it. What protects my country from civil insurrection is the police. The bulk of the military exists solely to enforce foreign policy and that immoral political technique continues only because greedy moral derelicts sign up to fight year after year regardless of the actions they're then obliged to commit.

Post by **spot** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:27 pm

... and with any luck they're about to resign anyway.

The research was conducted by the Ministry of Defence and involved more than 24,000 military personnel. It found that the sense of overcommitment means that 47 per cent of soldiers and army officers think regularly of handing in their resignations.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... ltn=MNZE89

Not before time either.

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 1:51 pm

Nice.

Thanks for doing that.

Post by **spot** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:25 pm

I never aimed to be likeable.

Kathy Ellen · Post by **Kathy Ellen** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:46 pm

Thanks for posting this thread Mystery. I am always greatful for our armed forces and hope all of our men and women come home safely:-4

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:41 pm

spot;917413 wrote: I never aimed to be likeable.

What do you purport to be ?

Post by **spot** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:39 pm

Nomad;917499 wrote: What do you purport to be ?

I make no claims, I let my posts define the person behind the account. Those could only come from a thoughtful, caring, disagreeable antiquarian who inwardly deplores inaccurate grammar and poorly-chosen vocabulary.