Why Not Try to Stop the Killing?

For me Memorial Day is about Peace. It's about most Vet's desire to stop killing. Please take a minute or two and listen to these New York Vets when they were arrested in 2013 for reading the names of fallen Vietnam War military. Please, can't we at least try to stop the killing?

NY Vets Make a Stand — One More Time
Veterans reading the names of New York citizens who lost their lives in service to their nation during the Vietnam War were arrested once again at the NY Vietnam Memorial. They refused to vacate the memorial after the 10 pm curfew on 8 Oct 2013 while they were reading the names of the fallen.

The vets said they refused to leave the NY Vietnam Memorial at the 10pm curfew for these four reasons:

• We are calling for an end to the Afghan war after 12 years.
• We are calling for an end to all U.S. wars of empire.
• We are here to remember the fallen.
• We are here to affirm our right to assemble.

They also said they were not trying to be antagonistic toward the NYPD.

Speaking to the NYPD policemen, one vet said, “It's important for you to know your government committed atrocities every day in Vietnam because some of you are so much younger and that history has been denied you. So, you just need to know why we are here.”

That statement did not stop them from being arrested for “criminal trespass”.

Please watch the video report above. Thanks to U.S. Air Force vet Matthew Adolph for sending the link to us. Matt is currently working on his degree at the University of Akron, Akron, Ohio. (Please overlook the ad which has been inserted by YouTube. You can skip it after a few seconds interruption.)

See more at:
http://www.encoreboomer.com/encore_vets.html#sthash.eYjpDeXb.dpuf

“It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again”
During President Teddy Roosevelt’s term, 1901-1909, Mark Twain wrote about the U.S. Army torturing Filipino insurgents and slaughtering civilians during the Philippine-American War. One torture the Army used was called the “water cure.” Our CIA used the same technique in Iraq and Afghanistan, But, it's now named “water boarding.”

“There have been lies, yes, but they were told in a good cause,” Twain wrote, ridiculing the government with his acidic satire. “We have been treacherous, but that was only in order that real good might come out of apparent evil.”

Not much has changed over the past 100 years. We are still telling lies, torturing people and denying it all. Oh, and we are still accusing people of betraying the USA, just as Twain was accused, because they are outing these repugnant offenses to humanity.

Candice Millard, "Looking for a Fight", review of Honor in the Dust, Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines and the Rise and Fall of America’s Imperial Dream, by Gregg Jones, New York Times Book Review, pg 13, 19 Feb 2012.

(“Déjà vu…” quote offered with apologizes to Yogi Berra.)

See more at:
http://www.encoreboomer.com/encore_vets.html#sthash.eYjpDeXb.dpuf