"Capture the Flag"

‘Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism’

The flag is not powerful in spite of its ambiguity; it is powerful because of its ambiguity. It has stood, at different times, for radical democracy, opposition to immigration, the abolition of slavery, unregulated capitalism, segregation, integration, and a hawkish war policy, among many other things.

Read a selection from the introduction of "Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism" by Woden Teachout

A winter wind swept across New York Harbor on a late after noon the day after Christmas in 1971. Tourists riding the last two ferries from Manhattan to the Statue of Liberty huddled against the bulkheads, sheltering themselves from the gusts. Among the passengers were clusters of long-haired adults in well used army-surplus clothing, looking for all the world like hippies taking in the world-famous landmark. The mission of these fifteen men, however, went far beyond tourism.

Immediately upon docking at the island, the men performed a quick reconnaissance. They wedged open a few doors and then took refuge from sight; some crouched behind the massive supporting columns in the base of the statue. Some found storage closets and tucked themselves away......................Read Rest Here

Description

Americans honor the flag with a fervor seen in few other countries: The Stars and Stripes decorate American homes and businesses; wave over sports events and funerals; and embellish everything from politicians’ lapels to the surface of the moon.

But what does the flag mean? In Capture the Flag, historian Woden Teachout reveals that it has held vastly different meanings over time. It has been claimed by both the right and left; by racists and revolutionaries; by immigrants and nativists. In tracing the political history of the flag from its origins in the American Revolution through the present day, Teachout demonstrates that the shifting symbolism of the flag reveals a broader shift in the definition of American patriotism.

A story of a nation in search of itself, Capture the Flag offers a probing account of the flag that has become America’s icon.

James Patterson, author of "Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy"
“Displaying a fine eye and narrative skill in recounting key episodes—among them the Revolution, nativist riots, the bombardment of Fort Sumter, civil rights activism, and the New York City hard hat riot of 1970—Woden Teachout reminds us of how important the American flag has been as a symbol for a wide variety of patriotic causes.”

Back in December 2006 I posted about this and than again in December 2008 a repost with some added material Distress: December 26th 1971 and December 26th 2008

In that one I started it out with some words and this repost part:

December 26, 1971
Two dozen members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War "liberated" the Statue of Liberty with a sit-in to protest resumed U.S. aerial bombings in Vietnam. They flew an inverted U.S. flag from the crown as a signal of distress.


We've now had many years of not one but two Invasions and Occupations better known as Wars of Choice, though soldiers and those occupied are still dying in one it has become a stagnant theater on a hair trigger, the other rapidly ramping up in deaths and destruction, both are and have been recruiting actions for what we now call 'International Terrorism', Criminal Terrorism that will rear it's head, with no boundries, over and over for decades, as the number of those who will carry out these acts have greatly increased due to own terror forced on others!


Below is the '06 post with little change, to remember that shoutout of Distress on it's Anniversary, and as a call for Thought of what we now are facing. Still two occupations of others, this time those serving are doing so over and over and over.............., and to eight years of extremely failed policies and total incompetence as well as multiple corruptions and crimes, in and out of government, but also to the crimes against humanity this country has allowed and seems unwilling to face nor call accountability for!

If you visit this you will find the rest of the 2006 post as well as a few more clips with links and a bigger photo, of the one directly above, of the Distress Flag flying from the crown of the Statue.

While wrapping ourselves in 'Old Glory' we as a Nation are moving further apart under the manipulation of changing political ideologies or the twisting of their meanings, in fear by the voices of the few.

Readjustment Needs of Military Personnel, Veterans, and their Families:

Institute of Medicine

Board on the Health of Select Populations

Project:

Initial Assessment of Readjustment Needs of Military Personnel, Veterans, and their Families: Phase 1 and Phase 2

Project Scope: {In Brief}
Phase 1:
In Phase 1, an ad hoc committee will identify preliminary findings regarding the physical and mental health and other readjustment needs for members and former members of the Armed Forces who deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and their families as a result of such deployment.

The committee will also determine the parameters of the second phase of the study which is meant to provide a comprehensive assessment of the physical, mental, social, and economic impacts, and identify gaps in care, for members and former members of the Armed Forces who deployed in OIF or OEF, their families, and impacted communities.

Specifically, the committee will conduct the following tasks:...................Rest Here

Phase 2:
In Phase 2, the committee will comprehensively assess the physical and mental health and other readjustment needs of members and former members of the Armed Forces who deployed in OIF or OEF and their families as a result of such deployment.

This second phase of the study is meant to provide a comprehensive assessment of the physical, psychological, social, and economic impacts, and identify gaps in care, for members and former members of the Armed Forces who deployed in OIF or OEF, their families, and impacted communities.

Specifically the committee should consider in their assessment:...............Rest Here

The project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense
The approximate start date for the project is 9/26/2008.
The Phase 1 report is expected to be issued by the end of March 2010.
The Phase 2 report will be issued at the end of the project.


Project Duration:48 months

Provide FEEDBACK on this project.

Contact the Public Access Records Office to make an inquiry or to schedule an appointment to view project materials available to the public.

Veterans For America

Another Loooong Battle Getting Attention/Action

Kudo's Barrack, Kudo's, But Much More Still Needed!

US Doubles Funds for Agent Orange Cleanup

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The United States government has doubled its funding for dealing with the environmental and health consequences of its wartime use in Vietnam of the toxic herbicide Agent Orange, the embassy said Friday.

President Barack Obama recently signed a bill increasing the funding from $3 million to $6 million, embassy officials said. Most of the money is being used in Danang, where U.S. troops used to mix and store Agent Orange at an Air Force base before loading it onto planes.

More Of The Change We Can Believe In!!

Many U.S. soldiers, my brothers of the Vietnam War, have been not only trying to help the Vietnamese in their struggle with this countries poisoning of their lands but have opened up and support places like Vietnam Friendship Village, as well as care facilities and orphanages for those still being born and have since we left.

Vietnam believes as many as 4 million people have suffered serious health problems from the herbicide, such as cancer, spina bifida and other birth defects. The U.S. says the actual number is probably far lower and that further scientific study is needed to understand the health impact. The U.S. and Vietnam only began working together in 2007 to address the consequences of Agent Orange after years of disagreement.

The embassy said in a statement that one third of the $6 million is being used for health programs to serve people in the Danang area. The rest will be used to remove dioxin from the soil and sediment near Danang airport.

Much more is needed especially if we're not going to compensate the families of the victims, as noted with this:

Friday's People's Army newspaper quoted Lai Minh Hien, a Vietnamese environmental official in charge of Agent Orange issues, as saying that Vietnam needs additional 1 trillion dong ($57 million) to clean up dioxin in Danang as well as at former U.S. air bases in Bien Hoa and Phu Cat.

Agent Orange devastates generations of Vietnamese


Justice for Victims of Agent Orange


Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign - VAORRC

Brother Dave Cline has widened his smile some, my guess is, and he still watches over the Vietnamese people we fought but he fell in love with, and they him, and worked tirelessly to help, Rip Brother RIP, your work is hopefully finally paying off!

Veterans of Modern Warfare

VMW's New Public Service Announcements are Here!

60 sec PSA


30 sec PSA


Veterans of Modern Warfare

Their mission is to support you and your families by:

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Providing education and information about the benefits you have earned
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Camaraderie through locally based, national chapters

"Looting of America"

"Looting of America" Author Sees Opportunity in Meltdown

I've just interviewed Les Leopold, who blames the recent financial disasters on trends that began over 30 years ago, explains how a great deal of Wall Street's "investing" has had as much connection to the real economy as fantasy baseball has to baseball, diagnoses the failures of labor and the left to resist the financialization of the economy, views the current situation with genuine optimism as a rare moment in which we might be able to make necessary changes to regulate finance and to shift money from a tiny group of billionaires to the rest of society, and explains why that latter step is needed to stabilize any economy........

Les Leopold's Book: The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions, and Prosperity—and What We Can Do About It

PTSD's Toll on our Soldiers

'Support our troops' rings hollow when it comes to post-traumatic stress disorder

My brother, Jim, was a soldier once, but when he died, at age 53, he was long past the time when anyone called him a hero. He died alone, in poverty, alienated from family and friends, his life and death complicated by war wounds that penetrated far deeper than the pieces of shrapnel that won him his Purple Heart. Jim was a Vietnam combat engineer who survived the war but later became another kind of statistic -- a lost soul, a veteran who never recovered from his experiences.......Read Rest Here

Catherine Whitney is the author of "Soldiers Once: My Brother and the Lost Dreams of America's Veterans"

Going Back To Terrorism??

You had to have been one that falls under the loosely define word 'Terrorist' to 'Go Back To!', and if they were why would they have been released after these years of being held, out of touch of any contact and thousands of miles from their homes and families!

Did 'returning' terrorists become extremists in Guantanamo?

One of the detainees whom a newly released Pentagon report says returned to the battlefield after he was released from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp told McClatchy that he was a local security leader in Afghanistan when he was arrested and became a radical Islamist only during his detention.

A second, a Kuwaiti man charged with links to al Qaida, told McClatchy that he'd never been to Afghanistan when he was arrested in a hotel room in Peshawar, Pakistan. He later contradicted himself, however, was held for three and a half years and is now listed as a suspected terrorist............

For those released, as apparently there was not enough evidence that they were even fighters against an invader to their country, after years in Gitmo and elsewhere and the more than just 'waterboarding' torture used, What Would Make Some Think That Some of Them Wouldn't Become Combatants and Possible Criminal Terrorists, than add in the numbers of innocents who survived these years in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Numbers are out of site!!

It only takes a few to wage Criminal Terrorism against masses, they've already lived in the terror waged on them and their countries!!

And we'll be living the results of these years for the decades to come!!

Former Interrogator Rebukes Cheney for Torture Speech

Dick Cheney says that torturing detainees has saved American lives. That claim is patently false. Cheney's torture policy was directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of American servicemen and women.

Matthew Alexander was the senior military interrogator for the task force that tracked down Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and, at the time, a higher priority target than Osama bin Laden. Mr. Alexander has personally conducted hundreds of interrogations and supervised over a thousand of them.

"Torture does not save lives. Torture costs us lives," Mr. Alexander said in an exclusive interview at Brave New Studios. "And the reason why is that our enemies use it, number one, as a recruiting tool...These same foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight because of torture and abuse....literally cost us hundreds if not thousands of American lives."

Veterans' courts provide a second chance

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that of the 1.6 million people arrested last year, 10 percent had served in the military. Many of them are veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Now the judicial system is trying to save a generation of soldiers.

"All I know is before I joined the marines I never got in trouble, never got arrested, never even got a speeding ticket; I come back not even a month, I get a DUI," Iraq veteran Mariano Vazquez said. "I still feel like there's something wrong. Sometimes I think I'm crazy."

With the studying that has preceded these conflicts, though not enough has still been done nor enough people paying attention and now we have multiple tours in these theaters, more is understood about PTS and can be better diagnosed, as well as TBI. These Vets need help first, not condemnation and lockup!

The Greatest Generation’s Troubled Homecoming {UpDated}

I had a first hand view, though very young than, and like the rest of the extended family didn't realize it, of what War does to those that serve in them, and you then have to extend that to those that live in where they occur.

I won't go into the details but to say it was an Uncle who was one of my favorites, he was a gifted craftsman but a troubled soul. He was full of life trying to live it that way, than he suddenly snapped! He died alone in the little home he built, more the size of a shed it was supposedly to become, by the lake, shortly before I left Panama and went to 'Nam. There were a couple of other uncles who showed the results of serving in WWII in other ways as well, and like the book and articles, it was just said "They cam back different then how they left.". While in 'Nam I started to understand what he might possibly had been going through, understanding what the rest of the extended family, and his friends, didn't. And probably still do, as I'm the only one of the recent branch of the family, especially my large immediate family, till a couple of younger distant cousins kids served in Gulf War I, that has served in a combat/occupation theater.

Caught a discussion of a new book on NPR's "Here and Now" and did abit of searching for some more information.

Book looks at the effects of combat stress on WWII vets

But there’s something else Gold keeps from the war that you can’t see, not unless you’re with the 88-year-old retired obstetrician in the dark of morning. That’s when his nightmares come — and he’s back in a burning bomber in which two friends were killed, or back in that German prison and starving. That’s when Gold shows his greatest WWII keepsake: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Actually it comes at other, less private times, too. Take for instance, a meal. “Don’t mess with my food,” he says...........

Technically no one during WWII or immediately after it suffered from PTSD; because it didn’t exist. The disorder wasn’t officially recognized until 1980. So before that, few sought help for something they didn’t have. They just suffered in silence............

Found the above after the discussion and book info linked below.

Memorial Day {this link brings up their player page to listen}

{You can also click here to listen with Real Player or here to listen with Windows Media Player }

A new book paints a devastating picture of life for American veterans returning from war. "Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II" interweaves the stories of three families whose soldiers were, as the phrase goes, never the same after the war, and the effect that had on their families. Author Thomas Childers joins us for a Memorial Day conversation. Childers is professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania.

Book Description:
One of our most enduring national myths surrounds the men and women who fought in the so-called "Good War." The Greatest Generation, we're told by Tom Brokaw and others, fought heroically, then returned to America happy, healthy and well-adjusted. They quickly and cheerfully went on with the business of rebuilding their lives.

In this shocking and hauntingly beautiful book, historian Thomas Childers shatters that myth. He interweaves the intimate story of three families—including his own—with a decades' worth of research to paint an entirely new picture of the war's aftermath. Drawing on government documents, interviews, oral histories and diaries, he reveals that 10,000 veterans a month were being diagnosed with psycho-neurotic disorder (now known as PTSD). Alcoholism, homelessness, and unemployment were rampant, leading to a skyrocketing divorce rate. Many veterans bounced back, but their struggle has been lost in a wave of nostalgia that threatens to undermine a new generation of returning soldiers.

Novelistic in its telling and impeccably researched, Childers's book is a stark reminder that the price of war is unimaginably high. The consequences are human, not just political, and the toll can stretch across generations.

Listening to the discussion the book isn't only about the mental stress of War but also what many returned to especially right after, living conditions and much more.

I than found the following:

Was there more to the man known as ‘town drunk’?

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”
One could only guess the unsung songs of Thomas Cecil Berzett when he crawled into the back of a parked Tennison taxicab to sleep off a night of drinking on March 26, 1975, and died...........

The above is the first, apparently, of a two part report about Thomas Cecil Berzett and his life after World War II, the second to be printed tomorrow, 5.26.09.

Earlier this morning I just caught a rather short report, on the top of the hour News, about an Ohio Mental Health Center. Tried to find some more about it as it mentioned soldiers, before the the time of Vietnam and the Finally realization of what we now call PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress. All I could come up with was this short local report.

Service to honor former patient

The Ridges Cemeteries in Athens

There are nearly 2,000 former mental health patients buried at The Ridges Cemeteries in Athens and, as locals do more research, they are finding that some of the men and women buried there were courageous war heroes before entering the Athens Mental Health Center.

Records reveal a number of veterans entered mental hospital post-war.

According to Tom Walker, chairman of the Ridges Cemeteries Committee, the 1,965 former patients buried at The Ridges have graves marked simply by small gravestones with numbers. He said the men and women were buried separately and given a numbered marker............

You have to be a subscriber to view the rest of the above. I do hope that what is found someone will bring out for others to read, and I'm sure similar can be found around this Nation, as well as others, to teach us much more!

And apparently this Athens Mental Health Center has quite a history, as well as being suspected of being haunted. If you do a search of it the web site links that pop up lean in that direction.

The following The Ridges Cemetery Project you can find more information, with links, about this project, along with these two audio discussions:

Click the players below to listen to a one hour Conversations from Studio B interview of NAMI member Tom Walker, by WOUB library archivist Doug McCabe (Oct 2008):

First half hour


Second half hour

Ceremony honors vets, others buried on OU's Ridges

A number of Athens residents gathered at the Ohio University Ridges’ cemeteries on Memorial Day to hold a ceremony in honor of the servicemen and servicewomen buried there.

Since 2005, these ceremonies have been held to honor the many veterans from the Mexican and Civil Wars through the Korean War who never previously received any such recognition.

Ridges Cemeteries Committee chair Tom Walker said the ceremonies the committee has been organizing are for the purpose of dignifying those buried on the Ridges, not just the vets but all 1,965.........

The more we ignore what War does the easier it is to be led into Wars of Choice by those that don't serve in them. We also need to better understand the lasting remnants of, not only for those who fight them but those that live where they take place. Leading to the understanding of what we now call Post Traumatic Stress and that it occurs to many who never serve in Wars but experience extreme Trauma Events in their lives, and live silently or lashing out on others, with the results from those events on their minds and lives.

Peace Train by Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)

Online Memorial to U.S., Coalition Troops

With the Google Earth layer, users can click on service members' names, hometowns and profiles.

Each year on Memorial Day, tens of thousands of Americans visit Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington to pay tribute to the men and women who died serving the United States.

For people who are unable to make the trip, a new online memorial provides a unique way to honor those service members who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The new Google Earth layer, called Map the Fallen, enables the user to pinpoint where, when, and how each service member died since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan. A line connects the service member's approximate location of death to his or her hometown.

The interactive tool -- available at mapthefallen.org -- also offers a detailed profile of each person...........

Digital Memorial to Troops

John King demonstrates a new, interactive digital memorial to the fallen troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.

CNN State of the Union - John King

Honoring the Fallen on a Google Earth map on CNET.

The Faces Of The Fallen In Operation Iraqi Freedom And Operation Enduring Freedom. Washington Post.

MSNBC Photo Slide Show for Memorial Day 2009

"Who Dies In War?"

Veterans For Peace Asks "Who Dies In War?"

May 22, 2009

Few really think about it, but many more innocent civilians die in war than soldiers. That is the message that Veterans For Peace would like people to think about on Memorial day.

Veterans For Peace National President Mike Ferner comments, "We have been taught that the purpose of Memorial Day is to remember fallen service members. Veterans For Peace is here to tell the nation that the number of innocent civilians who die in war far outnumbers the combatants. It would be immoral to only remember those who fought and died in war and not pay respect to those who are victims. In the final analysis, the best way to remember both is to abolish this scourge of humanity."

Veterans For Peace National Executive Director Michael T. McPhearson stated, "As veterans this day holds special meaning for us. Many of our members have seen their buddies die in battle and we all know that only luck or grace allows us to be here today to remember the dead. We also know our actions are responsible for the enormous lose of life of innocent people simply trying to live their lives, who for no fault of their own were caught in the middle of madness. We are haunted by their deaths and stand in respectful silence to remember them, those of us who did not live to be veterans and those veterans who are no longer with us. We demand our government and all the governments of the world end this human made plague called war. There is a better way."

Across the nation, veterans, military families and friends will gather this weekend through Monday to remember fallen loved ones, comrades, service members and all lives lost to war. Veterans For Peace will commemorate these women, children and men with vigils and solemn programs. Several chapters will display temporary cemeteries to represent the over 4,985 U.S. fallen and untold numbers of civilians killed in current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other chapters will lay wreaths and flowers; have speakers and readings; and march in parades.

See full news advisory here (PDF)

Bob & Lee Woodruff's New Cause

A Memorial Day Goal for Bob and Lee Woodruff

"Hey Friends -- Would you give a dollar to someone who risked their life for you? We are in a big push this weekend to try to get every American to give $1.00 (or better yet $5.25 - to signify the date of Memorial Day) to help our wounded troops. This is what Memorial Day is all about.

"Yesterday by being on CNN and CNBC to talk about it-- Bob and I raised $21,000 just from people twittering and going to the website to give."............

ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and wife Lee raise funds for injured service members. They join CNN's TJ Holmes.


You can Visit Tweet To Remind, or ReMind.org to find out much more about 'A Memorial Day Goal for Bob and Lee Woodruff'.



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Beyond the Invisible: Living with Brain Injury

Produced by the Brain Injury Association of New York State (BIANYS), and narrated by Lee Woodruff:

This 30-minute documentary focuses on three veterans who sustained a
brain injury in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The film is designed to educate
the public, professionals, and advocates about what it means to live with a brain injury...........More at the Documentary Site

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Memorial Day a time to pledge

that we never again enter a war based on whim or blind mistakes

The sight of those rows of white headstones dotting the rolling acres of Arlington National Cemetery evokes chills and tears, for each is a testament to bravery; a monument to sacrifice.

I have never gone there when I did not cry.

On this Memorial Day, each of the more than 300,000 gravesites there — containing the remains of individuals from every war fought by this country — will be decorated with small U.S. flags, the symbol of the republic they held dear.................

The Pledge we 'Nam Vets made, the Pledge this Country made, "We will never forget the lessons of Vietnam!", back than! Those lessons weren't on how to fight a Guerilla Insurgency of residents of another country We Invade, But Never Wage Wars Of Choice!!
And our collective Apathy and Arrogance allows failed policies towards others which leads the few to Beat The Drums Of War Of Choice and we encourage the slaughter!!