I sat in my seat of the Boeing 767 waiting for everyone to hurry and stow their carry-ons and grab a seat so we could start what I was sure to be a long , uneventful flight home. With the huge capacity and slow moving people taking their time to stuff luggage far too big for the overhead and never paying much attention to holding up the growing line behind them, I simply shook my head knowing that this flight was not starting out very well.  I was anxious to get home to see my loved ones so I was focused on "my" issues and just felt like standing up and yelling for some of these clowns to get their act together. I knew I couldn't say a word so I just thumbed thru the "Sky Mall" magazine from the seat pocket in front of me. You know it's really getting rough when you resort to the over priced, useless sky mall crap to break the monotony. With everyone finally seated, we just sat  there with the cabin door open and no one in any hurry to get us going although we were well past the scheduled take off time. No wonder the airline industry is in trouble I told myself. Just then, the attendant came on the intercom to inform us all that we were being delayed. The entire plane let out a collective groan. She resumed speaking to say "We are holding the aircraft for some very special people who are on their way to the plane and the delay shouldn't be more than 5 minutes. The word came after waiting six times as long as we were promised that "I" was finally going to be on my way home. Why the hoopla over "these" folks? I was expecting some celebrity or sport figure to be the reason for the hold up.........Just get their butts in a seat and lets hit the gas I thought. The attendant came back on the speaker to announce in a loud and excited voice that we were being joined by several U. S. Marines returning home from Iraq!!! Just as they walked on board, the entire plane erupted into applause. The men were a bit taken by surprise by the 340 people cheering for them as they searched for their seats. They were having their hands shook and touched by almost everyone who was within an arm's
distance of them as they passed down the aisle. One elderly woman kissed the hand of one of the Marines as he passed by her. The applause, whistles and cheering didn't stop for a long time. When we were finally airborne, "I" was not the only civilian checking his conscience as to the delays in "me" getting home, finding my easy chair, a cold beverage and the remote in my hand. These men had done for all of us and I had been complaining
silently about "me" and "my" issues. I took for granted the everyday freedoms I enjoy and the conveniences of the American way of life I took for granted others others paid the price for my ability to moan and complain about a few minutes delay to "me" those Heroes going home to their loved ones. I attempted to get my selfish outlook back in order and minutes before we landed I suggested to the attendant that she announce over the speaker a request for everyone to remain in their seats until our hero's were allowed to gather their things and be first off the plane. The cheers and applause continued until the last Marine stepped off and we all rose to go about our too often taken for granted everyday freedoms......... I felt proud of them. I felt it an honor and a privilege to be among the first to welcome them home and say Thank You for a job well done. I vowed that I will never forget that flight nor the lesson learned. I can't say it enough, THANK YOU to those Veterans and active servicemen and women who may read this and a prayer for those who cannot because they are no longer with us. GOD BLESS AMERICA! WELCOME HOME! AND THANKS FOR A JOB WELL DONE !!!!!

AMEN.........cheers for the men and women who served in Iraq..I so wish i was on that flight and be able to say a sincere " THANK YOU " to the HERO'S  who served.

Sham  

It's nice to get reminded of the little things we take for granted. Good job in your requst for them to get off first.

XOXO Charis

I too received this story from an Air Force buddy of mine and decided to post a 9-11 tribute instead (see thread "Lest we forget:, below).  I'm glad someone else was thoughtful enough to post this as well.  It puts some things into another perspective that we all should heed.

these emails are almost always fake.

Besides, all of the Marines are pissed because they AREN'T coming home.

But G_d bless them anyway...

Pisses in your cheerios every day, huh?

May or may not be a hoax ( http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/comehome.asp ).  Regardless, I applaud the sentiment.

-Hoot.



-- Modified on 9/14/2003 3:25:43 PM

I guess it could be the fact that the Iraqi peopel are feeling a lot safer in their beds at night. No more sudden arrests in the night and broad daylight, for no discernable reason. The victims sometimes to never be seen or heard from again. Or the idea that turning to a government or army official when you are in trouble might actually help you now instead of making things much worse. Maybe it is the idea that one of the world' largest oil producing country will be able to join the rest of us in this millenium. Hard to believe most have never had running water in their towns much less their homes. Electricity is finally going out to the whole country and not just a privilegdged few in Baghdad.

Nope, guess they have nothing to be thankful for.

despite (or perhaps because of) their ignorant and malicious barrage of vilification and ridicule, i stood firm on my support for GWII ...  it was wholly justified and a necessary "bad thing" that had to happen (and was LONG overdue)

if you only listened to the Iraqi's who suffered under Saddam instead of to the overly zealous liberal media that constantly regurgitates the "100 Bin Laden" argument,  you just may start to understand why

---

bet you all didn't expect to hear me say this, did you?  

nothing is ever entirely as it seems!

LOL

It's just too bad that that wasn't the reason that we went over there for.  

I can't take sides so easily.  No doubt Sadam needed to go.  An Iraqi friend of mine in 1984 told me about him and she was dead on (I hope not just dead).  He was(is) a son of a bitch.

Why aren't they all rejoycing in the streets over there?  We needed to go in...somebody needed to go in. Why do they hate us?

We went alone.  Not such a wise move.  There really wasn't the immediate danger it would appear.  Did one man's ego push us into a situation that we could have avoided to some extent?

I remember Viet Nam...I remember that our government would lie to us.  That doesn't mean that the cause was injust, nor does it mean that it was.

Exercise caution in too much celebration of "victory" until we learn just what we won.

both you and the other guy, the "unarmed American"  

are you ashamed of your views?  or just afraid of being ostracised by your peers?  what you're saying is not that unreasonable!  

aliases are for cowardly attacks on enemies and the occasional "oops i'm stupid, i got robbed" type posts. both of you make decent and reasoned statements.  heck, i probably just "betrayed" most of the Liberals on this board who thought i was automatically in their camp on all the issues!

it's not such a bad thing to be a free-thinker and think "outside the box" or "away from the pack"

try it next time ... post as yourself and see what happens ... you might be (pleasantly) surprised!

"We went alone.  Not such a wise move."

This is a bit confusing to me. We didn't "go alone" there are 31 nations in our coalition in Iraq. Yes, we went without the UN's approval. "Not such a wise move" is what way? The invasion went quicker and easier than any one anticipated on either side. Casualties on both sides were ludicrously low. How could having UN forces operating under multiple leaders have been better?

You remember Vietnam. Do you also remember that the French fought that war for over twenty years? You wanted these same people to help plan and execute an invasion?

It's really one of the only places on Earth where people can voice diverse opinions without regard for repurcussion, at least for now.

But you lose sight of the original post.  It wasn't about the politics, or justifying the war.  It was a tribute to the guy (or gal) that makes the committment to defend that freedom, and their sacrifices in so doing.

Argue 'til the cows come home about what's right or wrong in Iraq.  But for Heaven's sake leave the troops out of the discussion.  They aren't politcal, they only protect our freedoms, whether you think so or not.



-- Modified on 9/14/2003 11:05:20 PM

Thank you for saying what i wanted to say better and calmer then i ever could have. I wanted to respond to this earlier but knew if i did at that time my keyboard would runeth over, so for once, i waited. Now i'm glad i did.

Snow

and to think the US invaded Iraq to ``save the people'' is a bit naive IMHO.  It's always about the ``oil''.

I hope dearly the Iraqi people are better off now. But they were hardly Bush's concern - he could not wait to go to war (of course it's not his sons or daughters being sent - his girls are too busy going to keggers).

-- Modified on 9/15/2003 7:50:56 AM

without the US-led "invasion" the people of Iraq never stood a chance of seeing a red cent (or 'dinar' whatever) of "their" oil money ... Saddam and his family had for decades pocketed all the riches that came from it and would have continued to have done the same for generations to come

sure this way Bush and his buddies (Big Oil) will be able to get discount oil but at least the proceeds will go towards the PEOPLE of Iraq as opposed to a totalitarian ruling family.  all the UN opposition, especially those rat bastard sons-of-bitches the French, was not over "peace" and the rule of UN (anyone who thinks so is extremely naive) - it was them bickering over what THEIR oil rights would be AFTER the invasion

---

remember this, fortunately our administrations last 8 years max, these brutal regimes can last a generation -- that's a lifetime spent rotting and imprisoned for crimes against the state!

that you support American military intervention, no matter what the cost for this country or the country that is invaded, anywhere in the world that people are oppressed?

Altruistic of you.

-- Modified on 9/16/2003 12:24:59 AM

I suppose they can't be worse off (that is, those who didn't die in the war (not sure about the children without their parents though)).  

My point was that it is irritating when people wave the flag shouting how we freed the Iraqi people in the name of justice. It seems quite coincidental how so shortly after his election our war monger, I mean president, found himself in an Iraqi skirmish.

The wheels must keep spinning and the spinning requires oil.

About those damned French - didn't they already surrender when the Berlin Wall came down.

as for the Iraqis that died in the war, their numbers are INFINITESIMAL compared to those Saddam slaughtered over the years --- you should talk to more Iraqi dissidents

the casualty counting arm-chair liberals who were gainsaying their way through that [cough] incredibly lengthy and drawn-out almost siege-like 3-week Battle for Baghdad must be living in a perfect utopian world where military force NEVER causes civilian deaths --  i'm sorry, "collateral damage"

we the rest of us, live in the real world



-- Modified on 9/15/2003 11:40:05 AM

i'm sure your idea of "political oppression" is having a Republican in the white house

the rest of the world has it far far worse than us









-- Modified on 9/15/2003 11:38:39 AM

who has sympathy for those whose lives have be tragically affected by all this (and all those in the past and future).

By the way, you and I live in the US - not the world.

I especially admire the bravery with which you fought this war - with the bravery of being out of range (unless you've lost someone - in which case I'm sorry).

and for the record, you don't know where i've lived, what wars i've fought and what sacrifices me and mine have made

so let's just leave it at that

Exactly, as a owner of HAL (HALLIBURTON CO) I say let's liberal some more countries. The French and Russians have to many oil contract with countries that don't like American. Mercenaries are too costly and cut into the bottom line.

I was a little afraid when HAL announced that we would not seek anymore rebuild Iraq contracts, but I guess that why I'm not a CEO. HAL's execs got a number of backdoor contracts those companies we own. And we are still upping the 1st contact with extras, so in your face you left wing Hillary loving card carrying ACLU liberals!  Mercenaries are too costly and cut into the bottom line. So using American forces makes good sense. Liberals shouldn't have any say in how their tax money is used their to liberal. Liberals should just be quite and hope we don't jail them for treason.

I didn't write the post you responded to, but what's wrong with aliases?  I've seen statements like yours before, and I'm not being flip, I'm really curious. Everytime I think of a good/clever alias I add it to my list; some I've used, some not, but I never thought I was hiding...or I guess it would be more accurate to say, I've always thought I was hiding, even when I use my screen name, Hedonist13, so who cares if I'm using that or one of my other personalities, no one knows who I am anyway.  Does anyone know your identity?  Again, I'm really asking.

but it does appear to escape a more than handful of people (more than i'd at first thought possible). but you are right to ask

yes, OF COURSE!  we're all anonymous here (let us hope). when i say "hiding behind an alias" i mean concealing your TER identity (not your REAL identity). in other words, that "real" persona by which you are known here, by which your posts and reviews reveal the "real" you, by which your friends and foes know you, etc

i'm sure you can imagine how (if not why) a two-faced and duplicitous individual who is well-known and well-regarded for his, let's say anti-abortion views, may suddenly choose to put on the mask and engage in a debate or personal attack disguised as a pro-lifer.  why folks would do such a thing is another matter

and then there's aliases by which you're already known to the board (case in point myself, i have over 30 -- including the entire cast of the Simpsons!). these differ from those which are completely anonymous (example, one-time disposable aliases which thereafter quickly disappear).  which differs from when i post under one of mine, for example Cynicalman 2.0/3.0 (but not 3.1, he's another cynic!) folks reading that thread (at least those who are involved) KNOW it's me, singleton, so they take it with  context (i hope)

but when i, a Liberal, enter a thread bearing the alias "Republican and Proud of It" only to harass and ridicule my foes or denigrate Democrats i don't like, that's another matter entirely

so there's nothing wrong with aliases per se, it's how you use them ... some of the things i alluded to above are the main reason why it's not permitted to use more than one alias/handle in one thread, cuz folks would then be able to really manipulate and mislead others (agreeing with yourself, etc)

hope this is clear. thank you for asking. i've been meaning to make this distinction clear, in case it was really needed

OIL is a world commodity, not US controlled. In fact, we can get all the oil we need from other sources (not from the Middle East)! The problem is the absolute fanatical nuts who create all this havoc there can upset the WORLD economy which would take us down also! In other words, we're acting like the world's police force, but is there any one else you think is up for this task? World politics are truly devious and we may never know the whole story but we should be aware of some of the basics, though.
I don't want either of my sons to fight in this war/peace effort. But I realize that's selfish and pray that all of our sons and daughters come home to us. There is too much sacrifice asked of Americans, but we're the leaders - and leaders are supposed to do good things (contrary to countries like USSR and China).
Sorry for being so wordy...

I agree with your comment regarding oppression.  Most of us
(especially those of us on this board who can afford the luxury of seeing escorts) know nothing about oppression compared to those in third world countries or the poor in our Country.  

There are degrees of oppression - every race has experienced oppression by others.  No one owns the ``i've been oppressed'' or ''i've made sacrifices'' martyr-card.

It this world of limited resources the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  

So, you say the US has freed the Iraqi people.  Well, I hope so.  It was the US's motivation - Okay (if you say so).  On the other hand, if it was Curious George's intention to go to war and free the Iraqis then I'm a bit pissed.  The way I see it there are many oppressed people living in the US - let's liberate them first.

Well, I don't want to take up anymore bandwidth, lest someone be bandwidth-oppressed.

"It was the US's motivation - Okay (if you say so)" -- llcar  


any person paying attention in this thread can verify that in fact i neither said this nor implied it ... but if you feel it strengthens your "argument" to spin this the way you want, by all means feel free to do so.  you may have actually convinced a great many people that i did and hence you are right etc

god only knows there are enough people on this board with the reading comprehension skills of a child, the attention span of a gnat and the knee-jerk reactions of a mule to go for this type of "debate" and "discourse"