An American friend sent me a nationalistic and christian piece a few days ago, which I replied to today. Here's the original piece (followed by my reply):
Here's a very impressive view of the young military personnel who serve our country.
1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the Tomb of the Unknowns and why?
21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.
2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?
21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1.
3. Why are his gloves wet?
His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.
4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and if not, why not?
He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.
5. How often are the guards changed?
Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.
6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?
For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30." Other requirements of the Guard: they must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.
The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.
The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off-duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.
Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.
ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.
In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.
God Bless our men and women serving in the military.
Have a wonderful July 4th celebration.
My reply:
I think that's an interesting, yet horrid piece, and I'll tell you why: glorification of any organisation or form whatsoever that kill people really only helps to smear over its crimes, especially the American army (as the USA today is the biggest terrorist state in the known world) is not acceptable to me; nationalism, such as celebrating a national day, only helps to play into the hands of those seeking to paint over the dread that young American soldiers face every day, and here's an example (see the video): https://niklasblog.com/?p=446 - also remember that it's very convenient to send the young 'uns into combat. As the song says, the average age of the American boy soldier who was sent to Vietnam, was 19 years.
I wonder what God would say, should she hear Bush's speeches and realise he's snatched passages from the Bible, inserting "USA" where "Heaven" originally is, and himself as "God". See a documentary online about this, here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jesus/view - it's interesting to know christians are supposed to be against people publicly proclaiming themselves to act as the voice of God (if they act according to the bible, anyway), yet the evangelical christians vote for Bush. Interesting, but if you're brain-washed, it all "comes clear in the end".
Speaking of the piece, how come a guard cannot talk to anybody during the first six months of duty? Simple. Brain-wash. Spending their "off-duty time" memorising the names and places of 175 dead people? Guarding a tomb (and learning how to) doesn't seem like an intellectual way to spend one's day, does it? It makes working at McDonalds look like dancing on roses while drinking Cristal, and think about this if you still think guarding that tomb seems like a great job: those soldiers may be revered, they may even receive a high salary from doing what they do, but the minute they get hit by combat and get sent back to America, they're forgotten, no longer useful and most definitely instantly replaced with another space monkey, to paraphrase from Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club".
Aftermath:
I'm not hereby saying I'm the intellectual capital of the world (and those of you who've read my rants before do know it), even though I may sound like it and I do take a very "an eye for an eye" stand against that piece, but I've always thought you've got to face these types of Fox-ish, mindless rants with an open eye and ground beneath your feet. Having said that, the above piece does contain a lot of incorrect information, according to this post at Snopes.
Don't succumb to doing what everybody else does. Follow your own mind, your intellectual mind, and you won't be an effing lemming.