Veterans Day fracas?

[buggyone]

I read in The Daily Sun letters today that there was a rukus at the Veterans Day ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in The Villages when the speaker politicized his speech. Some people got up and left including one member of the honor guard on the stage.

A friend told me today that there were actually some physical altercation(s) during the retired general's speech between audience members.

Was this true? I was out of town so I am just getting this second-hand.

I cannot imagine Villagers actually coming to blows over an unfortunate speech event from a retired general.

[Mama C]

I was there and I do not think their were any altercations. It was unfortunate that the speaker decided to voice his political views at the ceremony. It was veterans day, not election day. Several veterans did get up and leave to show their distaste for the political comments that was in very bad taste and uncalled for.

[ilovetv]

I read the letters in the paper to see what was said. Each one of two letters is from a different angle. One says basically that the retired major general said we have a choice (now that the you-know-what is over) to take a bad turn toward one side, or turn in the other direction (that would presumably preserve our freedoms veterans have fought for). This letter writer indicates the party preference of the speaker and says veterans don't die as an R or a D, but as patriots.

The other letter says basically that he said in our current status of being divided, we need to come together "and somehow solve our divide".....and that it was disrespectful to get up and leave, when the major general, as a decorated pilot, had "put his life on the line" for our freedoms.

I'm not sure what to make of it, not having been there. But it seems to me that if the man sees our nation going toward what he fought against, he's not gonna like it and likely feels he's earned the right to say so.

At this event, it seems like a matter of decorum and discretion. I do think political correctness has clouded our resolve to defend our freedoms.....and the resolve to support our troops and veterans.

[Golfingnut]

Keep in mind that veterans should be represented period. If a speaker at this type event makes it known what his/her leanings are, then he/she was being very disrespectful to all in attendance and especially those with a different view. I make this comment with 22 years military experience. I lost friends in Viet Nam over 40 years ago and to this day I do not know or care what their party affiliation was. That is not something I wish to think about while attending a memorial service for them.

[ilovetv]

Keep in mind that veterans should be represented period. If a speaker at this type event makes it known what his/her leanings are, then he/she was being very disrespectful to all in attendance and especially those with a different view. I make this comment with 22 years military experience. I lost friends in Viet Nam over 40 years ago and to this day I do not know or care what their party affiliation was. That is not something I wish to think about while attending a memorial service for them.

Good post. I do wonder about political correctness affecting the truth being told to future generations, though.

As an example, I think we all know that there are enemies of free nations in the world today who deny that the holocaust ever happened. If in the future, political correctness actually led to our American society and schools teaching that the holocaust didn't really happen, to me this could lead to dishonoring and denigration of all our troops/leadership who fought against it.

In the letter that indicated the letter writer's political leanings and which said veterans die not as R or D but as patriots, he did not say whether the speaker actually spoke against a party. The letter writer said the speaker spoke about the choice of a trend/march toward one direction (left/right), and against a type of government (which happens to be one our armed forces fought against during the Cold War), which is a condition most of us would consider "more tyranny and oppression".

Isn't it the goal of our military to fight against tyranny and to call it by name? If the speaker did not mention a specific political party he's telling the audience to guard against, what is wrong with speaking against the trend and form of government our troops/leaders saw as tyranny and oppression to be overcome when they died?

To me, we've spent the last 35 years trying to correct history being taught about our role in VietNam for example, so that the realities of politicians in Washington driving the war are brought to light.....to show that our role and approach were not all glorious and perfect, and that political correctness back in the 1960's led to lack of proper strategies and support from Washington, which presumably led to many of these veterans' deaths.

I hope we can discuss this without partisan bickering that leads to the thread being shut down. I think too much political correctness is dangerous regardless of whether it favors left or right.