BY PUBLISHER EMERITUS ARMAND MIELE
I always say that a parade is made up of believers. We have a lot of believers in the United States, and many occasions on which to celebrate our faith in each other, in our history, in our nation. The Columbus Day and St. Patrick’s Day parades are no longer only for those of Italian and Irish heritage. The lines of veterans marching for Memorial Day seem to get longer, not less.
When the parade passes on Independence Day, we naturally express our pride in the United States. But what’s the parade about, really?
On Independence Day, we celebrate our victory in the Revolutionary War. Our American predecessors drove out the ruling British government, because we wanted to rule ourselves.
Today, we’re still at war, and it’s a shame. We’re not fighting invaders or oppressors on America soil. Our brave soldiers are dying and are being wounded in body and soul, losing legs, sometimes losing their minds, sustaining every wound you can think of, fighting in countries they do not know, for causes that have nothing to do with American freedom.
I say it’s the politicians and corporate moguls, such as those in weapons manufacturing and oil production, who benefit from these wars at the great expense of the American people, not to mention the people of the overseas nations. We should get those rotten ones. They’re only interested in making big money. The more wars, the more money they make. They are investing in war, and not in the future of our American youth.
My family of Italian-American immigrants were five American veterans. My father, who was Italian, fought for the U.S. in World War I. My three brothers were drafted into World War II, two in the Navy, one in the Army. I was drafted in the Korean War. This broke up our family. Also, my father-in-law was Filipino, but served the U.S. Army as a Captain, becoming a hero in World War II. I don’t even know how many of my cousins and uncles were drafted. The worst part was that when we came home, there was no help, except, as I remember, the “52-20 club,” which was $20 a week from the government for 52 weeks.
No one in my family went down in history, but history remembers Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman as great Presidents, in part because of the wars we fought. John F. Kennedy and both Bush presidents had their wars, and now Barack Obama has his many armed conflicts on foreign soil. Are these the wars we celebrate on Independence Day?
I don’t think so. We Americans have to wisen up. This 4th of July we should demonstrate that the only time we will fight a war is when we are being invaded. Those presidents that had us suffer and die in wars on foreign soil were all wrong. It is never our war. It’s for the dirty bastards who are only interested in gain for themselves, whether it’s power or money. These presidents who refuse to protect American lives and interests by sending our military to fight and die abroad should be out of the history books and should spend the rest of their lives in jail.
Later this month, on July 24, we will have a chance to honor 27 American heroes who gave their lives for us in Korea. You can read more about it at http://www.sunyrockland.edu/news/korean-war-veterans-memorial-service-july-24.
But this 4th of July, let’s remember what the parade is really about. We should only fight when the enemy threatens American lives or invades our soil.
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY and GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Miele’s Musings, July 5th: What’s The Parade About? added by dskriloff on
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