I was going to write a new post for this year’s Memorial Day, but I then decided my post from 2018 still expresses most of what I would have said so I’ve posted a link to that below.

However,  I did want to address President Biden’s comments at Arlington National Military cemetery: “Throughout history, these women and men laid down their lives, not for a place or a person or a President, but for an idea unlike any other idea in all of human history.  The idea — the idea of the United States of America.”

To his comments, I say bullshit.

First, almost no one lays down their lives – most people who lose their lives in combat or military service have their lives taken from them. The exceptions are just that – singular individuals who perform extraordinary acts of courage to protect others from harm.

Second,  people do not fight and are killed for ideas, mom, or apple pie. They fight for their close comrades that share a fighting position, a ship, or an aircraft.  They fight and die for those they know and love as brothers (and now, sisters). They are owed nothing less.

His are politicians’ words – words that have been spoken my most Presidents and politicians over the decades. None have had the courage to admit young men and women were sent into war – not for democracy and freedom – but for economics, corporate profits, and political ambition.

My comments from 2018 are here.