The term “warfighter” was coined by the DOD as a generic term for all members of the military, male or female, so they don’t have to say “soldier, sailors, airmen and airwomen”, they can just say “warfighters”.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but poppies being distributed is a Veteran’s Day thing (in November, formerly known as Armistice Day, Brits and Canadians distribute them, too, the flower is assiciated with the poem In Flanders’ Fields, which my great uncle, a WWI vet made a point of reciting every November, up until his death at age 101). So just hang in there for six months, flatlined; the poppies will be there in time.
And I suppose it’s more butch than the previous term, “service personnel.”
Poppies being distributed is a Remembrance Day (the one in November) thing. It never really caught on in the US.
Grill all year round, sure, but Memorial Day is about the grand opening of summer–the first BBQ of the season. There might be some jingoistic nonsense out there about soldiers or something, and I’m pretty sure there are a handful of WWII vets and people who remember them stopping by with flowers, but hopefully most people are out there celebrating the onset of summer.
But that’s the thing - it’s so aggressive. In your face. WARfighter. It’s all camo and Oakley sunglasses. We don’t do disaster relief, patrol the open seas, stop pirates, maintain MAD, defend? No, we WAR. We are WARRIORS. Hu rah.
What are they gonna do when the WoT ends? Will they still be warfighters?
What makes you think they’ll let the WoT end? Of course they won’t. They may find another word for it, and possibly a different approach, but is there anyone out there naive enough to think the WoT will come to an end?
I vote for WIW - warfighter in waiting.
Boredomfighter.
Right, we’ve declared war on an emotion. It’s going to be like the war on drugs, just something we can feed money and people into forever. Sometimes it will cool down, but it will always be there for a photo op.
It’s kind of funny, to me… reminds me of ‘draft resister’.
B umping this because 11 years later nothing has changed. Dbacks were still talking about those served, not those that died. Plus, we got a bonus of Ken Jennings describing Memorial Day as honoring those who served.
Maybe I’m fighting a losing battle and should just let this thread stay dead. But goddammit it posses me off. I should be glad it hasn’t become Dear Leader Remembrance Day about how those traitorous dems stole the election day. Yet.
You’re fighting a losing battle, not that I disagree with you. Hell, when did every damn sports event in the country become an “honor the troops” day? When did the national flag change to represent the troops instead of the nation? Which reminds me, maybe Trump was right to fuck the flag on stage since he’s been fucking the troops ever since he took office.
OT, but I’ll take this opportunity to promote my pet idea: veterans should get Veteran’s Day off, and everybody else can work.
And why do we have to have the national anthem played/sung at every damn sporting event? I hate fake nationalism like that.
And another thing: for the first time in 24 years we don’t have any troops in an active war zone. * Thank god. Serving in the military now is a relatively low-risk job with good benefits. There’s no reason for “thanking the troops” any longer; any more so than “thanking the certified public accountants”.
*yes, I know…we have so many troops in so many places and so many people hate us that the risks in serving are > 0.
I don’t know what would be more correct, but wishing someone a “happy” Memorial Day seems a little off, considering that the day is supposed to be more than cookouts and a day at the lake.
Trump posted on Truth Social
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS, WHO ALLOWED 21,000,000 MILLION PEOPLE TO ILLEGALLY ENTER OUR COUNTRY, MANY OF THEM BEING CRIMINALS AND THE MENTALLY INSANE,THROUGH AN OPEN BORDER THAT ONLY AN INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT WOULD APPROVE, AND THROUGH JUDGES WHO ARE ON A MISSION TO KEEP MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS, RAPISTS, GANG MEMBERS, AND RELEASED PRISONERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, IN OUR COUNTRY SO THEY CAN ROB, MURDER, AND RAPE AGAIN — ALL PROTECTED BY THESE USA HATING JUDGES WHO SUFFER FROM AN IDEOLOGY THAT IS SICK, AND VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY. HOPEFULLY THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, AND OTHER GOOD AND COMPASSIONATE JUDGES THROUGHOUT THE LAND, WILL SAVE US FROM THE DECISIONS OF THE MONSTERS WHO WANT OUR COUNTRY TO GO TO HELL. BUT FEAR NOT, WE HAVE MADE GREAT PROGRESS OVER THE LAST 4 MONTHS, AND AMERICA WILL SOON BE SAFE AND GREAT AGAIN! AGAIN, HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY, AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Scum? Says the toxic rapist who murdered millions of people by not acting on COVID? If I was still in the military, I would never salute this piece of shit and just suffer the consequences, and then get out at the first opportunity.
I was at a Fourth of July fireworks & concert in a public park in a Chicago suburb during Trump’s first term, and they gave prominent place to “[They’re Coming to] America” which the crowd loved. We would likely NOT have reacted well to “Proud to Be an American” being played.
The next year on the Fourth, I was at a different venue (Arlington Park racecourse, I miss you!) and they played “Proud to Be an American” followed by “[They’re Coming to] America”. I joked to my friends that they played the right-wing national anthem then the liberal national anthem to include everyone.