Roll Call Thread......

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998
Roll Call Thread......
1747
Thu, 04-02-2009 - 4:49pm

There are a lot of new posters out there and some old faces, lets all introduce ourselves again...


PumpkinAngel

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-07-2009
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 5:52pm
We have a friend who is getting married in Greece this summer.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 5:53pm
Who is attributing very little intelligence to vets? Not me. I don't think "I fought for freedom of speech and other freedoms" is an unintelligent thing to say. Although our freedoms definately are gaurenteed in the Constitution, that Constitution stands only as long as we retain basically the same form of government as we have had since it was written. I don't think our form of government is literally so fragile that it could be toppled by Chinese communism, Nazism
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2008
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 6:12pm

No one painted them as drunken. You are the only one saying that the reasons they joined the military and gave part of their life to the country is unintelligent.

Your post is a good example of those who claim they "support the troops" but do not even give that lip service.

"YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"--Jack Nicholsen, as Colonol Nathan Jessup in "A Few Good Men"
"YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!"--Jack Nicholsen, as Colonol Nathan Jessup in "A Few Good Men"
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2006
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 6:14pm

we had our wedding at a local catering hall. they did a beautiful job -- great food, lots of space to dance (two of our requirements), reasonable prices.

we also had great music -- provided by our dj (family friend -- dh's ex-wife's 1st husband, LOL! -- who charged us $300).

interesting assortment of guests -- all had a great time.

I've also thrown 3 b'nai mitzvot -- two receptions that were of the same quality as my wedding. ALL were lovely affairs and still chattered about within and among family and friends.

eileen

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2009
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 6:25pm
I understand that there is an argument to be made that American involvement the Vietnam War was unnecessary; in fact both my husband (the Vietnam veteran) and I subscribe to that viewpoint. However, neither of us thinks that those who subscribed to the domino theory in the 1970s and thought that they were fighting to preserve democracy and freedom were unintelligent, nor do we think that those who still hold to the views that their service was necessary to defend American freedoms are fooling themselves.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 6:36pm
I'm a dovehawk. Even if a particular war was a bad idea (Vietnam, Iraq), I think the underlying principle of fighting to preserve democracy is a sound one. It is possible to agree with the principle while disagreeing with a specific engagement. And my hawkish side feels that part of the reason we were never really in danger of becoming Communist is because our military is so "don't tread on me" powerful that no government or terrorist organization really stands a chance of imposing their form of government on us. That miltary power is abused on a nearly continual basis, but it still is formidable enough to keep our form of government from being toppled. And so even if a particular war was a bad idea, if our miltary didn't exist the freedoms in the Constiution really would go away because whoever could run roughshod over us. So, in the end, fighting for our freedoms really has been the true purpose of every vet even if done in an ill-advised war.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 6:44pm
I'll be the outlier here and declare my love of interminable dinner wedding receptions where I must wear nice clothes. I just enjoy ceremonies of all sorts. But I'm not going to hate on anybody who wants no part of that.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2009
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 6:44pm

My feelings about the military are so mixed up. I am the wife of a vet, and military service in my family goes back something like 9 generations. There hasn't been a war in this country since the Revolution that some ancestor of mine didn't fight in. My grandfather was a POW in WWII. My Dad fought in Korea, and DH in Vietnam. His father was a colonel in the army, and between us, we've got something like six relatives who were West Point Graduates. And yet I hope neither of my sons ever has to go to war, and I am not sure how I feel about a military career for either of them even during peacetime. My younger one has some inclination that way; the older one not at all.

The thing I noticed about the military is that military people tend to come from one of two groups -- the service elite, men and women whose parents and grandparents were officers, who grew up in military surroundings and whose parents encouraged them to continue the family tradition; or young men and women from working class or lower-middle class backgrounds for whom military represents a "step up" in terms of later socio-economic status. It is kind of troubling to me that professional people without a military background tend to look down on soldiering and would be highly unhappy if their children chose a military career. I am not talking about those with a completely pacifist world view; I am talking about people like me -- people who could fall into your hawkdove or dovehawk category.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2009
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 6:46pm
My enjoyment of weddings tends to be in direct proportion to how well I know either the bride or the groom. If it is someone I know and love, I generally like being a part of the whole thing. But if it is someone whose wedding I am going to because it's a social necessity -- like the child of a colleague whom I barely know, or the child of some childhood friend of DH's, I am usually very impatient for it all to be over.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 6:48pm
I think part of the worry is just normal parental worry. It is, after all, a pretty dangerous career.

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