Human remains in the landfill?!

[Makalakumu]

This story reminds me of an important time in my life when I was 15 years old and deciding what I wanted to do with my life. I was at my grandfather's house and we had just worked all morning tending the gardens and animals on his small farm. As we sat down for lunch, I told him that I wanted to join the army. My grandfather was a WWII vet, he marched from Normandy to Germany and he never talked about his experiences, except to tell his grandchildren about how horrible it was to ride out the storms on the North Sea on ships.

My grandfather was a member of the American Legion, the VFW, and the Eagles, all of these organizations were part of our family. I was a member of the Son's of the American Legion and we would travel around Minnesota to the various gatherings they had and perform flag ceremonies and community service where ever we ended up. I thought he would be proud of my decision. His response shocked and bewildered me at the time. Without a word, he motioned me toward the door and we climbed inside his beat up gray dodge ram. We drove to the local VA hospital and he introduced me to some of his friends there. His friends had old wounds from battle, were sick, or were there to get some kind of medical help. I discovered that these men had waited years to get help and that there were a lot of men who had never gotten any aid for their battle caused ailments despite their service to our country.

And I'll never forget what he told me as we were leaving, "This is how our country treats it's men in uniform. They use them up and when they get broken, it throws them away."

At that time, he meant it figuratively. I wonder what he would say if he were still alive and discovered that it was true in reality?

 

[Tez3]

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised, saddened of course but really it shouldn't be a surprised that those in charge pay lip service to 'our wonderful troops' but behind closed doors they regard the military as expendable, yes the troops signed up prepared to lay their lives down in their country's service BUT that doesn't mean they can be thrown away as you or I would discard tissues. If there has to be deaths they have to mean something. However this is nothing new, throughout the centuries soldiers have been pawns in the powers-that- be's game of power. Dead soldiers of course are an embarrassment to a government, injured ones even more so. The Taliban know this and will prefer to injure soldiers knowing the effect it has on us and of course how much it costs.
Please don't take this the wrong way but it worries me when America advocates torturing it's enemies and then does this to it's troops, I wonder what the country is turning into, of course as allies we may end up following you into this darkness.


Makalakumu, your grandfather would have crossed the English Channel rather than the North Sea to get across to Normandy, do you have any idea where he left from? This is another secret, when nearly 800 American troops were killed in a rehearsal for the D Day landings, it was hushed up and only become widely know only recently. As far as I know these soldiers also have no graves but in 2004 a memorial was put up to them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...evon-beach-are-finally-remembered-561253.html

 

[Josh Oakley]

Now as I understand it, it was ashes. Left over from cremation. Families, both civilian and military, generally get only a portion of a loved ones ashes. This applies to civilian and military families. My mortuary affairs spec explained the process to me. According to her, the part that doesn't go back to the families gets disposed. If I have my facts wrong, let me know, though.

 

[Makalakumu]

Makalakumu, your grandfather would have crossed the English Channel rather than the North Sea to get across to Normandy, do you have any idea where he left from?

No, I don't know where he left from. I don't know if it's the same in the UK, but a lot of WWII servicemen hardly ever talked about their experiences. Both of my grandfathers served and neither of them told any tales. The only exception was my father's father, who sat his sons down before they shipped to Vietnam and explained to them what they could expect in war. He served in the Pacific. I'm assuming my grandfather's stories about the North Sea were about crossing it on the way too and from Europe.

My mother's father was an interesting man. He told us that he didn't like to sleep in a tent because of all the time he spent in tents in the war. He didn't watch TV because of the violence portrayed on it. He had strong, life long, friendships with his fellow veterans, but was never overly patriotic. My mother says he changed during the 60s, because of Vietnam, and started to see the government from a different point of view.

These news reports don't surprise me. It's just another example of how the people on top are completely out of touch with reality and morality. I'm curious how the Armed Forces are going to justify it. What were they thinking?