Have you seen the crippled soldiers?

[Philosoraptor]

They hide them pretty good, but a few of them slip through the news filter and you can actually see them. One of them lives across the street from me. He left for Iraq 3 years ago, and he got back about a year ago, and now he has only one arm.

Other than that, he looks the same, but I know that he's lost more than an arm, and I know there are images and memories in his head that will cripple a part of his soul forever, whether it shows or not.

Last night on t.v. I saw one of bush's crippled soldiers, his face horribly mutilated. I've seen images of bush visiting crippled soldiers, still in their beds, bandaged, on life support machinery, wires, traction devices, tubes, burned faces, legless, armless, and those are just the ones they feel fit to show, there are thousands of them that we can barely look upon without weeping.

Have you seen them? They are being hidden very well from us. Many of them want nothing more than to go back to Iraq and fight on for their country and their buddies, but many of them are forever shattered, forever changed inside, even the ones who have no scars.

We NEED to see them, painful as it is. We need to see them for who they are, our very sons and daughters. We need to see them when we look into the eyes of our own children, for they are only moments away from sharing in bush's plans.


bush visits crippled soldier


bush exploits crippled soldier

[Chipper Chat]

1. My two cents: (warning: graphic picture)

When Johnny comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give him a hearty welcome then,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys will shout,
The ladies they will all turn out,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

The old church bells will peal with joy,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our darling boy,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village lads and lassies say
With roses they will strew the way,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

Get ready for the Jubilee,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give the hero three times three,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his loyal brow,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

Let love and friendship on that day,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Their choicest treasures then display,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
And let each one perform some part
To fill with joy the warrior's heart,
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home.

[Philosoraptor]

3. "Ready to Kill", by Carl Sandburg

TEN minutes now I have been looking at this.
I have gone by here before and wondered about it.
This is a bronze memorial of a famous general
Riding horseback with a flag and a sword and a revolver on him.
I want to smash the whole thing into a pile of junk to be hauled away to the scrap yard. 5
I put it straight to you,
After the farmer, the miner, the shop man, the factory hand, the fireman and the teamster,
Have all been remembered with bronze memorials,
Shaping them on the job of getting all of us
Something to eat and something to wear, 10
When they stack a few silhouettes
Against the sky
Here in the park,
And show the real huskies that are doing the work of the world, and feeding people instead of butchering them,
Then maybe I will stand here 15
And look easy at this general of the army holding a flag in the air,
And riding like hell on horseback
Ready to kill anybody that gets in his way,
Ready to run the red blood and slush the bowels of men all over the sweet new grass of the prairie.

[Philosoraptor]

4. "Cripple", by Carl Sandburg

ONCE when I saw a cripple
Gasping slowly his last days with the white plague,
Looking from hollow eyes, calling for air,
Desperately gesturing with wasted hands
In the dark and dust of a house down in a slum, 5
I said to myself
I would rather have been a tall sunflower
Living in a country garden
Lifting a golden-brown face to the summer,
Rain-washed and dew-misted, 10
Mixed with the poppies and ranking hollyhocks,
And wonderingly watching night after night
The clear silent processionals of stars.

[Philosoraptor]

5. My son, my son.

that could be my son

[saigon68]

10. My 2 cents WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTO

NO MORE CHEERS FROM THE CROWD

[Sapphocrat]

16. One I'll bet no one's heard.

So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
As they carried us down the gangway,
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
Then they turned all their faces away.

And so now every April, I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reviving old dreams of past glory,
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
And I ask meself the same question. ...

Eric Bogle, "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"
http://www.uppercutmusic.com/artist_e/eric_bogle_lyrics/the_band_played_waltzing_matilda_lyrics.html

[saigon68]

2. No joy in Mudville

[madokie]

7. except for the blivet, he seems to be enjoying himself quite well

but then again only a mad man could.

[onethatcares]

6. if you put this to "have you seen the little piggies"

that's the first thing I thought when I saw the title. Sorry about the rhythmic parameter./

Have you seen the injured soldiers
they have hid them very good,
A few of them slip thru the filter
a few of them are in the hood.

one of them lives cross the street from
he got back a year ago,
now he has half a memory
now he doesn't look too good.

[OneBlueSky]

8. everyone should read "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo . . .

because no doubt there are any number of badly wounded American military personnel who are going through very similar experiences . . .

http://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Got-His-Dalton-Trumbo/dp/0553274325/sr=1-1/qid=1160737008/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8205557-3136000?ie=UTF8&s=books



Reviews

"Mr. Trumbo sets this story down almost without pause or punctuation and with a fury amounting to eloquence."--The New York Times

"It is hard to imaging a more persuasive argument for staying out of war than this smooth, savage, brilliant tale."--Chicago Daily News

http://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Got-His-Dalton-Trumbo/dp/0553274325/sr=1-1/qid=1160737008/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8205557-3136000?ie=UTF8&s=books

[w8liftinglady]

11. I second that-compelling,disturbing and mandatory reading

[izzie]

9. I used to know a artist that painted the men of Germany

The painting really got to you. I asked him once why he did the Germans and he said 'well the country is full of them. On every corner. I can not go to Germany with out it getting to my heart even if I fought against them. All those young men like me but missing parts of their body.' His painting pop into my mind at each of our wars yet I am sorry to say I can not recall the artist name. The painting I saw will stay for ever in my head.

[Saphire]

12. Brook Army Medical Center here in San Antonio...not enough is

said for the work these men and women do to help these soldiers.

[theHandpuppet]

13. They're now being featured in a "beefcake" calendar

It's all for a good cause, but still....

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WOUNDED_MARINES_CALENDAR?SITE=OHCIN&SECTION=AMERICAS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[onethatcares]

14. verse 2

have you seen the injured soldiers
in the unemployment line,
soon you'll see them every morning
on the corner holding signs
that say please spare a dime

d d d d d dd d

[Philosoraptor]

15. ----------