Memorial Day Photo

Published on May 30th, 2005

Posted by John C Dvorak in General

13 users responded in " Memorial Day Photo "

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# 1 Mike Voice said, on May 30th, 2005 at 2:37 pm

Jeez,

How old is that photo?

Look at the guy’s pants.

Look at the “Bank of America” sign, on the building at the corner.

What is it, 70’s vintage?

Marine dress uniforms haven’t changed the way Army & Navy have, so it is hard to date the color-guard’s uniforms.

# 2 Richard said, on May 30th, 2005 at 3:08 pm

Yeah this pic has been around years.
He got up for another reason.
anyway,
God Bless America Life would be no fun with out it.
Happy Holidays

# 3 Bobbie M. Smith said, on May 30th, 2005 at 3:11 pm

I am not surprised at all. My 23 year old neice did not know she should stand up when the flag passes, so I am sure there are millions more who don’t. Incredible!!

# 4 Mike said, on May 30th, 2005 at 4:00 pm

Looks like wheelchair guy’s the only non-military with a flag as well. Does the shadow on him look like a Klansman, or is it just me? It appears the chair is on a platform and the other parade watchers are arranged in a non-linear fashion suggesting they may be standing at a lower level. I suppose everybody brought folding chairs with transparent backs. But, looking at wheelchair guy’s knee, the street appears really near. There’s appears to be a lane dividing stripe, another lane, some cable car type tracks, then four United States Marines Honor Guard followed by many more Marines. If they are marching down the center of the street, that is one wide street, and no visible crowd on the other side. Perhaps the camera angle is deceptive, the photographer is M. C. Escher, or it was shot in Vancouver on Valentine’s Day.

Memorial Day doesn’t need this contrived propaganda. As a son of a deceased American Veteran I believe this picture insults parade attendees everywhere.

# 5 K B said, on May 30th, 2005 at 7:48 pm

I’ve seen this picture around for a long time, and decided to do a search to trace its origin. One source lists it as from DAV Magazine, November-December 2002 (Disabled American Veterans Magazine, that is.)

I didn’t find it on the dav.org website, which lists past issues, but it seems likely that the source is as cited. Any more details?

# 6 Hank said, on May 30th, 2005 at 8:33 pm

There are usually so many flags in parades that is not practical to keep standing.

What bothered me more was the parody of the national anthem at the recent finale of American Idol.

Even though I’m not that sentimental about patriotism, I still found it distasteful. But it is FOX, so they will get a way with it. Right?

# 7 Pat said, on May 31st, 2005 at 5:01 am

A sad commentary.

# 8 site admin said, on May 31st, 2005 at 8:22 am

I posted the pic without comment. It could be old it could be staged. Who cares. It’s just an interesting pic. “If you haven’t seen it before, then it’s new to you.” It was new to me.

# 9 Mike Voice said, on May 31st, 2005 at 8:54 am

“I posted the pic without comment”

Leaving us to wonder what it was you found interesting about it.

“It could be old it could be staged. Who cares. It’s just an interesting pic.”

I initially thought you were making a comment on the current state of patriotism – or lack of same – in the US, until I noticed the details in the photo.

I agree that even if it is not recent – or (less likely) staged – it is still interesting if for nothing else than the way it was used to make a statement – as Richard alludes to: “He got up for another reason.”

# 10 Miguel Lopes (Not a US citizen) said, on May 31st, 2005 at 10:03 am

I’m an outsider, though on my country people are also expected to stand up when listening to the national anthem or in front of the flag. But many people don’t, and nobody really is insulted by that, that would be a false issue. We’re in democracies, thanks to our ancestor’s efforts (and often their lives), and our countries are free. We’re therefore free to stand up or not if we choose – what better tribute to a democracy’s stability than for people to not give much importance to such rituals? If *I* had fought for liberty, I’d like my sons and grandsons to have such a nice, confortable, safe and FREE life that they could safely ignore what I fought for. It’s just my opinion, of course.

What I find admirable about this photo is that this man in particular felt such respect and admiration for the US flag that, despite his disability, he made what is surely a big effort, to stand up! There’s nothing demeaning to others, IMHO. The point is that the US still stands for something on this world, and this man realizes what it is! Others are just enjoying the moment, and that’s also absolutely OK.

God bless the USA!

And may it survive the Bush era!

# 11 Teyecoon said, on June 3rd, 2005 at 4:44 am

Well, you could put a lot of captions to this photo that may be more true than the patriotism idea that the caption proposes but we’ll assume the latter. Also, it’s ironic how Lopes (a non-citizen) has a more substantiative view of the flag than most citizens in that it stands for this country’s freedom and not your individual level of respect. Furthermore, to some (mostly foreigners), the flag stands as a reflection of the current government thus it is burned to show distaste for the country’s leadership rather than the country (and it’s history) as a whole. As a result, I propose that we develop a seperate flag that represents the current government so that we can show them how bad they suck without demeaning the history of the flag. In fact, maybe it would be good for us to have one for each branch of our government.

# 12 Miguel Lopes (Not a US citizen) said, on June 3rd, 2005 at 10:36 am

Careful with that idea of a flag just for the government – some (many?) might suggest the nazi flag for your present government… And I’m afraid to say Bush’s America doesn’t look like a good place where you might want to live. Clinton’s America, OTH, was a place I very much admired. So the hope is still there. If only you can throw Bush to the trash bin of History.

# 13 Teyecoon said, on June 6th, 2005 at 5:23 pm

“some (many?) might suggest the nazi flag for your present government”

No doubt but what is even more concerning is his ability to pass off all his nazi-like policies as good sound bites about “freedom” and religious convictions. The saddest part is that this country of fools was fooled by his rhetoric twice. (I guess this is why Bush doesn’t want to invest money in better secular education.) As a result, Bush is creating the kind of country that you want to get on a boat and leave rather than arrive. The exceptions are all the Christian zealots who love the idea that Bush is turning America into old Rome where one powerful leader led by the guidance of one religion that bound all.

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