Soldier Patrick Campbell served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 with the Louisiana National Guard, and to him and his, Memorial Day isn't just about hot dogs and American flags, or even the heroes of past wars. To him, the most crucial thing to remember this Memorial Day is the vets and the fallen of the current war, and he wrote about it for the San Francisco Chronicle. Do you have loved ones in Iraq or Afghanistan? Do their contributions make this Memorial Day different from those gone by? If you have served, or are serving, how are you marking the day?
Blog Of The Nation
I am a veteran though I served between wars. I am happy to hear Patrick's story, but distressed that vet callers were rushed, and cut off. You didn't really plan to spend time on their stories, moving on to picnics, instead. I find that really disrespectful, to this day, that is about Vets. I WANT to hear from them. When else do I have that opportunity? If we're sad to talk about war, if we're distressed at their conditions, their lives upon coming home, that's the more reason to give it time.
You sandwiched a moving Memorial Day program between segments on summer reading and barbeque that could have been aired anytime and that strike me as flip & disrespectful today. Perhaps no one in programming has lost someone to war. Perhaps you should give this some thought next year.
I have always been under the impression that Talk of the Nation focussed mainly on topical events, hnece the name. Well, what could be more topical than to discuss the concerns of veterans on Memorial Day while the country is embroiled in an unpopular war during what has become the bloodiest month of the year? To give the subject only twelve minutes, the shortest amount of time allotted any of the four topics, and to have it sandwiched between fluffy Oprah-style discussions of chick lit and vinegar vs. tomato based barbeque sauce is an absolute disgrace. In my humble opinion, who ever is responsible for this catastrophic error in judgement should be promptly and mercilessly beat with a bag full of nickels on account of their absolute stupidity.
this is my first visit to the blog and it was prompted by exactly the same sentiment voiced by the other two posts. I could not believe that you started a topic on Memorial Day remembrances for war veterans and gave it only 10 minutes. Very disappointing.
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