We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:49:14 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification No one's lost and no one's missing No more parting, just hugs and kissing And all these stars are just for wishing In my heaven.... "Not in front of the children." That's a phrase most of us associate with bitter marital feuds, a reminder that children are often frightened or hurt when adults lose control of their emotions; that little eyes and ears see and hear more than we think they do. That harsh words, spoken in the heat of anger, can leave ugly scars. It's a pity so few of the participants in our often fractured debate on the... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html Thu, 25 Oct 2007 04:41:28 -0600 This is a moving post. I had the pleasure last year of meeting a girl whose father was a Special Forces NCO. He was 39 years old and dropped dead from a heart attack, doing nothing dramatic. She was working for a house cleaning business and cleaning my messy house. She had gotten out of highschool a semester ahead of schedule, but had qualified to graduate a year early. She had just finished her first semester at junior college with a 4.0 GPA. She is a good kid and I told her to go do some detective work on scholarships, as millions of dollars go unawarded each year. She's a cinch to get a free ride at a good university. I am going to call the cleaning company and ask them to have her call me, as I have several hundred pounds of elk meat. She and her family are from Oregon and her dad hunted. She once offered to buy elk from me (illegal, and I got skunked that year), said she and her mom love it. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65917 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65917 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:11:51 -0600 I talked with a blogger last night who is on the brink of quitting b/c of the whole flaming thing. It is really getting out of hand. I don't see what is so hard about treating other people like human beings. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65902 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65902 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:10:50 -0600 Thank you, Mr. Donovan, for enforcing those rules. This is one of the few places that has calm discourse on the web. To be honest, it has gotten to the point where certain sites are like Slashdot: read the comments if you want to see general stupidity and rage. Cassandra, it is true that many people wave the GC about like a stick without having read it. Always makes for fun debates when someone doesn't understand the rules they are citing. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65891 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65891 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:53:50 -0600 Somewhere along the way, we seem to have lost our capacity for self restraint. At his retirement ceremony, General Peter Pace spoke eloquently of the need for civility and limits in our national debate. If you have a moment today, or tomorrow, or even this weekend, stop and listen to his speech. It is worth hearing. It saddened me greatly because it brought to mind the day it was announced that he would be replaced by Admiral Mike Mullen. I recall it vividly because I was appalled by the vicious and completely unsubstantiated attacks on his character from the antiwar Left. His critics could not have been more wrong about General Pace, but they seemed to have been seized by a strange madness, an almost Olbermannesque determination to validate their world view by criminalizing political disagreement. Unreasoning hyperbole like Olbermann's only fuels the determined obstinacy of people like this gentleman, who couldn't back down even when faced with evidence that Randi Rhodes fell: It's one reason I work with a politician who is not my fully natural ally - and we both work from our common ground. It's why I encourage Ry to post his contrarian links. Because I'm tired of spittle flecked ranters and I want some civility. And I strive to keep this place a relative oasis of calm amidst the raging moonbats and wingnuts. And as long as my sister keeps reading, I'll know I'm still succeeding.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65890 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65890 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:45:00 -0600 This whole discussion is one reason I do the memorial posts for the fallen of Kansas or who have touched the Castle in some way - so that when people google (and they do) they'll find a place marked by respect, by people who have "been there, done that." And those who haven't, but who honor the fallen. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65878 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65878 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:01:18 -0600 FbL, yes, I am sure that was a comfort (and I'm glad she did that for you) but what I was referring more to were people who served with that lost parent. People who could give great anecdotes like "when your dad pulled that really great prank on the 1st Sgt." etc..Filling in some blanks for those kids as to what their parent was like/about. Cass...Exactly!!! Having their loved one forgotten is the nightmare they don't want to live through. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65872 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65872 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:42:58 -0600 My mother in law told me many times how much comfort she got when people took the time to include a remembrance of my father in law in a note or a card. It gave her back something of what she had lost and reassured her that he was not forgotten. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65871 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65871 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:52:49 -0600 Carrie, even notes from a stranger can be a blessing. I'll never forget the beautiful note I got from Roslyn Carter after my father died of Leukemia when I was 11. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65870 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65870 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:32:53 -0600 I guess it's only news when there's victimhood or the perception thereof... I want to add something, a request, to your post. If any of the readers, lurkers or commenters are in the position to write to the child of a fallen comrade, please do it. I know it may be a little painful for you but the gift of your memories is priceless. Most of them won't have any of their own and will have to rely on others' to get a sense of their lost parent. Also, Doc Kirby is one of the finest young men I've ever had the pleasure to know. Just sayin':) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65867 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/10/collateral_dama.html#comment-65867 Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:06:10 -0600