Remembrance Day Musings

Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs and Michele at A Small Victory have both provided means for ordinary folks to tell their personal perceptions of the September 11, 2001 attacks. I told my story at LGF and here.

The Flag

That got me to thinking about a particular trend that occurred in the aftermath: American flags were everywhere all of a sudden.

Initially, I was heartened by the proliferation of American flags and flag stickers on cars. Every street vendor in LA had flags for sale. After something so vile, people began to see how much this country really meant to them and wanted to show it, or so I thought.

But as the months wore on, I noticed that some of the flags on the car antennas were becoming frayed—an anathema to a military member; torn and/or dirty flags are to be disposed of properly (last item)—and the stickers were fading due to weather.

The flag fad had faded. (Sorry for the alliteration.)

A year after the attacks, I decided that I wanted to buy a flag sticker for my car. Not a street vendor in sight had one. I did end up finding and buying one, at the Base Exchange, of course. But then I decided that my military sticker tells anyone all they needed to know about me.

Asshat Outs Himself

That day, watching the ABC News coverage of the attacks—no satellite then--I listened as Peter Jennings suddenly went into a petulant whine about the whereabouts of the president. Imagine the gall of President Bush! How dare he not send the esteemed Mr. Jennings an itinerary of Air Force One’s flight plan in the wake of the worst enemy attack on American soil! Who does the president think he is?

In disgust, I switched to NBC or CBS for the coverage (don’t remember which). From that day to this one, the sound of Jennings’ voice has had a rather bile-producing effect on me.

Love and No-Love for the Brother/Sisterhood

Since the day, my military compatriots and I regale each other with accounts of the spontaneous outpourings of gratitude we get from civilians. Believe me, it’s appreciated, folks, though, unlike this guy, the most dangerous thing that I’ve had to do since 9/11 is drive on Southern California freeways.

The love is especially cherished by those of us who were in the military when we routinely caught crap (see my account of being called the n-word while in uniform.)

In this vein, the worst crap that I’ve caught recently, was flung one morning at a Starbucks™ close to UC Riverside. The counter person, a young blond woman with hair nearly as short as mine, had a smile for everyone; everyone except for my BDU-clad self, that is. When I stepped to the counter to place my order, I noticed that her smile had changed to a rather sour expression. So, just to give her a little needle, I smiled and gave her a chipper “Good Morning!” loud enough to be sure that she heard it. (Take my word for it, a smile and a “good morning” are not easy to be had from me before my first cup of coffee, though I try to treat customer service personnel well.)

No answer. Heh. So, I placed my order--Venti soy mocha; no whip, please--she gave me the total and I paid her. I capped it off with an exaggerated “thank you! Have a nice day!” Still nothing from the little twit. Laughing, I turned around and, before I could make my way to the receiving counter, the man behind me, who obviously had seen the whole little drama, stuck out his hand, said, “thank you for your service,” and shot Ms. Personality a look of disgust.

I was floating the rest of the day.

Comments

[evariste]

Counter girl is a chumptastic fool.

[David]

I've had several of those "Thank You" moments, too...it's always humbling, to some degree, but I sure do walk a bit taller for the next few hours.

*salute*

[P6]

Both you and the customer behind you handled that well.

[walter]

I don't care to defend Jennings but what I want to know is why the WHite House spread the lie that there was evidence that Air Force One was under sureveillance for an attack. It sounded like BS at the time and a few days later they dropped it. It later became known that it wasbn't true but no mainstream reporter ran with the ball. To me, it seems reasonable that the Secret Service did not want to have him back in D.C. right away, so what's the reason for the lie?

On the Flag, the people who want an anti-flag burning amerndemnt are simply tiresome. I bothers me not one bit if someone burns it. I think its silly and unproductive but to each his own. But like you I hate to see people leave it out overnight, let it get rained on and faded by the sun. Those tattered antenna flags really pissed me off. Of course, lot of those same people would be the first to kick a flag-burners ass but don't seem to know the first thing about respecting and disposing of the flag. Just one more sign of the shallowness of so much of the reaction and "patriotism" post-9/11.

[Annmarie aka Mickey]

I know what you mean about the flag. As a regular flag flyer prior to 9/11, I admit it, I had a touch of a smirk for the "newcomers", but quickly got over it as I was pleased to see the patriotic mood that had taken over the community. And saddened to see the flags in the neighborhood decline as time went on.
And let me thank you for your service, it's greatly appreciated.

[baldilocks]

evariste: Hi there!

David: *returned*

P6: Thanks. To paraphrase the Bible, sometimes being nice to one's adversary ticks it off more than returning the nastiness.

Walter: A lie or erroneously interpreted intelligence? (It happens.) Keep in mind the confusion that reigned in those few hours.

Flag: I see flags flying at night and in the rain even outside post offices. (I know they're not government anymore, but still...)

Mickey: It is my privilege.

[walter]

"Walter: A lie or erroneously interpreted intelligence? (It happens.) Keep in mind the confusion that reigned in those few hours."

Let's call it an attempt to deflect potential criticism with an untruth ;-)

[baldilocks]

Walter: Really? Is that your opinion of that situation? It certainly can't be based on past experience, since nothing like that has ever happened before.

And I'm not convinced that they didn't get intel that said such a thing.

[Lynn S]

I still feel encouraged seeing the flag everywhere; I frequently wear a small flag pin and have several flag t-shirts but some displays are just disrespectful. Flags on sheets and bath towels or any other use of the flag as mere decoration is not patriotic.

[Katherine]

Baldilocks: Thank you for your service. It cannot be said often enough.

Re flag: We don't fly one because to it it properly we would have to take it down every evening (my husband is a bit of stickler for form :-). But we will put it up for 9-11.

[MommaBear]

You go, gal! Keep on keeping on just the way you are going!

[Mitch]

Many thanks for your service -- and I like your hair, too, what there is of it.

[A Proud Veteran]

It's my understanding that as long as the flag is lit, as the P.O. flags are, then night display is acceptable according to the rules about displaying the flag. The rain issue has always bothered me, as has the tattered/faded flags.

Juliette, thank you so much for your service. And congratulations on your retirement.