This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
Respect the Veterans
Wow, awesome. Pissing on the Canadian War Memorial, on Canada Day. Nothing says ‘Thanks for serving our country!’ like urinating on THE symbol of the sacrifices made by the many men and women that were killed while wearing the uniform.The worst part
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don’t worry – these little shitheads are going to get rounded up and send out to North Korea!
Sooo….some drunks had the unmitigated gall to pee against a slab of concrete…?That this particular slab happens to have been a war memorial has sent people into contortions of dismay and indignancy.”What an affront to our Vets!…to the brave currently serving!!”Yeah…sure.They were idiots with full bladders, drunk enough not to care where they whip it out, let alone care what they were peeing against.Those expressing their great “outrage” need some perspective.
The ones that need a new perspective are those that think they can urinate anywhere they want because public drunkenness is offered as a viable excuse.
From what I understand, they were videotaped while peeing on the monument. What kind of person hangs around, at night, videotaping people and then “standing on guard” after the fact, to get attention? The kids turned themselves in, that was probably embarassing enough after all the media coverage, let it be. Who hasn’t peed in public in a drunken stupper? I’m sure it was not intentional, just a stupid mistake
For those of you that don’t get the outrage, check this out:http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_storring/20060705.htmlThis guy sums it up better than I could.And yes, it is an affront to the vets and those currently serving. It’s pretty fuckin obvious it’s more than a slab of concrete, even if you’re pretty shitfaced. Why assume it was probably a mistake, and why should that matter anyway? Who cares what they were thinking? Maybe the judge in charge of the sentencing will do something smart like make them do volunteering work with vets.FYI, the war memorial is right by the parliment building, in downtown Ottawa. lots of people wander around with cameras. The photographer was a retired Major that happened to be walking by. When you keep it in perspective that he saw some kids pissing on the memorial dedicated to people that died for Canada, and maybe some under his command, I’m surprised he only took their pictures. Fuck this boys will be boys attitude, people need to take responsibility for their actions, even if they were drunk. I’m sure no one forced them to drink to begin with. To bad the only book the law can throw at them is small and fluffy. ‘Mischief’?!? Wow, fuck.
I was personally appalled by what these guys did. I don’t know of anyone who could mistake the Wasr Memorial for ‘just a slab of concrete’! And for those of you who say “well, it was a mistake”, or “just a piece of concrete”, well, fine…that’s your ‘uneducated’ opinion. The War Memorial represents your ability to say it since it is there for us all to remember the sacrifices that were made to preserve your freedom of speech! Perhaps it is the Halifax Peace Coalition who thinks it is just a slab! In any event, I’d like to come across that guy from Montreal who did it – I’d have no problem whipping it out and having a piss on him!
ALL I CAN SAY HAVING FAMILY MEMBERS SERVE, A BOYFRIEND WHO IS ON ACTIVE DUTY, AND A 19 YEAR OLD SON WHO’S JOINING IS THIS…SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!
what are you, american?supporting troops = supporting war
WHY NOT SIGN UP AND SUPPORT THE TROOPS BY BEING ONE IF YOU’RE SO GUNG HO ABOUT IT?
Obviously “fuck you asswipe” has no family members or friends who have ever served in the military. Troops go where they’re ORDERED to go, period, and our support of them here at home does’nt equal war mongering. Put yourself in the place of a scared 19-yr-old private, fresh out of training, who just arrived in Kabul on his very first deployment. How would you feel if you were’nt getting any support from your fellow Canadians back at home?!? Be mad at Martin and Harper for sending our soldiers, they’re the ones who are responsible for our troops being there in the first place; not at the soldiers who are doing their job. In the meantime, get your head out of your ass!! As for these punks who pissed on the War Memorial, they should be required to enlist in the CDN Army, and be sent to serve in Afghanistan. Maybe then, they would’nt take our rights and freedoms WHICH OTHERS BEFORE US HAVE DIED DEFENDING for granted. Try being a woman in Afghanistan for just one day, and you’ll be forever grateful that Canada is your home.
Wow, ignoring Afhanistan for a moment, the War Memorial was built for the vets of WWI, and also also commemorates the vets from WWII, Korea, and everywhere else Canada has sent our troops. Is anyone going to seriously argue that Canada wasn’t right in sending soldiers to Europe and elsewhere during WWII? I think even the most vocal peace activists won’t try and argue with that.Our troops are very well trained, very professional soldiers. Even the fresh private has had a lot of training before being deployed. They go wherever they are told to and do whatever mission they are given. And they are doing their best to actually improve the lives of Afghans. It’s a pretty complicated solution, with no easy answer. And it is impossible to be on a peacekeeping mission in a country that has basically been at war for the last 30 years. But pulling out after all this will end up giving you a worse situation than what you started with.Love and peace are great ideas, but the reality is, sometimes you need that mail fist to create peace. It’s impossible to be a soverign country without having that big stick to back up your policies. Sending in the troops should be the last resort when all other diplomacy has failed. It’s not like they would rather be there in harms way than at home with their family and friends. The world isn’t black and white.Anyway, I’m getting completely off topic. The point was, these idiots that pissed on the War Memorial should get a more serious punishment than a slap on the wrist. If nothing else, it should be something to give them some perspective on why what they did was so incredibly ignorant. In any other country, they would face some serious consequences. Why do most Canadians only respect vets on Rememberance Day? That sentiment should carry through for the other 364 1/4 days of the year.One last thing, if you are going to argue any of this, at least do it intelligently. That I can at least respect. Stuff like ‘fuck you asswipe”‘s comments are juvenile, shallow and are too godamn simplistic for something so complicated.
July 11 – You say support our troops and then you have the balls to sign it “peace”. Fuck you. Support our troops getting the hell out of Afghanistan and Haiti and then sign it “peace”. Supporting our troops now means supporting the Military Industrial Complex and killing women and children on a whim. Fuck that noise.
The War Memorial is dedicated primarily to those in WWI, then was dedicated to those sevring in WWII and the Korean War. Many of those men and boys who served did not have much of a choice to participate in the war. Times were different then, and they were needed. If they did not succeed, the world and perhaps all our lives would be very different today. The War Memorial is an amazing place to visit, especially in the presence of veterans who served in these particular wars, and lost friends and loved ones as well. Another note; the ‘unknown soldier’ is buried there, and in a way, the site has become more sacred as not only a place of mourning and memorial, but of final rest. Those drunks will be made an example of how inexcusable it is to desecrate such a touching National landmark. Being publicly drunk is no excuse for their carelessness. This hopefully will not happen again after the authorities deal with them.