OH!! That will leave a mark! Tweet of the day

[Roland99]

Link to tweet

Alex Cole
@acnewsitics
Trump spent as much time at Ground Zero as he did in Vietnam.

[keithbvadu2]

1. Cadet Bone Spurs finally made it to VN.

Cadet Bone Spurs finally made it to VN.

This was his first trip.

On his second trip, Donald slunk away after Rocketman ate his lunch.

[keithbvadu2]

2. He was in no hurry to get there.

?w=600&h=341
.

[leftieNanner]

3. Visiting The Viet Nam Memorial

Was one of the most powerful events of my life. I wept openly, understanding that this massive wall represented tens of thousands of dead young men and women. My generation. A friend of mine was a front line medic. He was damaged by the hideousness of war.

Trump has no business being the CIC.

[keithbvadu2]

4. One of my HS classmates is on the wall.

One of my HS classmates is on the wall.

A tv reporter asked me a question.

I couldn't speak - started to shed a few tears.

[happybird]

7. We once saw an extremely moving exhibit of items left at the Wall

I think it was at the Smithsonian? It was back in the early 90's.

The park service carefully collects and stores the tribute items left at the memorial. There was a huge variety of items, but the notes and photos of children and families were particularly heart wrenching. It was unforgettable.

It's crazy to think of now, but when I was in high school they used to turn us loose in DC on field trips. We'd go downtown to see a play or an art exhibit and afterwards they'd just let us all loose with a "be back at the bus by 3:00." I doubt that type of unsupervised wandering would be allowed these days.

A few friends and I happened upon the exhibit on one of those trips and I am so glad we did. Even as teens we were deeply affected by what we saw.

[Roland99]

9. Oh wow thanks for sharing that

Glad to know how much care is still evident at the memorial

[calimary]

10. Hard to walk from one end to the other without crying.

Last edited Wed Jul 31, 2019, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)

With every step, you descend farther down toward the bottom below the surface of the surrounding park. It’s literally cut into the ground.

And as you walk, with every step the names engraved into the dark polished stone wall you slowly pass - increases. First it’s a single line of names. Then two. Then three. Then another. And another. And more. And more. And more and more and more and ... til you reach the lowest point, at the center of the long dark smooth stone “V”. And the stacks of names are so large that you can’t even make out the names up at the top of the panel. They’re WAY over your head. You’re literally submerged in names. Drowning in names. Overwhelmed by tall columns of names.

Names of the dead. The casualties of war. Every name meant something to somebody out there somewhere. Every name was wept over. Boxed up with a flag on top and buried in some grave way too soon. Every name having left an unmendable hole in someone’s grieving heart.

By the time you’ve walked the whole length of the long dark “V”, working your way back up the opposite end, where the columns of names slowly shrink down to a single line yet again, you’re back up at street level. With that dark solemn avalanche of names left behind you, etched onto the slick black wall. You do what all the loved ones bonded with those names left behind are forced to do. That is - to get on with your life. With a hole in your own heart. Even while you understand that the hole in your heart at that moment can never be as large and painful and unfillable as the one in the hearts of the mourners who are also left behind. All that stays with you is the sense of senseless loss.

And as you walk the length of it, you notice others at different places along the wall. Visitors gazing at the names, reaching out to touch one or two, making a rubbing of a name with paper and pencil as a small memento to take away. Some are kneeling, maybe leaving a flower, or a small flag down at the base of it. To honor one of those names cut into the smooth black stone. It’s reflective, so you can see yourself in it.

It is one of the most brilliant and heart-piercing war memorial designs ever conceived - by an extraordinary young woman designer named Maya Lin. She didn’t just design a memorial. Rather, she created a brief but intimate encounter with the real “spoils” of war. A metaphor that leaves a mark. It makes the pain and irreparable damage and agony of war a little bit more personal. Takes you into it and then imbeds within you. And you’re not quite the same person as you were when you started that journey at the far end of that long black “V”. And your eyes are probably moist by the time you’ve walked its length, even if you never knew anybody who was killed in that war. You too become a casualty of that war, even if temporary, minimal, once-removed, and fleeting.



War. Hmmm. Yeah.

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial

[leftieNanner]

11. What a beautiful reflection calimary

The deepest part of the wall is the Tet offensive. That was when the most soldiers died. And the last few names at the very end were the last to die. I cannot imagine the pain of those families, knowing that had the war ended just one week sooner, their son or daughter might still be here.

War. What is it good for?

Plenty of profit for the military industrial complex.

And dead boys.

[real Cannabis calm]

14. calimary, your reply leaves me speechless.

[erronis]

17. Tears of sadness for the unneeded loss of lives, criminal war for political purposes

I stumbled my way out of conscription through ineptitude in the war machine. I was ready to move to Sweden but there was a CO form I didn't fill out and I was forgotten. Perhaps I'm still conscripted/AWOL.

I want to offer thanks to Maya Lin and the courageous folks that allowed her monument to reflect the dark truth of the murder of the US soldiers. I wish we had a similar, much larger monument to those innocent and perhaps patriotic Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians and others that our war machine targeted - all in the name of corporate profits.

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. Two close friends from high school are on that wall. I say "high school" because

they never had the chance to grow older.

Screw the draft dodger in chief Trump.

[left-of-center2012]

6. Trump did go to the 9/11 site

I saw a short vodeo a couple days ago on some cable news show.

He went via limo about 3 days after 9/11.
Dressed in an expensive suit, shoes, etc.
Hair perfect.

Stepped out of the limo;
had pictures taken;
answered about four questions from some 'reporter';
and left.

[FakeNoose]

13. During that time, the streets around WTC were all blocked off

I doubt Chump could get closer than 6 or 7 blocks away from the site.

Of course the buildings had been evacuated but some people needed to go to their apartments/condos and get their things. So they had to wait to be escorted and they could only stay for a few minutes. My point is that I doubt that Chump got very close to where the buildings went down, even in his limo. He probably saw it on TV like the rest of us.

[HockeyMom]

20. Absolutely

We lived on LI and got local NYC channels. Surrounding buildings were damaged and in danger of collapsing. Unsafe for people to just be roaming around including in limos for photo opts. All traffic was STOPPED except for emergency vehicles. Trump's limo was an emergency vehicle?

People living in the area were only allowed back into their apartments to get some belongings not to stay, as you said. Their apartments were contaminated. Watched local news where people had HazMat teams come in to clean them up. All that ash was not only from building materials but human remains as well.

We went there 6 months later and there still was debri and ash all over. Still very bad. Trump went there days after? Maybe he thinks he was RUDY the Mayor?

[FakeNoose]

21. My niece and her husband had an apartment in Battery Park City (2 blocks from WTC)

They were both at work when the buildings fell, so there was no danger to them. But they had to wait a whole week to get back into their apartment just to get their clothes and stuff out. Like you say, everything was contaminated with white dust and there was very little they could save. The worst part: the elevators weren't working so they had to walk up and down about 50 flights of stairs.

In the end there was very little they could save, and pretty much everybody else had the same problem.

[smirkymonkey]

18. Arghhhhhhh!

Motherfucker! How dare he use that tragedy as a photo op to make himself look "important". God, he makes me so fucking sick I could scream!

[Talitha]

8. My neighbor's name is on the Wall...

His injuries were so severe they didn't expect him to live, but thankfully, he made it.

To all who served, thank you for your service!

[Nitram]

12. Bone spurs. In his head.

[bucolic_frolic]

15. Facts are a giant boomerang

the public is waking up

[alterfurz]

16. Trump@GroundZero

[FakeNoose]

22. OMG this is great!

Love this

[CaptYossarian]

19. Viet Nam, Ground Zero, and a salad bar.

He hasn't gone anywhere he should have.