performative after being so anti- vet himself.
It’s obviously sleazy but I’m glad the soldier didn’t get made an example of.
See, the thing is, this happens a lot. Some E-nothing corrects a flag officer and will get an extra cookie or spot promoted, but then for the rest of their contract they get fucked out of preferred orders, put on extra duty, or some other bullshit. I’ve seen it too many times. This dude is gunna get his.
The only positive is that the tomb guard is often a twilight tour, however, they’re constantly undermanned due to no one being able to or willing to go thru their hazing, I mean, training pipeline. So the dude already hates his life. This award means nothing to him.
Source, me. I used to work in ANC doing funerals and knew a few of them. Even went into their quarters under the tomb a few times, shit is its own tomb down there.
Oh so Hegseth does bow down to something other than Trump and his own enormously fragile ego?
Hm. Seems he has a humiliation fetish.
This is such a stupid country
That’s certainly the correct move from a PR standpoint. Wonder who thought of it cuz it certainly wasn’t fucking Kegsbreath.
My vote says it was definitely either Susie Wells or Trump’s current Ivanka-replica, Mrs. Natalie Trump
Overcompensating so hard you can tell they don’t mean it.
All any decent person would have done would be to call the soldier personally and apologize, then issue a public apology acknowledging what they f’d up and why they were wrong.
Instead it’s a meaningless medal and they’ll probably still screw with thia soldier’s career.
Suck up.
He would have rather you and your friends just obeyed the damn rules of the place, and is probably embarrassed you’ve made even more of a big deal about him just doing his honorable job. Because it isn’t really about him, is it? It’s about making you look better in light of what’s coming for you.
Exactly
Yup. If he meant it, the appropriate reward would have been an “attaboy” mention later on.
The best thing from his position would have been not have it happen. Anyone who goes there is given notice on the atmosphere required. If kids can behave, adults should be better.
The second would have been just a real apology afterward to the press, and not call out the soldier doing his job to give him some award.
The second would have been just a real apology afterward to the press, and not call out the soldier doing his job to give him some award.
Or a private apology to the guardsmen there (and that soldier personally), not one that was public at all. That’d be the only way to convey that he was actually remorseful, and wasn’t just making it a press event for his own benefit. But of course that isn’t what he did, because he doesn’t give a shit.
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Why is his job honourable?
I can only assume you thought I meant Hegseth and not that soldier. Which I did not.
No I mean the soldier. Why is his job more honourable than any other job?
Odd question to ask the day after Armistice Day. But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and bite.
Many western countries created a Tomb of the Unknown after WWI to honor the dead that never got counted or identified. This job is considered honorable because of the significance that it carries to the nation.
You gotta keep in mind that, back then, we didn’t have a standing army, it was a draft or nothing, so it was untrained boys that got called up and an entire nation that rallied behind them. (This is also the reason the NRA exists, to be a club that teaches citizens how to properly and safely use firearms, not the lobbying monstrosity it has become today)
Its only in recent times, especially the Bush eras, that the homefront carried on as if nothing was different while a war was on. That’s one reason they’ve been able to have forever wars, because it could fall into the backdrop of society behind Real World and the Kardashians so we would forget to give a fuck about what our troops were doing. (This is also why “Support the Troops” was more common 20 years ago, because it called back to a time when it meant something, even though we now know it means fuck all)
That wasnt how countries went to war back then. So because of the significance is why we allow that job to be considered honorable than most.
Because guarding the tomb is entirely symbolic, but it’s taken very seriously, and maintaining high enough standards to put yourself out there for scrutiny like that is hard as hell. Put the discipline and dedication required on top of all that and it’s very much a job worthy of respect, at least in my eyes
You should look into that position on wiki, it probably would give far more than any comments here. It’s very demanding, important symbolically, and it’s a huge honor for anyone to say they served it. It’s at the level of the King’s Guard in London, if maybe you’re more familiar with that.
Less cool hat tho.
It’s a voluntary position and an honor. It’s a boring, painstaking job. You’re doing it to honor fallen comrades.
Mass effect had it right
“Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer.”
It’s all just a dog and pony show but there is still no reason to go there and be disrespectful.
Their service as guards can help bring some level of comfort to grieving families, so I don’t find it entirely pointless.
Honor is for the living, not the dead.
Arguable. Many honorable people are remembered throughout time. Some cultures believe you never really die until the last person forgets your name. If I had to die at the hands of an enemy, I’d rather him respect me than die crying and begging for my life.
more honourable than any other job
they didn’t make that comparison
don’t worry if you don’t get it; this is one of those things people (americans, mostly) get super upset about for some reason. Can’t even say the robot gun dance is silly, for example.
See?
When did honoring the dead and showing respect become an American thing?
Just can’t help yourself can you.
the robot dance is silly though, admit it.
Out of curiosity, would you say the same about ceremony in any other instance (e.g. religious ceremonies / rituals, military parades, etc.)?
Personally I don’t understand the need or desire for any of it, but I can at least understand that some people do feel that it’s meaningful. I wouldn’t walk into a synagogue or a church or a mosque and start being disrespectful during their ceremonies, even if I don’t personally see the value. It’s the same here - even if you don’t see the value, to them and a lot of others, it’s very important and meaningful. Being disrespectful of that is at best very rude.
Your question was fine. Ignore the downvotes.
IIRC, the last time something like this happened, they tried to smear the sentinel and it didn’t work out very well for them.
Love some details on who got yelled at.
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/27/nx-s1-5091154/trump-arlington-cemetery
Two members of Donald Trump’s campaign staff had a verbal and physical altercation Monday with an official at Arlington National Cemetery, where the former president participated in a wreath-laying ceremony, NPR has learned.
A source with knowledge of the incident said the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried. The source said Arlington officials had made clear that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area, known as Section 60.
When the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60, campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside, according to the source.
…
At a campaign event Wednesday, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance dismissed the story, saying, “The altercation at Arlington Cemetery is the media creating a story where I really don’t think that there is one.” Vance went on to add that, “Apparently somebody at Arlington cemetery, some staff member, had a little disagreement with somebody, and they have turned, the media has turned this, into a national news story.”
Thanks for that. My very brief google-fu was inundated with the hegseth shit.
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This is what was going through my head when he yelled at them.
I would love to know when was going through that Sentinel’s mind as he was getting this medal.
Are servicemen allowed to refuse medals? That would be a badass move.
This is the only time I am aware of the Trump administration doing anything classy - wtf
Man this guy just can’t be a candidate as the first group of people to be impeached and forcibly removed fast enough.
“Sorry daddy”
