Do you know what this is?

[oozing]

OP, welcome to the way of the world. Wars happen, great art is made, people live out pleasurable lives and then it's forgotten. Expecting a younger generation to know the pattern on a service ribbon from a war that was over decades before they were born is unrealistic.

Going on about unappreciated historical events could lead one to believe you're a very old and unhappy man, and that you want others to roll in your patriotism and self-piteous ways until they give you a "thank you" and agree to hang up a sign celebrating some past war. Honestly, the things you say the world should remember are just recent events in USA history.

That being said, our children should know more about our nation's history. Needless details are another thing. If we should be angry at anything, it's the education system.

 

[birddog7]

My point exactly -- it's a "all about me" world.. which I find sooo wrong. and way too many people have absolutely no empathy for these events - because -- it didn't affect them. (or so they think)


You weren't "explicitly harmed" by the Civil War - or the Emancipation Proclimation or Rosa Parks getting on a bus-- but they all had an impact on your life -- which is reason enough to teach others about them. (even if they didn't - they're still important ) - Not to get on a soapbox - but there are Vietnam veterans who STILL wake up in the middle of the night because they hear bombs going off 50 yards away. It's just sooo sad.

and just like the twin towers - there are many many 40+ year old people who never knew their fathers - and there are the 69 (I believe) children that were born AFTER 9/11 also. They were impacted - so I guess they will never forget.

Exactly! that's a big part of what's wrong with the world today...

 

[bankside]

It's good that every country remember their history.

In my case it's Plains of Abraham, Royal Proclamation, Durham Report, Beothuk Genocide, War of 1812, the Loyalists, Rupertsland, Repatriation, Tommy Douglas, Peace Tower, Afghanistan....

But BNGL, I don't think you can be sure that someone ignorant of the commemorative pin is also equally ignorant of the history or the significance. I don't think I'd know the insignia for any of the military throughout our history but that does not mean their stories are totally lost on me.

 

[Swellegant]

OK, I know what the Vietnam Conflict was all about, I was born during it and my father was in the Army at the time (though he didn't serve in Vietnam)... but I've never in my life seen that symbol on a bumper sticker or anywhere else until I opened this thread.

I mean, my first thought at seeing the image was that it looked like an Armed Services ribbon, but beyond that I can't imagine anyone less than a military history buff knowing what all those ribbons mean. That doesn't mean I've forgotten what the Vietnam Conflict was.

 

[MoufOfKhaos]

I didn't know I was supposed to know everything about history and recite it at a given moment.

 

[quasar]

There are a few things [STRIKE]the world[/STRIKE] Americans need to always remember...

...and we need to remember lots of good people too , who left their mark and changed peoples lives in a good way.

Corrected for you. American priorities are not always the same as the rest of the world!

 

[roadtripboy]

Not to provoke you, but...

But, I had a cousin was exposed to Agent Orange. He died a slow and painful death from not one but three different kinds of rare cancers.

Not real sure his service medal meant much to him.

 

[mark1111]

I knew what it was, i'm always a day late, dollar short.

That chart is posted above is a few decades out of date. Desert Storm isn't listed. I have a service ribbon that i doubt anyone can recognize - Kosovo!

(yeah, little Kosovo)

 

[bulge]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FyUI2uOlyk&feature=related[/ame]

green yellow red.

 

[62624rd]

I was going to say Korean conflict.

 

[BINOWGAYLATER]

betchya y'all know what this is, huh !

this thread was not about me, as much as it was to make a point about the very young and very disassociated generation that is supposed to be our future.

and, yes, it is about a failed education system, where kids cannot even tell time unless it is displayed numerically on an LCD.

and where middle school age kids do not recognize Abraham Lincoln - while standing in front of a very imposing statue in Washington DC -- and, um... he's on the U.S. Penny, btw.

So, for the few of you who "got it" thanks.

We should let this drift down through the thread list now to where all my other interesting threads are -- like on page 12.

I wasn't there for the Battle at the Alamo - but, ummm...I think i remember reading bout it in school.

 

[ShavedBare87]

betchya y'all know what this is, huh !

this thread was not about me, as much as it was to make a point about the very young and very disassociated generation that is supposed to be our future.

and, yes, it is about a failed education system, where kids cannot even tell time unless it is displayed numerically on an LCD.

and where middle school age kids do not recognize Abraham Lincoln - while standing in front of a very imposing statue in Washington DC -- and, um... he's on the U.S. Penny, btw.

So, for the few of you who "got it" thanks.

We should let this drift down through the thread list now to where all my other interesting threads are -- like on page 12.

I wasn't there for the Battle at the Alamo - but, ummm...I think i remember reading bout it in school.

Should we get off your lawn now? Just kidding!

I know what you're saying but I don't think it's so much the education system, but the lack of attention kids have these days. They're all on their cell phones texting each other, and when they're not doing that they're on facebook, and when they're not doing that they're on youtube, and when they're not doing that they're on their Wii or Playstation or X-Box 360 or all three at the same time.

And doctors think the answer for getting them to pay more attention in school is to give them pills. HAH! What about a good slap upside the head or kick in the pants? Tell the little fockers to get their head in the game!

And the little bastards need to go to church!

 

[Geoffboyardee]

Well, you can't really blame kid for not know what some of these things mean. It's human nature to forget things that have happened in the past. One could get angry for people not knowing what thousands of symbols represent like why the Star of David is the symbol for Judaism:

What this means:

What these were:

How these came to be:

or why people started watching this:

What my point is is that certain things that we don't see very often are forgotten but do they really matter? I don't mean to sound cold hearted but things move on and so do people's attention.

So, to sum this up, if you're going to crack down on people who don't know things that are important to you, make sure you know everything that's important to everyone before you "cast the first stone."

 

[BINOWGAYLATER]

sharper than a serpent's tooth.....the thankless child.

 

[Geoffboyardee]

^^Is that to me or...?

 

[ShavedBare87]

This is a Shakespeare thread now?

It may be so, my lord.
Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear!
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend
To make this creature fruitful!
Into her womb convey sterility!
Dry up in her the organs of increase;
And from her derogate body never spring
A babe to honour her! If she must teem,
Create her child of spleen; that it may live,
And be a thwart disnatured torment to her!
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth;
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks;
Turn all her mother's pains and benefits
To laughter and contempt; that she may feel
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child! Away, away!

Shakespeare's "King Lear".

 

[RaKroma]

Every Vietnam vet would get it. "Vietnam Service Ribbon. I know this man in the neighborhood who was a captain during Vietnam war and wears it on his shirts all the time. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...=97A8Tt947LnQAZDfzPsD&ved=0CDcQ9QEwAw&dur=317

 

[SonOfSlobone]

I thought maybe it was a picture by Barnett Newman?

 

[Efrackalecki]

Okay, I can't imagine ANYONE knowing what that symbol was unless they had someone in the family who had served. I have never seen it before in my life. I had a grandfather who served in WWII, but that is basically all I know about him, because he died before I was born and my dad has never really talked about him. My mother's dad also died before I was born. My dad's mother was always a little hard to communicate with. She would ramble on about our family history, but I could never really follow what she was saying. My maternal grandmother, though I love her very much, has never been the "sharing and caring" type.

My point is, not only were younger people not there, but not everyone has a connection to someone who was there. I have two cousins in the military, but other than that, I have never known anyone who has served or anyone old enough to remember it, much less vets.

As for the education system, that's probably a valid point. Most classes start with the Revolutionary War, and work their way chronologically up to the present. It's a logical way to teach it, but in my experience it doesn't work. Until I took AP US History (junior year?) in high school, I had never had a class actually get past WWII before the year/semester ended. And the only reason we made it so far in that class (we actually made it to present day) was because we had one of the best teachers in the state, who decided it was important for us to learn about recent US history and therefore threw out the prescribed method of teaching the class and glossed over some of the things we had learned a hundred times, so that we could have time to learn about important things like the Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Watergate. It doesn't surprise me at all that younger people don't know about recent history, simply because of the way the classes are structured. They learn about the Gettysburg year, after year, after year, but they never hear about Bay of Pigs.