Today in the States is Memorial Day,

There are a lot of people in the community that have served in the armed forces and a lot know someone who lost their life in service to this county as well as around the world. Today I am grateful that soon many gave me the freedom and peace in my home to play tiny star ships. So a little off topic but thank you still the same.

I want to preface my post by saying that I don‘t mean any offense to you or anyone who served, and that I will soon have finished my own 600days of service in „the“ army (not US).

This is a very international board and as such it strikes me as very odd to celebrate armed forces of one country in such a context, especially centered on the one country that is involved in more armed conflicts than most others.

How should chinese, russian, iranian, syrian or venezulean players respond to such a post? Or historical opponents?

I understand and even appreciate and personally agree with the sentiment. But we genrally leave politics out of here. I don‘t see why this should be different.

No disrespect to any kinds of troops or to you, Cubanboy, whose posts I regularly enjoy, but this has no place here. Such a salute is purely off-topic and - if anything - belongs in that part of the forum. In addition, I agree 100% with what GreenDragoon said. This is an international forum.

Just a note,

Memorial Day is the time to honor those that have passed, either those that made the ultimate sacrifice or those that have passed since their service. Veteran's Day is for thanking and honoring all Veterans.

I appreciate the thought, but it's an important clarification.

Sincerely,

A US Army veteran.

17 minutes ago, Alpha17 said:

Just a note,

Memorial Day is the time to honor those that have passed, either those that made the ultimate sacrifice or those that have passed since their service. Veteran's Day is for thanking and honoring all Veterans.

I appreciate the thought, but it's an important clarification.

Sincerely,

A US Army veteran.

As one who has several living family members who have served, I was about to post the same thing. Thank you.

And to everyone, everywhere, though we choose today as our day of Memorial here, I am sure that there are many heroes and patriots world wide that have paid the ultimate sacrifice for something they believed in. To the friends and family of those people, my thoughts are with you today.

Some things are more important that playing with toy ships. My respect to those fallen while on duty.

2 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

I want to preface my post by saying that I don‘t mean any offense to you or anyone who served, and that I will soon have finished my own 600days of service in „the“ army (not US).

This is a very international board and as such it strikes me as very odd to celebrate armed forces of one country in such a context, especially centered on the one country that is involved in more armed conflicts than most others.

How should chinese, russian, iranian, syrian or venezulean players respond to such a post? Or historical opponents?

I understand and even appreciate and personally agree with the sentiment. But we genrally leave politics out of here. I don‘t see why this should be different.

1 hour ago, MaxPower said:

No disrespect to any kinds of troops or to you, Cubanboy, whose posts I regularly enjoy, but this has no place here. Such a salute is purely off-topic and - if anything - belongs in that part of the forum. In addition, I agree 100% with what GreenDragoon said. This is an international forum.

I understand our international members and how they may not understand our holiday. This is a day that we pay respect to those that gave their life for our country. It is not a political statement or a thumb at any other country. It is simply a day that we respect our fallen. Here, we selected the last Monday in May as the day to show our respect. I'm sure other countries have similar times where they respect their fallen and I wound't mind that respect being posted here as well. And as a combat veteran that lost brothers in arms, I pay my respects today. Not just to the American soldiers that gave their lives but to ALL soldiers that fought and sacrificed. I fought beside soldiers from other countries many times and witnessed them fall as well. And even though we weren't from the same country, they were still my brother and I honor them today. And those I faced that fell, I honor them as well. Because even though our governments might have different views, each of us that served are still brothers because we both stepped forward when we were needed. Therefore, I respect and honor all. So, when your country has a day that it morns, please share that with us as well.

In a lot of ways, it seems so meaningless and empty these days. I will try not to drag politics into it. I am sure many veterans who have lost their friends feel the same way. I am sure many families of those who never came back feel the same way. It is just honestly really difficult to show someone that you properly appreciate a sacrifice like that. Almost impossible for true strangers.

Choosing to serve in the armed forces is the truest expression of patriotism. Not the patriotism that most would probably think of first these days, but a much more simple and meaningful patriotism. The part of patriotism that redeems it as a modern and ancient virtue. It may be just covering my ***, but the world is a difficult place and people seem to have been fans of the concepts of national boundaries and wars for a long time. The vast majority honestly want to do whatever they can to help and want to be good people. We are not Gods though, and have to deal with the world that comes to us. Sometimes that does mean violence. As much as I respect the dedication and idealism of pacifists, I know that it would never be my own choice.

Thank you for being there for all of us. We are worse for having lost soldiers like you.

3 hours ago, GreenDragoon said:

I want to preface my post by saying that I don‘t mean any offense to you or anyone who served, and that I will soon have finished my own 600days of service in „the“ army (not US).

This is a very international board and as such it strikes me as very odd to celebrate armed forces of one country in such a context, especially centered on the one country that is involved in more armed conflicts than most others.

How should chinese, russian, iranian, syrian or venezulean players respond to such a post? Or historical opponents?

I understand and even appreciate and personally agree with the sentiment. But we genrally leave politics out of here. I don‘t see why this should be different.

Do they even have to respond?

He even took pains to mention "USA" to make sure it reaches the correct audience.

2 hours ago, MaxPower said:

No disrespect to any kinds of troops or to you, Cubanboy, whose posts I regularly enjoy, but this has no place here. Such a salute is purely off-topic and - if anything - belongs in that part of the forum. In addition, I agree 100% with what GreenDragoon said. This is an international forum.

You've not been paying too much attention, I think. This board is littered with "off topic threads". This one is no worse (but at least a lot better) than some of what's been posted.

He even took pains to mention "USA" to make sure it reaches the correct audience.

12 minutes ago, Scopes said:

Do they even have to respond?

Let me rephrase that: how should they feel?

27 minutes ago, drail14me said:

I  understand our international members and how they may not understand our holiday. This is a day that we pay respect to those that gave their life for our country. It is not a political statement  or a thum  b at  any other country. 

I think I understand your national holiday well enough, especially considering it‘s not unique.

I really agree and support the view you shared.

But armed conflict is inherently political, and a memorial day that focuses - at least officially - on just one nation is best kept among that nation and those who want to opt in.

There is this old joke where a boy tells the story of his grandpa:

Boy: My grandpa died in the concentration camps in WW2!

Teacher: Oh god, that is horrible! What happened?

Boy: He fell off the watch tower...

Your memorial day is good natured, but it is still your memorial day, focusing on the US and not their enemies of the time.

Edit: I won‘t discuss this anyfurther in here out of respect (as I said, I personally share the sentiment but still think it‘s inappropriate for this forum), but I‘m open to private discussions.

Hey friends,

Going forward I will stick with on topic posts for the main page.

I never want to divide the community so I hear you peeps

happy Monday

Well if it helps you all I'm a Canadian combat veteran and technically Canada and the US had a war against each other (1812).

But for me we have something similar, Remembrance Day on September 11th. And I see Memorial Day as similar to our own day. And on said day I remember the brothers and sisters I lost but also say a prayer for all those lost and affected by war on all sides. We remember all the fallen as they were all someone's family member and someone is missing them today.

So Happy Memorial Day from this soldier to yours. God bless and hoping their sacrifices lead us to a world of peace one day.

So, I'm going to keep this as civil as I can.

But personally I am vehemently against the US military, the culture around it, the people who choose to become members... everything. There are many reasons for this, nothing related to anything that was done to me, or people I know. This is a philosophical issue.

Generally speaking, it is quite annoying to hear about US issues everywhere, and it doesn't help that most americans (US citizens) treat the internet as if it was theirs.

Then, I have my own opinion about armed forces, which is quite negative. I dislike war, and people who make a living out of it.

Then, on top of this, you people have this weird fetish of glamorizing violence and wars, and "revering" veterans (but also ignoring them the moment after they come home... strange), which makes it impossible to have a decent discussion on the issue, because people lose their actual minds if you say anything bad about them.

Which, given the military history of the US.... there is a lot of bad things there.

So... I don't know. Please don't? You are pushing a controversial political agenda on a public, international forum.

I'd be fine with it (because I think people should be able to say what they want), but the forum isn't really the place for this, and I have a feeling some of you might flip out when I actually speak my mind.

39 minutes ago, Commander Kaine said:

So, I'm going to keep this as civil as I can.

But personally I am vehemently against the US military, the culture around it, the people who choose to become members... everything. There are many reasons for this, nothing related to anything that was done to me, or people I know. This is a philosophical issue.

Generally speaking, it is quite annoying to hear about US issues everywhere, and it doesn't help that most americans (US citizens) treat the internet as if it was theirs.

Then, I have my own opinion about armed forces, which is quite negative. I dislike war, and people who make a living out of it.

Then, on top of this, you people have this weird fetish of glamorizing violence and wars, and "revering" veterans (but also ignoring them the moment after they come home... strange), which makes it impossible to have a decent discussion on the issue, because people lose their actual minds if you say anything bad about them.

Which, given the military history of the US.... there is a lot of bad things there.

So... I don't know. Please don't? You are pushing a controversial political agenda on a public, international forum.

I'd be fine with it (because I think people should be able to say what they want), but the forum isn't really the place for this, and I have a feeling some of you might flip out when I actually speak my mind.

Says a guy who plays a miniature game based on a futuristic war!

3 minutes ago, drail14me said:

Says a guy who plays a miniature game based on a futuristic war!

You do realize the difference between a fictional war, and a real one, right?

This is what I am f#cking talking about. I did not say anything about veterans or anything, and I already have to explain myself. Why can't I just have a different opinion?

Oh boy. This can't possibly end well.

11 minutes ago, Commander Kaine said:

You do realize the difference between a fictional war, and a real one, right?

This is what I am f#cking talking about. I did not say anything about veterans or anything, and I already have to explain myself. Why can't I just have a different opinion?

Actually, I’m very happy you are here expressing your opinion. And I mean that in the most sincere way. I’m happy we live in countries where we can freely share our opinions. I just thought it was interesting how you discussed not liking war but played a game glorifying it.

1 hour ago, drail14me said:

Actually, I’m very happy you are here expressing your opinion . And I mean that in the most sincere way. I’m happy we live in countries where we can freely share our opinions . I just thought it was interesting how you discussed not liking war but played a game glorifying it .

Let's see if I understood. You are happy he is expressing his opinion so you can rub in his face suggest he can speak freely because of the US military actions... ?

BTW, now I feel bad of how much destruction and suffering I brought to the world when I rolled the red dice and made the "pew pew" sound.

Yeah, we can all agree this is better suited for the off topic forum.

On ‎5‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 2:31 PM, Cubanboy said:

Today in the States is Memorial Day,

There are a lot of people in the community that have served in the armed forces and a lot know someone who lost their life in service to this county as well as around the world. Today I am grateful that soon many gave me the freedom and peace in my home to play tiny star ships. So a little off topic but thank you still the same.

On 5/31/2018 at 12:35 AM, Robin Graves said:

A tremendous poem, one that certainly evokes very strong sentiments, but an odd choice for an American day given the author, the battle it commemorates and the date......

7 minutes ago, Elbastido said:

A tremendous poem, one that certainly evokes very strong sentiments, but an odd choice for an American day given the author, the battle it commemorates and the date......

American soldiers died at Flanders as well.

It wasn't just us Brits who suffered there.

44 minutes ago, Indy_com said:

American soldiers died at Flanders as well.

It wasn't just us Brits who suffered there.

They absolutely did, it just seems strange to have a Canadian poem about the deaths of Commonwealth soldiers from two years before the Americans joined the war so heavily linked with Memorial Day.

11 hours ago, Elbastido said:

They absolutely did, it just seems strange to have a Canadian poem about the deaths of Commonwealth soldiers from two years before the Americans joined the war so heavily linked with Memorial Day.

I'm from Belgium, Just thanking the ones who gave their lives coming to our aid. And that poem sais it best.