Since Beans has been working overtime and Sarge is enjoying some time off, I thought I'd try to pick up a shift here at the Chant. This uses most of a post I wrote 5 years ago. While re-reading it, I noticed that I've been unsatisfied with the course of our country for quite a while. And that my posts often aspire to a simpler time when certain values were more common and unquestioned. The posters are representative of that time to some extent, so I usually save them to some folder on my computer for later posting. Here are a few of them, followed by the post from 2014 below Lincoln's quote. These "new" ones are also focused on the military, but are mostly specific to the Naval service.
Gotta love the Forrestal Class Carriers, mainly because I flew off one- USS Independence (before they ruined the name by giving it to an LCS). #60 is the Saratoga.
I'm not sure we tie the Boy Scouts to patriotic values these days. Not that they aren't, but they aren't all boys, some are all girls, their values have been corrupted for a PC world, and they aren't even called the Boy Scouts now.
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| The Few, the Proud... |
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I've always liked this poster. Now that the USMC Raiders are back, we may see more of them.
It appears that after Korea, the USAF stole Naval Aviation's tag line- Aim High! Oh well, I guess we weren't using it anymore and the trademark must have expired.
While I fully admit to being the sometimes angry, part-time pithy political blogger here on The Chant, I've mellowed a bit. That might be because there's a conservative in the White House, but also because I'm older. I don't think my ranting here in this forum compares at all to the vile hatred directed to the current White House resident though. I wrote the referenced post 5 years ago in the middle of President Obama's second term, and while I ranted quite a bit, and disagreed with his governance style and politics, hate was never part of the equation. I think that a healthy serving of hate for the other side is responsible for half the problems in this country. Are they difficult problems? Absolutely. We're far too dependent on social programs; our debt is growing impossible to service; victimhood is treaing at the fabric of our country, but some honest hard work and respect for both the truth and the other side, could probably work wonders. As long as we all "come together." See what I did there? It's a call back to the intro poster. Ok, it loses something if I have to explain it!
Anyway, about these posters, above and below. Do you have any favorites of your own? Let me know, or send them to me. Maybe I'll make a post out of them.
Ok, that's enough. Now back to your regularly scheduled bloggers, following a special replay of my 2014 post.
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If you couldn't tell by my semi-frequent posts, I like this site. I think you do too because you wouldn't be here otherwise. I like it because it's a welcome and familiar place that discusses items that are funny, interesting, usually aligned with my way of thinking, and often of a historic nature.
History. I enjoy reading or watching history because I believe in the axiom that if we ignore history we are doomed to repeat it. I'm fascinated by accounts of our past trials and triumphs, how brutal humans can be in war and daily life, but also how much compassion and assistance we can give our fellow man.
While I'm not ready to say the U.S. is going to hell in a hand-basket, I don't believe we're becoming a more moral society, one that holds fast to common values of fairness and decency, of ethical behavior and incorruptible principles. In our society, there's far too much emphasis on sexuality and personal or individual morality. Far too many men who see nothing wrong with sex without love and commitment, and too many women who let them. Too little shame and public scorn that tended to keep some behaviors in check. There are too many politicians without honor, and too few government leaders who represent us. There's a big difference there, between politicians and leaders. We also seem to be losing the value of hard work and personal responsibility, and some have forgotten the importance of saving for the future.
I like history because it reminds me of a simpler time when those values were first on everyone's mind- when the Greatest Generation was fighting for our values, and sacrificing so much to keep them. These posters remind me of that time and is something completely different for today.
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| Probably a WWI-era recruiting poster, but it helps me make my point. |
While he was off building runways in the Pacific, my Uncle Paul, his 15 year old son, ran off a year later to join the Coast-Guard, convincing some recruiter that he was 18.
It wasn't just the men who served. Women joined up, and served in many other ways back at home.
I've always respected the military nurse- probably because my mom was one, although not in WWII.
While I was Navy, I get a bit of credit from Sarge because my mom was an Air Force Nurse in the 60's.
The women didn't just work- they scrimped and saved and sacrificed to help the war effort. As did everyone else at home.
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| Not sure if this is a fake or just unintentionally patronizing due to the times . |
They did this to support the men who fought-
It wasn't just posters of fighting men and the sacrifices needed to keep them fighting. Propaganda in the form of...ahem...public service announcements was popular.
And we weren't in it alone -
After it was all over though, they were welcomed home with open arms-
I like these old posters, and the vintage reproductions. While I can't say they bring me back to another time, since that was before my time, they do help me to remember our history- a time when Americans all pulled together for the greater good, and values of hard work and sacrifice helped us win a war. Definitely something different from today, maybe even something completely different.