Posted on 02/18/2012 10:24:26 PM PST by pansgold
Pfc. Douglas J. Jeffries Jr. – 20 Springville, CA – 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division One of two soldiers killed when enemy forces attacked their unit with a roadside bomb in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on September 8, 2011
I spoke with Doug's grandfather Steve Jeffries today at a local gas station and he asked me why a singer that died from a drug overdose rated flags lowered to half-staff statewide when all his grandson got was flags lowered to half-staff in Tulare county by order of the Board of Supervisors.
Good question but I don't have an answer, do you?
pansgold Springville, CA
Because somebody was trying to score points with a specific community for personal gain.
A soldier that dies doesn’t give vested individuals the same personal gain.
It’s about that simple.
It’s all about publicity, and pandering for votes. Nothing more, nothing less.
It’s enema time again this November.
Change I (RPT) I can believe in.
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Because it is the Governor’s prerogative to give the honor where and when he so chooses. If you don’t like the Governors choices, replace the Governor.
The sad reality, beyond the glamorization of stardom, drug use, Hollywood and trying to live vicariously through the lives of famous(and minimally talented) people, most Americans simply have no freaking clue as to what “Duty, Honor Country’’ means and the fortitude , patriotism, courage and love for America in our young people and the willingness to die for her means. As far as I’m concerned a fat f**king RINO slob like the governor of my state, Chris Christie isn’t fit enough to urinated on by the likes of this mans grandson.
Because in our world turned upside-down, “heroic” has been redefined.
Christie just lost a lot of my respect.
You’re telling me the whole state of CA lowered to 1/2 mast today?
Which brings me to the brave soldier who laid down his life for his country and countrymen. His worth is seen immensely by his family. By his community, both at home and in the armed forces. Seen also by patriots at large. However, for the vast majority of people, he was 'just another soldier felled in battle.' Most people do not see the supreme sacrifice made, and they don't care. Yet the same people care about Whitney, or Lady Gaga, or the latest from American Idol. It is just an extrapolation of the worth given to an actor compared to that given to a teacher or cop or fireman ...or soldier/sailor/corpsman.
People subscribe little value to very important things that seem to be in abundance, and a lot of value to things of lesser merit when they seem to be scarce. Perception. Which is why Lady Gaga can make more than any doctor - or a whole hospital of them for that matter.
The answer is this - not enough value was placed on the brave man's sacrifice compared to the value placed on a singer. People see soldiers as expendable, in much the same way most people see their days as expendable rather than the priceless gifts from God that they are.
I think the man was not expendable, and his worth can be measured by the heartbeats of those alive be because he fought for them. Unfortunately I am in the minority, and chances are as a foreigner I value that soldier more than most Americans.
They're gonna' milk this drug addict's death for all it's worth. To see the carrying on yesterday at the funeral for this screechy-screaming needle pincushion was disgusting. And, just for laughs, it happened during Black Phony History month, so that'll give it a few more pages.
I'm sure they canonized this junkie into sainthood so she'll have schools named after her: Saint Whitney. The only thing I remember about her is how she totally and completely destroyed one of the nicest love songs sung by Dolly Parton. She turned it into a scream-amd-hold-a-note fest. And people talk about that song destruction like it was a monumental thing.
I hate to see anyone die, but too bad she was so stinking selfish to do this and not give a fig about her daughter. How totally selfish.
During WWII,on any given day, there could be hundreds or thousands of our fighting men killed, and news reports of such occurrences might come days or weeks after the fact, in some instances not until the war was over. About two thousand were lost in an amphibious landing practice exercise in prep. for Normandy landings, not made publicly know until much later, and surely there were other like tragic mass losses, accidentally in training and also in mortal combat. On the home front people sucked it up and kept on working. Having experienced those times as a home front teen-ager (enlisted in Navy late in war, Dec. ‘44), I cannot comprehend half-masting Old Glory for each and every combat zone KIA, or how we as a people came to expect it.
Yes I have an answer.
Our society values fame/celebrity (even that of a drug addict) over honor/duty
Nope but the Gov of N.J. did. Here in Calistan the lib Gov. Fast Eddie Brown Jr. posted this tribute.
http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17209
“9-12-2011
SACRAMENTO – On behalf of all Californians, Governor Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown honor Pfc. Douglas J. Jeffries Jr., who bravely gave his life in service to our state and nation. The Governor and First Lady extend their deepest condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.
In memorial, Governor Brown ordered that flags be flown at half-staff over the State Capitol today. Pfc. Jeffries’s family will receive a letter of condolence from the Governor.
***
Pfc. Douglas J. Jeffries Jr., 20, of Springville, CA, died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device September 8 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, NY. Jeffries was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.”
... and FYI the county only lowered flags at COUNTY OFFICES and state and federal didn’t.
Not the whole state. I didn’t. Screw that drug addicted worthless woman. The only time I lower to half mast is when military personnel from the area die for their country. If Houston wants to kill herself, that’s her business. If everyone who was mourning her loss today at least tried to help her, it may be different. Everyone, but the family members attending the funeral are just two faced pieces of fecal matter just like she was.
Because a disturbingly large portion of our nation has a very screwed up view of the world.
But a good sized portion does not. If there were not a decent remnant, no one would be making anything of this incident. The fact that it is a controversy shows that this nation is still alive.
I don’t care about the position of these flags. My respect for these young men far surpasses any such superficial transitory such offerings. They have laid the utmost sacred of offerings upon the altUR of freedom (QUOTE). http://www.bartleby.com/43/38.html
May God bless and receive their precious souls.
Because life isn’t fair, which is proven daily by the government.
“Because it is the Governor’s prerogative to give the honor where and when he so chooses. If you don’t like the Governors choices, replace the Governor.”
Maybe so, but it’s offensive, off-putting, and downright insulting.
I hope the governor isn’t replaced because he received a better offer from the RNC.
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