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May-19-2011 22:59printcomments

Memorial Day Undercurrents: Curtail Bullies in Early Years

This Memorial Day, let us get to the grassroots and teach the lessons of peaceful resolution to our children and our grandchildren.

Bullies
Courtesy: rangerpulse.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - The drums beat and the trumpets sound as Memorial Day enters its beckon call to each of us. Yet that consecrated day means much more than uttering a mass eulogy for all those who have given their lives to ensure America's thirst for enduring freedom.

The death of vets from all five services is a summons for us to examine their unfinished business. Those military battles for which blood was shed may seem like merely history.

Yet beneath the surface is the reality of thwarting those ambitions of a bloodthirsty despot seeking to obliterate our unique brand of liberty. Truly each authoritarian state constitutes a collective network of bullies who seek land and power and resources at the expense of another.

Such an attitude is nothing short of parasitic.

This Memorial Day, let us get to the grassroots and teach the lessons of peaceful resolution to our children and our grandchildren. Bullying begins in the classroom and the playground, not the distant battlefields overseas. Those who commit peer abuse and get away with it shall become bold enough to bully their way through life, in cities large and small, and ultimately to become national disasters.

As my grandma used to say, "Give them a finger and they take a hand; give them a hand and they'll grab the arm". Power is intoxicating. It must be nipped in the bud.

When those flags unfurl, think of what we can accomplish to help hone a more peaceful society with today's young people who shall emerge as leaders of tomorrow. These are for whom the bell tolls. Let that reveille fill the air - and awaken our hearts and souls.

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NOTE: Lee Coyne's father served in Italy during WW II, and his uncles served in the South Pacific. His wife Carmela grew up during Japan's occupation of The Philippines. The couple welcomes calls at (503) 365-7533.

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Salem-News.com Community Writer Barry Lee Coyne brings to our readers stories from his combined career of journalism and gerontology, and explains that these paths shaped his values. Lee Coyne once worked for The Civil Service Leader in NY State and covered the Legislature. He has also done features on mediation and arbitration, and believes in healthy skepticism. This writer-therapist often views the world as the masks of comedy and tragedy placed upon the scales of justice. For him, optimism inevitably wins. "Lyrical Lee" has traveled to 30 nations aboard and was once a press intern at the UN. His first published article was in The NY Daily News in '59, dealing with the need for integrity in public office.

He also launched the nation's first tele-conference on health education for shut-ins, created the Eldermentors project in VA to pair retirees with immigrant students needing role models, and was the main catalyst behind CCTV's "Public Public" panel show here in Salem. Lee received his BA in International Relations and an MSW in community organization. He currently serves as a member of Salem's Library Advisory Board. To send Lee an email, please write to this address: luckycoyne@yahoo.com




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Colli May 20, 2011 11:08 am (Pacific time)

Lee: This was a short article but to the point. It's well-taken points shouold hold great meaning for all of us. You are absolutely right, the home and classroom jointly hold the key to what the world of tomorrow will be like. This article was instructive, refreshing, and brought hope to me. Thanks Lee. Colli


Anonymous May 20, 2011 10:22 am (Pacific time)

memo from female marine stationed in Germany. Germany is the hub for marines in transit. No matter if coming or going, they go to Germany first. She does intake paperwork stuff. She says more and more marines are waking up to the lies and are getting out as soon as their term is up. They know they are fighting for the bankers and oil companies, and they are wondering how they can be fighting for our freedoms and liberties, while at the same time their own government is taking them away...They are waking up in droves. This is why the globalists, who control the western world, sent our National Guard overseas, and obama has signed treaties with both mexico and canada to use each others armed forces for civil uprisings. Canadians, and especially the mexican army will be more apt to shoot american citizens, because the national guard, and most of the marines would not do that.

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