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Diane Wyzga's avatar

As a former US Navy nurse who cared for the children of men and women serving our country I can only say I am not surprised, and I am disgusted by this vindictive behavior by little men (47, Hegseth, mRat, and others) who should know better but don't.

Here's the thing, little men: you may be able to take down a website but that doesn't destroy the memories, the people, the stories, the heroism, or the ultimate sacrifice of service to God and country.

You little men are running scared yourselves because you are in positions of power & have no idea what to do because we're on to you; so you try to deflect the attention, and in doing so further debase yourselves.

This is the time made for storytellers, like us, like me at Quarter Moon Story Arts. When we tell the stories of those who have gone before us, we keep them alive.

Little men think that they have the power to delete history. But history won't be deleted. And a movement of Ordinary Persons building an Army of Ordinary Persons cannot be defeated.

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Mary Ellen Lapp's avatar

Sounds like a hate crime.

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Diane Wyzga's avatar

Nailed it!

Now, we have to nail them.

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Mary Kay Elloian, MBA, JD, Esq's avatar

They are truly the 'despicable me's'

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Monty Cobb's avatar

Perfect.

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Bob Churchill's avatar

If it's possible for there to be an upside to the current nightmare gripping the USA like a xenomorph shoving its tail down the nation's throat, it's that perhaps the myth of "American exceptionalism" will finally get the heave-ho. There's nothing special about Americans - some are wonderful - some are despicable a-holes, some are hard-working - some are lazy, some are greedy and some are generous to a fault. Just like people everywhere - and just like people everywhere, we embrace self-affirming mythology about ourselves that elevates us above others - and a LOT of that mythology has no basis in fact - and some of the facts about this country are uglier than sin.

The truth about the USA is that it was founded on slavery, genocide and religious extremism - and strands of all of those remain woven into the national DNA to this day. The MAGA phenomenon is all about grievance, as we know - and the prime element of that grievance is rage over the loss of unearned white privilege and the inability to accept that very soon white Americans will no longer be the numerically dominant demographic, but just one more minority in a nation of minorities. It's no coincidence that as that day approaches (most say in about ten years) always-present racism and bigotry has erupted anew, virulent, crude and insistent, attempting to turn the clock back to the 19th century, its political expression trying to revive segregation and JimCrow - not only against blacks, but against anyone who isn't white. And it's also no coincidence that the spiritual (if one can call it that) component of MAGA bigotry is Christian nationalism - AKA Christo-fascism - a contemporary expression of the religious extremism that has been here since the days of the Calvinist Pilgrims. They subscribe to a MYTH that they are the REAL Americans - when the reality is that they are the WORST Americans, who give only lip service to the nation's values and aspirations as articulated in our founding documents - equal rights for all, equal protection under the law, free and fair elections, majority rule, etc. They are exceptional in NO way beyond their level of hypocrisy.

"It can't happen here" is the oft-repeated mantra of those who hold the USA to be a special place populated by special - exceptional - people who would NEVER lower themselves to tolerate an authoritarian regime or way of life - but the evidence is right in front of our eyes that MANY millions of us WOULD - if it promised to restore and perpetuate White Supremacy. I am white and male - but the very thought of this degradation becoming mainstreamed makes me sick to my stomach, and the irony that those perfectly willing to wad up and throw away what a multi-racial and multi-cultural melting pot - the only one of its kind on the planet - has made mighty and prosperous are almost exclusively white is not lost on me. "American Exceptionalism," indeed. As if...

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Sherry Gerbi's avatar

And this by a person who cried ‘bone spurs’ 4 or 5 times to get out of serving a country he ‘so loved.’ That time he came out & hugged the flag with that stupid look on his face made me sick to my stomach, the incompatibility, the incongruity.

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Monty Cobb's avatar

Oh. So well stated. Your comment is valuable to me in its clarity and succinct statement of what should be obvious, but is muddied by our cultural shitstorm.

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Tim Daniels's avatar

I believe the reason they're doing this is as a smoke screen and to sow division. They're giving us something to be outraged about while they're ripping us off blind. They're not as stupid as they want us to believe. Well, tRump really is that stupid, but he's just their pawn. You know, like Mongo.

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Susan Wingo's avatar

This needs to be front page news everywhere. This is false-flag patriotism at its worst.

Black, Hispanic, female, and LGBTQ+ service members are already unrepresented in Arlington. Not because they served, fought, sacrificed, and died in lower numbers than their majority peers, but because their service, their sacrifices, and their stories weren’t seen as significant as those of their majority peers. To have those stories purged from the archives is a desecration far worse than knocking over, spray painting, or defacing headstones. The physical damage can be easily corrected. The loss of the stories behind the headstones cannot.

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Susan Wingo's avatar

I had intended to post this as a reply to my initial reaction, but somehow posted it as a separate reply to the article. I see several people wondering if this is real. It is, mostly. The good news is that the service members’ stories aren’t gone. They’re still online, but hard to find because the links to the stories have been removed from the Arlington National Cemetery archives.

Here’s a link to the NYT article about this. The US Army, who oversees operations at Arlington National Cemetery is working to restore links to these stories.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/us/politics/arlington-cemetery-website-dei.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4E4.ISnl.ZUQpWOPL7_uz&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=A3F5C382-B30C-4541-831D-F3E8F6302BCB

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Katrina Ceccoli's avatar

Showing us who they are over and over again. MACA - Make America Care Again

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Janet Poole's avatar

👏👏👏

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Bradley Long's avatar

Hey how about just trying to be an American 🇺🇸 regardless of your race creed or sexual preference Multi culturalism is a dismal failure and the real insult we have had to endure

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Shirley Jackson's avatar

Oh it makes me so very angry! And ready to throw up. The racist attacks could only have been authorized by the Executive committee.

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Mary's avatar

Horrible! 😩

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Mary's avatar

Despicable regi ME

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Lisa Scattaregia's avatar

Closer to the Edge: Also permitted burial at Arlington are members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots WW2 (their acronym WASP may have gotten deleted by 20-something Dogie inidels who don’t know sh** about history). Women delivered 12,652 aircraft of 78 different types between September 1942 and December 1944. They flew over 60 million miles in every type of military aircraft. Two experienced female pilots, Jacqueline Cochran and Nancy Harkness Love, separately proposed recruiting women to assist the Army Air Forces (AAF).

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Mary Kay Elloian, MBA, JD, Esq's avatar

Those heroes cannot be erased by the vile acts of a draft dodger and a drunk. Their service will not be forgotten and will continue to be recognized. Unlike those who try to erase them - they will be remembered as traitors and will go down in infamy - and rightfully so!

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Susan Wingo's avatar

Here’s a link to the NYT article about this. The US Army, who oversees operations at Arlington National Cemetery is working to restore links to these stories.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/us/politics/arlington-cemetery-website-dei.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4E4.ISnl.ZUQpWOPL7_uz&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=A3F5C382-B30C-4541-831D-F3E8F6302BCB

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Hector Yardbird's avatar

Thanks so much for the link.

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Harlena J Dyer's avatar

Thank you

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Chris Ann's avatar

These are small minded snowflakes with cowardly egos.

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The Legal Edition's avatar

Ironically the draft dodger and the drunk are trying to erase those who honorably served. Those heroes will not be forgotten, but Trump and Hegseth will go down in infamy!

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