Have you ever watched someone die, covered in blood and in pain? Because then you will realise that there is noting heroic about death. At least soldiers are paid to die... (sorry if I sound a lil too mordid, even for me, that last sentence was meant sarcastically!) ;)

"the flag means nothing you ignorant **"

Truly, the love and tolerance of the political left shines in you. Keep up the idiocy.

the flag means nothing you ignorant **

I would like to publish your essays with my project Kahloesque International. I encourage you to e-mail me for details at kahloesque@yahoo.ca
Thanks

do you even noe the actual reason why americans went to vietnam in the first place?
do you noe wat others thought of this action?
do you noe how many ppl this action effected??
do you really believe in wat you write?? it is very narrow minded and i think you should get out more and take a walk in different ppls shoes...it is this type of thinking that leads to deaths, wars, torture...get out adn look around and actually try and SEE...try and broaden your thinking
and for you to actual get an award for this..it says so much of how ppl think in your school...

It's obvious from this essay that you feel very strongly towards your flag. I'm british and disagree with ALL of your views. It's hard trying to shove your opinion down evrybodies throat, it just ain't going to work.
Nonetheless this essay was good...as for it winning an award...i'm not going to comment. Anyways i think when writing you should reasearch for facts rather than having opinions and trying to stand your ground when it's clearly obvious that you are in the wrong.
well written essay :)

I love this essay...a great essay and a tribute to the men and women who have died, are dying, and will die. Awesome...keep it up! :)
*~BrIt~*

So mercenaries are honorable, eh? Good to know that.
Stands for freedom? To do what? People like you want to take away our freedom, so you're kind of a hypocrite, like most other flag-waving conservatives.

Hey! Nice to find other right-wingers. Sometimes I feel like I'm all alone in the world :). This is very good, and sums up how I feel about the flag.

"...they went and jeopardized their lives for the single reason that America’s honor was at stake. The honor of the American flag was at stake."
I hope the ones who didn't come back saw it that way.
In this country you couldn't read something like this out without being laughed at. Is that good or bad?

In this case, I must say that, while I don't necessarily agree with your views, this is very well-written. You obviously feel very strongly about these things (ie. the flag, the country, Patriotism...), and while I am seem to be on the opposite end of the political spectrum from you, that is a good thing. Too many people these days don't believe strongly enough in anything at all.

How do I put this without causing offence...

I don't think going to war *just* because 'America's honor is at stake' is a good idea. I mean, I have the upmost respect for veterans and I'm not trying to deny their bravery or sacrifice, but in my veiw the Vietnam war was still a big political mistake. Vietnam was no threat to the USA, or it's honor, and it's now widely thought that if democratic elections had been allowed, the majority in South Vietnam would have voted for communist Ho Chi Mihn rather than the dictator put in place, and then later killed off, by America. Considering how many people died so needlessly, I wouldn't consider it a good thing for the flag to represent.

Also, I think that a country's ideals should be encapsulated in it's actions rather than any symbol. I think that's more of a mark of strength.

But end of rant. This was a good essay, I thought much better than your others. You can really tell how strongly you feel about it, with forcing your veiw down anyones throut, for once. Hard to do, trust me! And I whilst I don't agree that a flag should meen so much to anyone it leaves them open for political manipulation, and I don't think the flag was a good enough reason for troops being sent into Vietnam, I do agree that a flag (or something at least) should represent people who have died fighting, justified or not, bravery shouldn't be forgotten. This is just my opinion, which probubly didn't make sense anyway.

You should write more like this. Peace (as in within yourself, in your life, for the universe: I know you're a blood thirsty warmongeror - Kidding, kidding!). :)

Funny that you start off the essay by saying that the American flag means so many things to different people, yet you only bring up one POV. What about what it means to the innocent Iraqi families whose children and lives have been destroyed? What about them?

I know I said it before, but i'll say it again: HOOAH! I agree with you on many of the points you made, especially the point about the Veterans. They died for this country and for our freedom. Coming from a military family, this means a lot to me. My Gandfathers are WWII veterans and my Dad has flown off to battle three times. Thank you for writing this and keep writing. This is a well written, logical essay. Whether you are right or not is up for opinion, just like the meaning of the flag. In my opinion, you're right. If you truely believe this, you should NEVER let anyone tell you ANY different. Keep up the Fire.

Another job well done! Keep writing!