Offensive..?

My opinion? I'm half German, part Jewish, part French, part Welsh, part Scandinavian, etc. European mutt for a bloodline. I spent half my life living in Germany. A good-sized portion of my family is German, and live in Germany. I see Nazi flags, uniforms, weapons, helmets, vehicles, etc. used in a vast spectrum of ways. I've been to the death camps, the work camps, the hide-outs, the burial sites. I've painstakingly read my way through the Auschwitz chronicles, which is a HUGE book of ALL the records kept at the camp. People arriving, dying, gold teeth collected, clothes taken, medical experiments made... I cried my way through the book. I've seen the memorials, the movies, the scraps of humanity that were the leftovers of this blight on humanity. I've heard the arguments that the Holocaust never happened. I've laid my hand on the barbed wire that still bears the rusted blood color from the people who were tortured and beaten at the camp.

My Point? (I know, about time right?) I somehow manage to make it through my day without feeling the need to preach to everyone around me about these things. I've seen countless images of models in latex nazi uniforms, gas masks, simulated gas chambers.. I've seen the Nazi flag paraded around naked bodies like a red carpet evening gown. I made it through years of school being called a Nazi simply because I had lived in Germany, and was part German. Yet, somehow, I managed to swallow all of this with a grain of salt and continue to live my life.

My father is a retired, disabled American Army Veteran. He was enlisted for 25 years, and retired as a Sergeant First Class. I spent my entire childhood until I was 18 living on various military bases. I still worry and cry over friends that are in the middle east right now. You cut me, I bleed red blood that was born on a military base. I'm very proud to be an Army brat, the eldest child of a soldier who did what he could to make this world better for me and my siblings.

I put up with military bashing, anti-military protests. I put up with tacky girls wearing camouflage bikinis and fake army boots for porn ads and Playboy. I keep my mouth shut when the "thugsters" and "homies" walk around in baggy uniform pants. I kept myself from throwing heavy things at the tv when dog tags traditionally used so that if a soldier died in combat, his body could be sent home to his family started becoming a new source of "bling".

If I can make it through a day without killing someone for wearing or doing something I find personally offensive, so can you. Get over yourselves people. If you're really offended by something that has happened in the past, get off your ass and do something to make sure it doesn't happen again in the future.