Muhammad Ali dead at 74

I used to drink beer with a neighbor who worked at the Milton gas company. He was a kid from Western Illinois who settled in Milton and married a woman from there. He was a good man. He was seriously wounded and had life changing injuries from Viet Nam. He killed people, and he was wounded seriously crawling down tunnels killing people........the worst hell was the hell of the VA in Viet Nam era, and he was being abused by an officer who insisted all recovering wounded soldiers had to do light duty work around the base......the Docs disagreed, but this commanding officer did not care.....well as luck would have it Tom Railback his congressman was visiting the hospital, and came to see the wounded Illinois soldiers and when asked how they were doing they told the truth.....they were in hell. Railback who was a Republican and was important in getting Nixon to resign, goes to the commanders office to meet with him and this commander tells him that he did not have an appointment.....all hell broke out as he called one of the generals and told him his situation at this hospital, and within ten minutes this commander was kissing his asz as he took the commander to the Illinois wounded soldiers and said if I hear one of these kids being abused by you, you will be peeling potatoes for the rest of your sorry asz days in the military, and then said better yet maybe a dishonorable discharge right now is the right answer for abusing our wounded soldiers against doctors orders......he was just a kid who joined and suffered a lifetime because of folks like that commander......no it took courage to complain in that environment....so courage is not a matter of where it happens, but what a person risks to do the right thing.......Ali and my neighbor had that courage....and they made a difference in different ways.

I found this, after arguing with my husband in much the same way Hallmark is arguing here...he didn't respect Ali's conscientious objector status...I don't think he (nor I) really understood. Our generation was divided ideologically by those who went to war and suffered because of it, and those who wanted to end the war...and in truth, at least in my mind, all were on the same side, but there was a "failure to communicate"...but now I have a better understanding of what I was witnessing.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/37350-focus-alis-biggest-win-as-clay-v-united-states-in-supreme-court

Floridatexan wrote:
I found this, after arguing with my husband in much the same way Hallmark is arguing here...he didn't respect Ali's conscientious objector status...I don't think he (nor I) really understood.  Our generation was divided ideologically by those who went to war and suffered because of it, and those who wanted to end the war...and in truth, at least in my mind, all were on the same side, but there was a "failure to communicate"...but now I have a better understanding of what I was witnessing.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/37350-focus-alis-biggest-win-as-clay-v-united-states-in-supreme-court

I watched this the other night.

Really, really excellent.

Highly recommended.

http://www.hbo.com/movies/muhammad-alis-greatest-fight