11 November 2007

Veterans Day Thoughts:
Let me preface this post by saying that I'm a HISTORY CHANNEL addict...sorry, but that's the way it is (as Walter Cronkite used to say), and Friday night I watched a show entitled BAND OF BLOGGERS (a takeoff from the Band of Brothers series). It was a marvelously riveting show about our soldiers in Iraq who have their own blogs and chronicle the REAL story...the good, the bad and the ugly. I highly recommend this show to everyone. If you remember Letters From Vietnam (an HBO special shown YEARS ago), it's right along those lines, only with real time video. This is the story the MSM doesn't want us to see, or doesn't bother to show us because "they" think it's not relevant (to THEIR OWN agendas). It will be rerun Monday 12 November - 1800 hours (that's 6PM to you "civvies").
But onto the "main attraction"...

I dug out a part of last year's post to use as a jumping-off point, because the words I wrote then are AS important today as they were when first written.

As a youth in Philly, my father never failed to take me downtown every year to watch the Veterans' Day parade along the Ben Franklin Parkway....and although it was a bit colder to stand along the Parkway than say...Memorial Day, it was ALWAYS exciting to watch soldiers of every service march by, along with military vehicles, color guards with flying flags, and an overall sense of REAL patriotism among everybody in attendance.

My father NEVER viewed Veterans' Day as a day to go shopping, or even watch any sports (and he loved his football). That day was for him to put his war-weary feet the hell up and enjoy HIS day off from life's grind. Mom always made his favorite dinner (roast beef), and a cold beer was never far from his grasp. Yet, it wasn't a day to get falling-down drunk either. He used to talk about his days in the CBI during WW2, and even if I had heard a particular story before, it NEVER got old...there was always something *new* I discovered with every telling of a tale. Many times I would ask him to RETELL a favorite story of his. Sometimes he dug out the photo album he made from all the pictures taken overseas.
I am happy to say I STILL have that book in my possession.

If we did go anywhere else, it might be to a cemetery to visit a loved one's grave site, or at least to watch the armed services tend to all the vets' graves by placing flags on them. The VFW usually had a memorial service around noontime, complete with color guard and rifle salute. I will say that Veterans' Day in Arlington National Cemetery is really something to see or be a part of, if you ever get the chance. After dad passed, I would go down to the American Legion hall (downtown) and help out with their Veterans Day salute (and chat with those wonderful Gold Star Mothers). I still have a .30 cal. cartridge from one year's ceremony. It made you PROUD to be an American...and it still does.

Somehow, times have changed, as I find this hallowed day brimming with "VETERANS DAY SALES" and pre-Christmas shopping bargains. Now I will be the first one to admit that any place that give veterans additional money off on items is one damn fine way of showing gratitude for their service and sacrifice. Still, the commercialism that has infested other major holidays is now tightening it's grasp on this special day.

Here's an example of how things have "progressed":

During WW2, if there was a soldier (any branch of the military) travelling anywhere (usually by train)...they RARELY (if ever) had to pay for anything, as some citizen would buy them dinner, a drink, or whatever. How many soldiers do we see today that even receive a simple handshake and a "Well Done" from anyone (aside from family and friends)? I'll wager the number is staggeringly LOW by comparison. How many "strangers" would walk up to a serviceman or woman and offer to buy them dinner (or even a damn hotdog)...JUST BECAUSE they are serving our country?
During 'Nam, we had soldiers returning home being spat upon, called baby-killers (among other things) just because they were serving in the military (same as in Korea or WW2). Many of these same personnel HAD served in WW2 and Korea...and that's a far cry from getting a free drink at the local pub, isn't it?

Listen up people....ANY serviceman or woman, simply because they are NOT fighting an enemy on OUR OWN soil, should NEVER be denigrated or diminished in ANY way....they are STILL fighting for OUR liberties, OUR freedoms, and OUR nation. We here in America, far from many madding crowds (except at the local malls) never fully realize the bigger picture in the GLOBAL arena.
There IS evil in the world, and these brave men and women put themselves in the middle of it DAILY...for US.
We also have to attend to the needs of our vets, and that means keeping VA facilities OPEN (and functioning) to provide care for those who no longer can adequately care for themselves. Our nation's vets are not (nor ever were) some "disposable commodity" that we use up and then discard...oh no. We need not close any facility that would tend to these veterans and provide the services they need...we OWE that much to them (and more).
If anything, we should hold them ALL in a higher esteem...they have kept our nation safe...defended our flag....protected our people ever since we first became a nation. We need not be able to recall every name and face...but we should expect and demand from ourselves a remembrance of their sacrifices in their service to America...now, and for generations to come.

I cannot think of more appropriate words to say whenever I think about the families that will not enjoy their loved one because of their service overseas, as well as the families that have suffered losses over the years from those in service to make it possible for the rest of us to live free.

If you get a bit choked up over this...that's fine. You "get it".

Remember them, if not anyone else.
Fly the flag proudly today - Know the reason for doing it.

2 comments:

Jana said...

A unit just returned from Iraq about a week ago here at Fort Knox, the 19th Engineers. I know that today is a special day for them and their families as well.

All the signs out saying "Welcome Home Daddy!" or "Welcome Home! I Love You!" bring a tear to my eye.

It also reminds me of the day my father came back from Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War. Words cannot describe the feelings I had then at the young age of 11...

I'm thanking all the veterans today, all the ones we've lost, and all the ones in my family: My husband, my father, my grandfathers, my uncles, my aunt, and my cousin.

Anonymous said...

Exceptional post.