I'm not a vet, but if I was one, nothing would piss me off more than all the obligatory flag waiving rah rah gibberish of Veteran's Day. I do come from a family of vets. My Brother, Dad and Grandfather all served in the military. Unfortunately for me, (or fortunately?) they don't take handicapped people. My job often involves helping vets find work. Soon, that will be even a larger part of what I do. I see and talk to vets almost every day. No, I'm not saying I have a perfect understanding of being a vet, but I think I know more than a lot of people. So here's my problem. We, as a country, treat vets like any other commodity. We use them and throw them away. I'm more cynical than most. I see everything the US Government does as making more money for those who already have money. Iraq was never about WMD. Obviously, it was / is about oil.
Operation Iraqi Liberation was the initial name given to the invasion of the invasion and take-over of Iraq; OIL. Some PR guy caught this and the name was changed. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan this
guy was hanging out. Somehow, the war in Iraq was all about fighting for our freedom. The troops fight for our freedom! Freedom isn't free! Fight them over there or fight them here! The last slogan is my favorite. Somehow, I cannot picture 10-20k Jihad types mounting an invasion of the USA. Perhaps I just missed it. I never heard OBL say we hate you for your freedom. No, the real threat to our freedom is an uninformed citizenry that stopped asking hard questions. But I'm digressing.
We send good young people off to places like Iraq and Afghanistan (why are we still there this long after OBL's demise?) to kill and be killed. Even if you want to believe the official party line for going to such places, there is no denying how bad we treat our returning "heroes." I've yet to meet a vet that likes being called a hero, even the ones who are. Short of all the flag waving and related hoopla, we treat our returning vets shamefully. Check it out...
And just consider
True Costs of War
So until things change a lot, I'll pass on the Veteran's Day chest thumping, meaningless slogans and bumper stickers that do NOTHING to address the challenges returning vets face.
If you are serious about helping vets; hire one, call your senator to raise hell about the above mentioned problems and or simply be there for one. If you do none of the above get that damn sticker off your car.
