It seems that there are many definitions of what a Veteran is. To me a Veteran will always be that soldier who fights on foreign soil to protect our freedoms. Why you might ask do I believe a Veteran is one who has done at least one tour of duty? That is simple. Anyone can join the Army and do their time and then get out. Avoiding deployment for whatever reason. Can you really say that those who choose certain jobs knowing they won't deploy are veterans? How can they watch their brothers and sisters sacrifice all going off to war while they stay home on their comfy couch out of harms way? Shame on them. Those soldiers whose courage and honor give them the strength to leave family and loved ones at home while to protect the great USA. While they are sad, lonely, and not necessarily wanting to go off to war their sacrifice will always be felt by those who appreciate their service.
Also, thank you to the many families who sacrifice so much as they support their soldiers while they are off fighting in a foreign land. You are also not forgotten. I know all too well the hardships of deployment and the sacrifices families make.God Bless our true Veterans and their families!
Commentary: It’s time again to count the cost of freedom
(click the above title for a link to the article.)
By Joe Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers
Veterans Day has come around again, as it does every fall, arriving with a new crispness in the air, the woods painted in glorious color and the days of a year that seemed new just yesterday now dwindled to a precious few.
If none of those signs had signaled its arrival, the advertising of big sales at the malls would have reminded those without more personal and less commercial ties to military service.
In this year, the last living British veteran of World War I died. The last American combat veteran of The Great War died in 2007 at age 108. The last of the Greatest Generation veterans of World War II, who once numbered some 15 million and changed the face of this nation, are slipping away fast now. The veterans of Korea, the forgotten war, are fading away, too. The ranks of more than 3 million who served in the Vietnam War are thinning out, as well.
Our ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are contributing a smaller but steady stream of new veterans joining the ranks. Political and military leaders are analyzing and deciding on a future course in Afghanistan that could lock us into years more of combat and many more new veterans.
Military service today, however, is reserved for the few who volunteer, unlike the days of big wars and conscription or the draft, which filled the ranks with millions of young men.
Today in this nation of 300 million, fewer than 1 percent wear the uniform, and, with their families, bear all the burdens and sacrifice of protecting and defending the rest of us who give little thought to those who pay the price for our freedom.
It isn't right, and it certainly isn't what those bold revolutionaries who ripped a continent out of the hands of a king at the risk of their own lives and property intended for the nation they created.
The least the rest of us can do is show a bit of gratitude and respect for our veterans, old and new, and for those serving under our flag today on foreign fields of battle. They don't start the wars. That's up to the political chicken hawks who so proudly and loudly bang the drums and march the sons and daughters of other, quieter citizens off to bloody battle.
If there were a fair and equitable requirement for national service — if the chicken hawks had some skin in the game — I wonder if they'd vote differently on those resolutions enabling and paying for wars without end. You seldom hear old soldiers prescribing war as a solution for anything.
Today's wars are bringing home hundreds of thousands of new veterans in dire need of jobs, education, medical and mental health care and a warm welcome home to a nation grateful for all that they've so selflessly given.
More than 30 percent of returning combat veterans, many of whom have served two or three or four or more combat tours, are in need of skilled counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Others are victims of traumatic brain injury (TBI) from the blasts of the enemy’s powerful homemade mines and bombs. Still others have lost arms and legs.
We owe them not only respect, but also the best medical care this nation can provide, although that's a less popular a vote for the drum-banging warmongers on Capitol Hill than any measure to dole out billions for the latest defense industry boondoggle.
The same Pentagon bean counters who happily rubber-stamp more no-bid contracts for contractors who've been stealing millions or billions for years also concoct plans to raise the fees and co-pays for veterans' health care insurance.
They also pressure military doctors to search for some pre-existing mental health issue so they can deny a PTSD claim and throw a soldier out the door with no health benefits.
Shame on them for doing that. Shame on us for letting them get away with it.
Veterans Day is just around the corner. Think about what that means besides bargain day at the mall. Think about whom we owe big-time. Write or call your Congress critter and offer him early retirement if he or she isn't voting right on these issues.
If you hear a band playing or read about a small ceremony honoring veterans, go there and say thank you to the men and women who have given so much for your rights and freedoms. It will bring a tear to their eyes.
2 comments:
I can see your point of view. I think joining the army is a huge sacrifice in itself. Seth and I were only married 3 months when he had to leave for basic. I have many friends who are newlyweds who never had to sacrifice 3 months without talking to or seeing their husband. Then, when Seth was in BOLC II, I found out I was pregnant but I could not tell him in person... I had to tell him on the phone, a luxury most civilians have. He missed many important Dr's appts, CAleb's 1st Halloween and so many more that I can not even list them! Schools put a lot of stress on families too... and even though Seth is deploying in a few months, I will have to say that even up to this point we have both made many sacrifices that we never would have had to make had we not been in the army. BUT.. I also see your side. There are many soldiers who spend years "hiding out". Seth has a personal desire to deploy at least once in order to feel he has fulfilled his duties as a soldier but not all soldiers have that sense of duty! Nice post :) And thank you guys for your sacrifice!
I actually have had friends who have had to be apart due to their job. My brother-in-law actually had to go to a different country for a couple months (and other family separations) due to his civilian job. I can understand it being hard because my father also had to go way for weeks/months due to his civilian job when I was young. Yes, he had to miss a few things, but there are many who miss much more. Thomas was in school when I found out I had a miscarriage (he wasn't able to go to that appt). He also deployed when I was 5 months pregnant with Katheryn. Luckily he was able to come home when I had her (due to him being told 4 days before he deployed that he had to replace another CPT), but after 8 days he had to leave again for 11 months. It was hard because she was also breech and I had to go through having her turned and the possibility that it could induce labor with him not here. He missed almost the first year of her life (aside from pictures I would send him and a webcam). With out third, he missed most appts because he was in school. Now, with this pregnancy he is up to deploy again and hopefully he will make it for her birth. Schooling is one thing because you know that they are pretty safe and still in the states. Being deployed is a whole other thing in itself. As you will find out soon.
Now with all that being said, I am not bitter with the Army. This is the life WE chose as a couple. That is why I said that the families sacrifice so much when their soldier is sent off to war. I've known several soldiers who "did their time" and got out or have purposely chosen assignments where they will not deploy. So that's why until a soldier has a combat patch, I won't consider them a Veteran.
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