Reflections on...Veteran's Day

OK so it's technically the morning after Veteran's Day...but I'm always a little late...

I just wanted to say that I was a little disappointed to see the lack of attention that Veteran's Day received yesterday. None of the major papers I read through had a front page story or a special highlighting a veteran's life story. I didn't spend all day searching, but I shouldn't have to.

There was, today, however, a front-page spread in USA Today of Barack Obama hugging a veteran from Iraq who had lost both of her legs, and a front-page spread in the NY Times about a veteran fighting to be compensated as a care-taker for her also veteran husband that had been paralyzed by a bullet to the neck in combat in Iraq. The first is a thinly-veiled agenda-driven charicature of Obama's stance on "ending" the war in Iraq by pulling out troops while the latter is a legitimate story with implications for the current military compensation structure though hardly front-page worthy and incredible pessimistic and myopic for commentary on Veteran's Day. Apparently in America today, Veterans are to be pitied for the toll the government has taken on them as helpless victims of an unjust system rather than self-sacrificing and dedicated individuals meriting the collective respect and support of the American public.

With the current war in Iraq drawing so much scorn and criticism, people have lost sight of the millions of other veterans that have returned from duty or are currently serving in the various military branches around the world. Regardless of your views on the political motivations or the moral implications of our foreign involvement in the Middle East or elsewhere, every individual that has VOLUNTEERED to serve in our military deserves your respect, admiration, and love. For generations past and generations future, they are fighting with their lives to ensure that our country retains its precious freedoms, including the opportunity so many happily take for granted to criticize and speak out against the government. It is because of them that there is no draft of compulsory service that would have drawn millions of the young vote that so rapaciously denounces the Bush Administration and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is because of them that the American public in general does not have to witness first-hand the destruction and death of war but can filter it out through obscure international press and propagandized liberal media. IT is because of them that I can sit in comfort in my home and know that this election and every election to come will not involve coups or violence but peaceful transition. Remember, there are BILLIONS, literally BILLIONS of people in the world that do not enjoy those freedoms and do not consider them RIGHTS. Now, more than ever, it is not a time to flippantly toss around the concept of rights and freedoms but to treasure, cherish, and protect them as direct products of the self-sacrifice, dedication, and service of the more than 23 million American veterans.

So, despite the constant focus on the cost of war and the unpopularity of the president, I for one choose to take this Veteran's Day to say THANK YOU to all the men and women faithfully and dutifully serving this country. I am not ashamed to say that I love my country. Why should I be? I LOVE MY COUNTRY! I don't love all that has happened, I don't love all the leaders and their individual choices. But, I uphold the VALUES and the PRINCIPLES it was founded upon and I LOVE the freedoms that I enjoy as a result. I THANK every man and woman that silently upholds those values and principles as well. And, I wish more Americans would do the same.