Veterans Day After Day

I was called out today for not posting on Facebook a sentiment of gratitude for the veterans of US armed forces. As if my posting a sentence proclaiming some thank you to soldiers is what Veterans Day is about. At the risk of offending many, I say that’s not at all what Veteran’s Day is about.

First, against popular opinion, I do not believe my freedoms are protected by a nation at arms with another. I would venture to guess that not since the Civil War has our country’s armed forces fought to protect our freedoms, but rather to promote democracy or protect another country’s chance at freedom, or to help liberate or protect a group of people in a foreign land.

Our freedoms are outlined in the founding documents of this country and the only way they will be diminished is by electing people who would act to destroy those principles. We have one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, military forces in the world. And last I checked, no country since World War II has attempted an invasion or takeover of our land.

Sure, we’ve been bombed. We’ve been terrorized. But are those attempts to occupy the United States, or rather actions to prove political points or instill fear in a nation or act out some deluded sense of retribution?

On Veterans Day, I take time to reflect on the best way to honor our veterans – people like my uncles, my father, friends. Some who voluntarily joined the armed forces and some who were drafted against their will. And some who were drafted and chose to make a career of that service.

I admire and honor those who have served in our armed forces. It is a job I could not do. But the best honor to these individuals is served by being vocal when their lives are being risked. It is questioning those in power and their decisions to send troops into combat. The best support for our troops is to make sure that the battles they are fighting are for the right reasons, are truly worth the ultimate sacrifice some give, and are well-supplied. We shouldn’t have to send phone cards to troops – communication with their families should be a given. We shouldn’t have to send our troops anything but love, prayers and the occasional gift from home.

It is our duty as citizens of this country to ensure that policies are not made that are to the detriment of those individuals fighting in combat. That they receive all benefits due to them. That when they come home from combat, they have choices that do not leave them homeless and without medical care. That they are given proper medical care for both physical and mental scars from their service. That their families are afforded proper housing and support while soldiers are away.

Yes, Veterans Day is a day to be grateful for the service these men and women offer their country. But it is a day to remember that it is about more than one day of gratitude and one day of parades. Our veterans need not be forgotten the other 364 days of the year and they need not be abandoned by shrinking VA hospitals, diminishing benefits and budget cuts that could put their lives in danger. It is about remembering all year that we have men and women fighting an invisible enemy, an enemy that will not be defeated on any desert battlefield, and whose primary weapon is not a suicide bomb but rather the fear that follows such attacks. Are we fighting political wars on the battlefield? Are we putting lives at risk for just reasons?

So while I might not have posted a thank you to the veterans today, that does not mean that a bleeding-heart, peace-loving left winger like myself doesn’t consider the sacrifice our veterans have made and our active duty military personnel continue to make day in and day out. I just choose to voice my support for them on Election Day by electing people who will support them with more than speeches and rhetoric, and who will truly honor their service to our country. That is how I say thank you to our veterans.