VETERANS PAGES
Updated 3-14-07
"Reveille" Short Movie (Kinda Long but moving)
I went to the Evergreen Museum in Oregon shortly after 9/11. It left an indelible impression on me - of the unexpected kind. I say "unexpected" because what I left with had less to do with airplanes than it did with Veterans.
I was already wrestling, by that day, with the implications of the terrorism threat; and contemplating returning to the service after a five year absence (seven if you count my time in the "inactive reserve").
The Cost of Freedom: At the Museum that day, as with all such places I've ever been, there was an ample crowd of WWII Veterans milling about and wearing their Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) regalia. I have to tell you, I can't hardly look at such men and women without choking up. I mean, particularly in the case of WWII Veterans, it is no exaggeration at all to say that they literally saved the world - and gave up EVERYTHING to do it. People now forget how close the whole world really did come to living under Nazism. Imagine a Gestapo, and concentration camps, in America. It's only because of the service members from that time that it didn't come to that for our families. And as a side note, lest you be one of those "Blame America First" people who use their 20/20 hindsight to point out to me here the injustice of the temporary INTERNMENT camps we put many Japanese-Americans into during this conflict...there is simply and obviously no comparison at all to be drawn between that and what the Nazis did.
A Peerless Group: At the museum that day my mind was made up about returning to service. Although I hope that America and the rest of the Free World will never have a WWII scale conflict in the future, I simply HAD to try my best to be have some inkling of a kinship with that variety of man for when I was their age myself. Not out of pride - because it's SO humbling to think about the kind of war they fought - but out of respect for them and the spirit of their contribution. Simply put, they are raw inspiration, and there is absolutely no other community I'd rather be a part of - even if as a mere junior member in terms of my own comparatively meager contribution.
Veterans Today: It is certainly true that The War on Terror is just as dire a threat as the WWII Veterans fought; but every one of us in the military these days knows that the way we serve doesn't compare to our WWII and Vietnam predecessors. Today we have unlimited phone and email access back home; big bases with coffee shops and portable DVD players / laptops, etc; and at the end of the day we know that our tours are of limited duration. The World War Two Veterans knew that they all would fight until the threat was gone. Every able bodied man in America clamored to volunteer. Many who were denied entrance to the service actually committed suicide; and my WWII-wife friends have told me that a man who was back home during that time seemed out of place. The WWII generation knew that they would only see a homecoming sometime after the day of victory - or as a result of debilitating injury. Sadly, we lack such widespread resolve today. It seems that history will repeat itself...meaning that the general public will not get on board and take the terror threat seriously until violence threatens again them directly. And of course, because so many don't take it seriously, this is likely to happen.
The Character of Service: I have known many WWII Veterans, and EVERY LAST ONE of them would downplay their contributions...even - and especially - the Medal of Honor winners (yes, I have met one - never thought that I would - and had the unparalleled privilege of spending a good ten minutes in conversation). No Veteran calls himself a hero. Among Veterans, the saying goes:
"The heroes are the ones who gave the ultimate price"
We Will Soon Lose All of the WWII Generation: If you have not sat down and listened at length to someone who remembers WWII first hand - whether as a fighter or a civilian - you have done yourself and your country a grave disservice to neglect your education. The lessons of that time are relevant today, and always will be. After all, the terrorists we fight today have more in common with the Nazis than they do a truly religious movement.
Human nature is relatively unchanging. Mankind will always know bullies. Despotic and international bullies are just like the ones we have all known at school bus stops - and just like in your childhood neighborhood, there will always be a need for the kind of person who stands up and says "I won't take that from you." Such people will always be in the minority - or we wouldn't call them something exceptional like "brave." Further, such people will always run the risk of being called "warmongers" themselves for their stand; and will often be unpopular among the very people they protect. But...
...at the end of the day, Veterans are people who put their "money where their mouth is" and SERVE - rather than take pot shots from their living room at those who do.
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly...who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat."
Teddy Roosevelt
An additional note about Vietnam Veterans:
John Glenn's Thoughts About What it Means to Serve
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)