It occurred to me when I began to contemplate this week’s column that it would be published somewhere between Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. The two very separate holidays on this month’s calendar should have a good bit of overlap. Veterans Day is, after all, a day where we give thanks and show appreciation to those who have served our country in a military uniform.
Many of us have grown accustomed to saying “Thank you for your service” when we encounter a member of the armed services in uniform or someone who is identifiable as a veteran. I recently had an encounter at my gym where another member struck up a conversation by mentioning his time in Vietnam. I thanked him and said “I know you didn’t get the thanks for that when you needed it.”
“Yeah. Too late for that…” he replied and then took a long pause. He then began to tell me more of his story, and what it was like both serving in Vietnam and what it was like for him and his buddies when they came home. I was glad to have the opportunity to listen, and took the time to let him talk.
Giving “thanks” was not high on the agenda for many when encountering Vietnam vets throughout the seventies and well into the eighties. Hostility was too often the norm.
The Vietnam war was deeply unpopular – including among many who fought in it. Most didn’t ask to. It was the last war when the U.S. used a draft system to decide who would be sent a half world away to fight.
The world had changed by the time the U.S. re-entered large scale military operations in Kuwait, then Afghanistan and Iraq. The draft had ended. Veterans of the more recent wars have been volunteers. A much smaller, self-selecting percentage of our country have been carrying the burdens of defending our country.
We have coupled the detachment of many Americans from military service with the unfortunate notion that war is relatively easy. The lead up to the first Gulf War included political debate…
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