Thank You For Your Service

... to all the veterans who are here with us today.  Condolences to all the family and friends of those veterans who are no longer with us who we remember on this day. May we remember what they did for us while serving our country.

Our debt cannot be paid.  Our appreciation is unending 

While the gesture is appreciated by many veterans, there are other veterans such as myself who think otherwise. First, I was drafted and second, I was against the war. I am a long time member of Veterans For Peace. US Army 1969-1970

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/sunday-review/please-dont-thank-me-for-my-service.html

I am a vet too, former U.S. Navy Nurse, proud of my service, cared for many wounded U.S. Marines during the Vietnam war both overseas and stateside. No opinion on that war, my job was to care for the casualties.

Edited to add... When I became a Navy nurse the war was not in progress yet, never in a million years did I figure there just might be a war! But I was only 21.

Wow, wedjet. That's a really good piece, and maybe it explains why I can't bring myself to thank a vet. I know my words will be inadequate and won't speak to his/her experience.

Besides that, many of us believe in the concept of just wars, that there are some just wars and some unjust wars. It is not the service person's decision whether the country goes to war, so I can't blame him/her for volunteering for the service. Once you have served, you have served whether I agree or disagree with the mission. I feel we should treat our vets well in every way possible. We should give medical care, pensions, college tuition, and mortgage assistance, and many other things. If we feel this is too expensive, then to me, it means we can't afford war. The stories I read about how life is hard for veterans as a result of their service makes me furious, especially since it is too often followed with neglect.

What Tom said!

I'm very conflicted about what I read in that article.  Seems like "damned if you do and damned if you don't".

When two of my Uncles were drafted during World War 2 they knew they could never bring themselves to take a life.  One got a cushy assignment in Connecticut doing paperwork.  The second was  a combat medic.  I have seen the papers between he and the VA administration  describing how he helped evacuate wounded during the Battle of the Bulge.  In more than one instance men's arms and legs would fall off as he carried them away.   The snows ran red with the blood of the dead.

He received two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star for gallantry.  In the papers he described how 20 years later he still woke up screaming.

There is only one way to honor these brave men .  And at the same time I think of my three young 

grandsons.  Put a stop to the madness.  Bring them home

Tom_Reingold said:

Besides that, many of us believe in the concept of just wars, that there are some just wars and some unjust wars. It is not the service person's decision whether the country goes to war, so I can't blame him/her for volunteering for the service. Once you have served, you have served whether I agree or disagree with the mission. I feel we should treat our vets well in every way possible. We should give medical care, pensions, college tuition, and mortgage assistance, and many other things. If we feel this is too expensive, then to me, it means we can't afford war. The stories I read about how life is hard for veterans as a result of their service makes me furious, especially since it is too often followed with neglect.

Sadly, at times, the service is not to the country but to corrupt, stupid and selfish politicians who got us into some mess.

However, I agree, that no expense should be spared to take of those who served. 

We can afford 100-120 million dollar fighter aircraft, 100 thousand dollar helmets for the pilots of those aircraft yet we seem to have trouble taking care of veterans economic needs or of their healthcare.

BG9 said:

Tom_Reingold said:

Besides that, many of us believe in the concept of just wars, that there are some just wars and some unjust wars. It is not the service person's decision whether the country goes to war, so I can't blame him/her for volunteering for the service. Once you have served, you have served whether I agree or disagree with the mission. I feel we should treat our vets well in every way possible. We should give medical care, pensions, college tuition, and mortgage assistance, and many other things. If we feel this is too expensive, then to me, it means we can't afford war. The stories I read about how life is hard for veterans as a result of their service makes me furious, especially since it is too often followed with neglect.

Sadly, at times, the service is not to the country but to corrupt, stupid and selfish politicians who got us into some mess.

However, I agree, that no expense should be spared to take of those who served. 

We can afford 100-120 million dollar fighter aircraft, 100 thousand dollar helmets for the pilots of those aircraft yet we seem to have trouble taking care of veterans economic needs or of their healthcare.

Been there and seen that

Bernie was drafted.  He went, to Vietnam.  When he flew home after his discharge, a woman crossed the airport space to spit on him.  He was not the one who declared war, nor was he one of those who volunteered.  Whether we agree with a given war (or all war) or not, we should show our respect for those who served. We should not punish them for doing their duty.

Disclaimer:  I never saw the sense to our fighting the Vietnam War but I would never hold that against those who were drafted to fight it.

Not only veterans, but active-duty soldiers, are the strongest voices for peace:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gis-petition-congress-to-end-iraq-war/

https://libcom.org/library/soldiers-opposition-to-vietnam-war-zinn

We did not do right by our Vietnam Vets.  It warms my heart to hear of soldiers returning from Iraq and elsewhere  who are given standing ovations as they pass through the air ports coming home

Maybe we learned one important lesson through the years

joan_crystal said:

Bernie was drafted.  He went, to Vietnam.  When he flew home after his discharge, a woman crossed the airport space to spit on him.  

That's horrible and also stupid!

sac said:

joan_crystal said:

Bernie was drafted.  He went, to Vietnam.  When he flew home after his discharge, a woman crossed the airport space to spit on him.  

That's horrible and also stupid!

It was typical of the times.   We did not separate our service people from those who made the horrible policies they had to follow

"The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."  General Douglas Macarthur.

Joan, please accept, on Bernie's behalf, my thanks to him and to all veterans.  My dad died in the Vietnam War. He was career military, in his 19th year at his death, having joined up during WWII. He nearly made it.  His family was poor.  That was a big factor in why he stayed in.  Some flavors of antipathy toward veterans have a class element.  Do you ever pick that up, Joan?  Me, I confess I have a major chip on my shoulder about it.  I wonder if the persons who talk about vets with a snicker would have done better, with the same set of choices the vets had.  And I try not to be around them.  On NPR the other day, the host introduced a Story Corp piece by a son of Admiral Stockdale, with a short sound bite of an SNL spoof of him when he was old and running for vice president.  The admiral's son was so sincere.  The opposite of arch.  After that special-for-Memorial Day programming, they ran a review of a documentary about caged chimpanzees.  I can't be around that ***** any more.

I find that many people confuse Memorial Day with Veterans Day. My understanding is that Memorial Day honors only those who died in combat. Whether you believed in that combat or not, we must never forget that kids with no college plans in the Vietnam War days were drafted and sent to die. Many of them were poor kids who really had no options. Boils my blood to this day.

annielou said:

I find that many people confuse Memorial Day with Veterans Day. My understanding is that Memorial Day honors only those who died in combat. Whether you believed in that combat or not, we must never forget that kids with no college plans in the Vietnam War days were drafted and sent to die. Many of them were poor kids who really had no options. Boils my blood to this day.

The primary purpose of Memorial Day IS to honor those who died in combat, but I don't think there needs to be an "only" about it.  

Some veterans die of conditions encountered in combat that may take many years to kill them.  WW II vets exposed to radiation and Vietnam vets exposed to agent orange are just two examples.  In Maplewood it is traditional during the memorial service to read the names of veterans who died in the past year, whether or not they were active military at the time of their death.

Today I did something I had never done before,  spend a number of hours on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery. 

If you go to the Vietnam Memorial, please give my love to my dad, Richard Ambrose Walsh III.

22! There are 22 veteran suicides per day. Yes, per day. Of that, about 65% are over the age of 50. This is mostly Vietnam era vets. How can that war still claim so many vets?

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/08/31/older-vets-committing-suicide-at-alarming-rate.html

Vietnam vets didn't receive the support they needed when they returned home.  Too many persons they came in contact with blamed them for the war!  At least we are now taking a more supportive approach with those returning now.  Even though recent wars may be very unpopular in some communities, a real attempt is being made to get the newer vets the "resettlement" help they need with health care, housing, employment, family support etc.