It's Veteran's Day, and I never served one day in the military in any way shape or form. Not even the Reserves or the Coast Guard. The closest I ever came to serving was during my last two years of high school. Back then, about 1972-73, most of us thought serving meant army or navy or air force or marines. Except for maybe the navy, serving also meant getting shipped off to Viet Nam. There was a military draft in those days, but by the time I was of age to serve, the draft was modified into a lottery system. Each day of the year was put in a hat (so to speak), and the birthdays pulled first were most likely going to serve. I believe in the two years I was in the lottery, my birthday was like 150 and 314. I think if you were above about 90, you were not going to be drafted. Now, while I had no real desire to serve, if my number was higher, I would have gone. I would not have fled to Canada, or quickly enlisted in the coast guard, or avoided going to Nam some other way.
In a way, serving in the military is like "paying" your tithes at church. At church, you give your tithes, and hope that the church is using the money for purposes of spreading the Gospel, and not for spreading making the pastor or the treasurer rich. And, for doing your duty to God, you are promised good things in this life (perhaps even more money than you gave, or better quality of life, or better health, etc.), and a good place in heaven.
Likewise, you serve in the military hoping the government is not engaging in war just for the fun of it. And for doing your duty to your country, you are promised... well, what?
The politicians in our nation are very very good at putting on that "patriotic face" on Veteran's Day, to honor the war dead, to declare how brave these young men and women were to make the ultimate sacrifice for "freedom." Truth is, politicians, and even the general public spend too much time and energy honoring our vets in their graves. I say that because the dead don't need know we are honoring them. That only serves to make us -- the living -- feel good. The hard part is to honor the war living -- the wounded, the amputee, the wheelchair bound. Also, those suffering the mental wounds of war caused by the images of war seared in their memories.
Our vets should get the utmost good treatment for the rest of their lives. Period. It does not matter if the war they fought in was "unjust" or "illegal" or even "essential to the nation's survival." It wasn't their decision to go to war. They were not consulted on purpose or strategy. It wasn't for them to decide if the cost of lives lost and the physical and mental wounds of war were worth the battle. They were not the ones to decide, "going into this war is so important that not only would I send the sons and daughters of people I don't know, but would I even send my own sons and daughters, and put them in the same line of fire." They did what was required of them. Just as the churchgoer giving their tithe is not asked how the money should be spent. Yes, you can withhold your tithe, and spend your hard-earned money in the manner you see fit. And yes, you can not serve your country, and use the best years of your life in the way you see fit. But in both cases, your duty is not to judge the intent of those receiving your money or even your life. You are required to trust that your tithe and your military service will be used for legitimate purposes, and will not be abused or misused.
Because our vets put it all on the line to serve our nation -- not just risking their lives, or risking life-long injury, but they definitely lose something the middle-class and even the wealthy value greatly, time. Time spent serving is time lost from career and from normal family life, even if there is no war.
Our veterans deserve the best of life after serving because they offered the best years of their life. After serving, there should be no question that they should get unlimited physical and mental health care. If they left their job to serve, that job should be guaranteed to be there when their service is over. They should get a special and sizable "veteran's discount" off the price of any home they want to live in. If they become unemployed, their unemployment benefits should last for as long as they served, if needed. In reality, veterans get minimal benefits compared to the sacrifice made. So many veterans are homeless, jobless, and ill-equipped to life in civilian society. Politicians, so willing to praise the war dead, are loathe to improve veterans benefits, and are more likely to cut those benefits in the name of cutting "wasteful government spending."
These politicians, many of whom never served, avoided service, and focused on generating personal wealth in this Land of the Free. Their ability to generate this wealth depended on men and women who sacrificed their time, career, physical health, even their sanity. Those who served deserve some of that wealth. The top 20 percent of households own 93 percent of the nations wealth. Most vets are in that lower 80 percent of households who share the remaining 7 percent of the wealth. I'm not saying the wealthy need to give up some of their stocks and extra real estate... but they should be willing to pay more in taxes to pay for the benefits all vets richly deserve.
But the wealthy for the most part have no interest in sharing with the living vets. However, they are very quick to salute the dead, and make sure the graveyards are well-maintained.
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