Today is Veterans’ day.
I think that this day of rememberance has gone the way of Presidents’ Day. There are some pretty good sales out there! I wonder, though, if the meaning of the day has been lost amongst all the mattress sales and whatnot.
Veterans’ Day was originally called Remberance Day and the purpose was to honor the veterans of WWI. During the 1950s, President Eisenhower renamed it to Veterans’ Day so that we could also remember those who served in WWII and Korea. Since then, we’ve added on Viet Nam, the first war w/Iraq and now the second one.
I remember when I was a kid, we had parades on Veterans' Day. Everything closed: the schools, the banks, the post office, and all the stores. You could see veterans all over, wearing their uniforms. When the flag went by during the parade, we put our hands over our hearts. I learned in school that Veterans' Day was a day to say "thanks" to everyone in the military.
Members of my family have served in the armed forces, in the Navy and in the Coast Guard. They went voluntarily because they love our country and wanted to help protect and preserve it. That was during WWII when everyone respected the service.
It all started to come unglued with the Viet Nam war. Young people were protesting everywhere. Forget about respecting the flag ... I saw lots of flags aflame or flown upside down. Some people spit on returning soldiers. I wonder if they thought about the fact that they were able to do that because of our military. If there was no one to protect democracy in our country, heaven only knows what kind of government we would have had. I bet there wouldn't be free speech and demonstrations.
I don’t like the war in Iraq and I hate it that we are there now. I totally support our servicemen and women. It may sound contradictory but it’s not. Our military is there whether they like it or not. No one is throwing down their weapons and running away just because they didn’t want this war either. I think they’re very brave to make such sacrifices for our country. I honor them and all of the other men and women who served in the military during war and peace.
I took a moment of silence to pray for everyone who is now or once served in the military.