I am the proud son of a fallen veteran. My dad was a pilot
in the Marine Corps, and died in a training accident when I was 6 years old. As
a result, Veterans day, as well as Memorial day, are emotional days for me.
Yesterday was Veterans day, and I found myself thinking about some observations
I have noticed over the last few Veterans days. It all started when I was out
and about and noticed a few, what appeared to be Korea, Vietnam, or maybe even
WWII era, veterans wearing their old uniforms proudly. It always makes me smile
seeing old timers like that sporting their uniforms so proudly and receiving the
respect that they have so earned. But, a thought occurred to me yesterday, are
the younger veterans, or active duty service shown the same respect as the
older ones? I'm not saying that the younger veterans aren't shown respect,
they certainly are, but maybe just not on the same level as the WWII and Korea
veterans. This is just a feeling I get when I observe people talking about
active duty guys today or maybe kids that just served 4 years out of high
school and then got out.
No matter
how long someone served in the military, or whether they were deployed in a war
or not, they all deserve an incredible amount of respect. Because whether or
not they served in a war or not, every day you serve in the military you
understand you are sacrificing your life in service of this country. Take my
dad for example, he didn’t die when he was deployed during a conflict in
Bosnia, he died in a high risk training mission flying over the desert in
Arizona. I think some people don’t realize how dangerous serving in the
military is, whether we are at war or not. I think the different levels of
respect for service members of this generation as opposed to WWII generations
can be linked to a couple things. First, I overheard a news story about lack of
sympathy for today's veterans who are injured or homeless, and the main reason
that was discussed was the fact that during the world wars and Korea, there was
a much higher percentage of our population that served during those wars as
opposed to the Iraq and Afghanistan war. So back during the world wars a
majority of people had a family member or a close friend who was in the war, as
opposed to today not many of us have a close friend or family member in active
duty. I mean I have friends of friends who are serving but know one I'm really
close to, and I would say that’s the case for a lot of people my age. I think
this could be the same reason there is a lack of sympathy towards today's
service members and recently injured veterans, because most people don’t know
people that experience it firsthand.
I think
this can also be a reason that older veterans are shown more respect than
recent veterans. Not that older veterans don’t deserve it, because they. I
would say a good majority of people my age and my mom's age have a grandparent
or parent, or great aunt or uncle who served in WWII or Korea and Vietnam. So
we have heard their stories firsthand, but haven't heard the stories of someone
who was deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Who knows, I may be way off in my
observation, or I may be spot on. My point in writing this isn't to lecture or
look down on people who may not have the firsthand military life experience that
I do. I write this just as a simple reminder that anyone who served any time in
the military deserves the same amount of respect as any other veteran. Each day
is a life threatening sacrifice for those men and women.
Thank you to all the men and women who have served our
country, whether it was for one year or 20, thank you.
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