Veterans Day

As you know, I have written quite a bit about Veterans Day and Veterans in general.  Today I sit here thinking about how lucky I am to be an American and how thankful I am to those who made that possible.  There are currently about 25 million living Veterans, not all active duty but still kicking and I am proud to include myself in that group.  Just as a comparative there are only about 48million who have served in our military since 1776.  As you can deduce with simple math, over half of the folks who have ever served – since 1776 – are still alive.  As I sit and think about that and what it means I wonder, where we will be as a nation be in another 50 years.  The one thing I do know, we will have brave young Men and Women who are willing to server to protect our Great Nation. 

I was reminded of a poem I heard a long time ago by Courtney Tanabe called “Because of you, Unknown Soldier”.   Usually when we think or hear the words “Unknown Soldier” we think of Arlington National Cemetery and the proud marines protecting the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  I am not sure but I suspect Courtney might have been inspired by the site there at Arlington.  Maybe she put together the pieces of the puzzle that explain the importance of 21 in the military.  21 gun salutes, the 21 steps that Marine takes or the 21 seconds he pauses before the next 21 steps at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, who knows.  As I read it today I wonder if maybe she wasn’t thinking about the fact that we do not really know our soldiers. (The word Soldier is used generically to describe anyone who serves).  Here is her ode.

 Because of you, I am here

Because of you, I am able to live freely

Yet I do not know you

And I have not done anything for you

But there you stand, ready to fight

And there you are prepared to die

For me

You've fought before

And you'll fight again

For someone you don't know

So thank you Unknown Soldier

Fighting for me

I'm here because of you

And I owe my future to you

 

Regardless of what she was thinking when she wrote it, it is a beautiful tribute. 

Maybe that is part of our problem, our Soldiers are unknown to us and their work is even more unknown to us. We like to picture Hero’s in our head and the Military has no lack of Hero’s. But along with those Heroes are young scared kids who may not understand the geo political ramifications of the actions they are taking.  Maybe, and this is a maybe, we just don’t care about things as much anymore.  Other than the things that are revolving in our own insulated cocoon of life.  That sounds like a harsh reality but that is what it seems.  With so much instantaneous and overwhelming communication we have insulated ourselves.  We listen to news stations that cater to our views, we hang out with likeminded folks who hold the same views.  We rarely get outside our bubble, our cone of safety if you will.  This may be part of our National problem, we live in a world where we have so many places to get information from that are very targeted to exactly what we want.  Is that good, I think not.

For example I will pick two things and explain, social media and riding in your car in traffic.  I have to ask; don’t we feel emboldened when we sit in our 5000 pound protective cocoon?  Don’t we scream things at people that we would NEVER say to them in person, even in a joking way.   Don’t we feel powerful when we can sit in our underwear pecking away at a keyboard spewing hateful bile, in all caps no less?  We never have to see the persons face or care about their reaction.  Most people and things outside our bubble are “Unknown” to us.  How many of your own neighbors can you name, how many have been in your house, how many do you just wave at to appear the tiniest bit friendly?  I was not sure where this would go when I started pecking on the keyboard, I never do but here I am.              

I want to let everyone who has served or is serving to that I am indebted to you, I owe my freedoms to you and I will never take the sacrifices you have made for granted.   I started two years ago posting a tribute to every Military member who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, those posts have reached 838 as of today who have died in the last two years defending our freedoms, or so they tell us.  I am so glad that we are out of Iraq and soon to be out of Afghanistan so I no longer have to perform that honor, not because I don’t want to, but because I should not have to. 

I will leave you with another poem or two

Remember

by Brittany Vigoreaux

American soldiers sacrifice so much,

All for the freedom of our country.

Leaving their families and heading off to war,

Not knowing what the future holds.

Working day and night

Determined to stay strong.

Watching friends be killed every day

Letters from home inspiring them to keep fighting

So little is given to them

Although there is little to do,

For those who have died in war

We can still remember

Remember all the men who have died.

Remember all the battles fought

Remember all the tears families cried

Remember it was freedom the soldiers brought

To this very day soldiers are under-appreciated

Veterans Day is the day

For the dead, living, and fighting soldiers

To be remembered

 

Sometimes the World Seems

by Larissa Myschuk

Sometimes the world seems like it's

Upside-down

Inside out

Torn down the middle

In need of arrangement

Desperate for guidance

Wanting direction

Lacking leadership

Losing patience

Turning and flipping

Backwards and sideways

Speeding endlessly forward

On a path of self-destruction

And the only thing to stop it,

The only thing to calm it,

Is the lives of the men that

Fight passionately

Fall readily and

Die willingly.