Since I spent four years in the Navy it seems almost like a conflict of interest for me to talk about Veterans Day. But it’s not really. I reap the bennies of those who served, fought and/or died for whatever reason those men and women served.
I say that because military service isn’t always about duty, honor, country, apple pie, blah, blah, blah. For some it is a gateway to a better life. Or an economic opportunity. Others served because they were drafted. And yes there were those who were inspired in a fit of patriotic fervor such as after Pearl Harbor or 9-11-01.
On this Veterans Day I think back to all the people I’ve known who served. It’s a lot of people. There was the old man up the street from where I was raised who was gassed during World War I. My own father and two of his brothers fought in World War II. I knew a lot of Korean vets. But of course, Vietnam was the war when I was growing up. One of my brothers served. I likewise knew people who died there. I know or knew guys whose souls were forever damaged there. And I know people who came through that war just fine. Then there are all the battles since. A good friend of mine had two sons who went to Iraq last year. The last e-mail I got from my friend said her boys — both mobile machine gunners — “had been changed forever.”
The Paris Peace Accords were signed the year before I enlisted in the Navy. I’m considered a Vietnam-era veteran because I served before 1975, when our last official military actions were evacuations as the North Vietnamese overran the South. But the closest I got to Vietnam was after the war, cruising hundreds of miles off the coast on a destroyer in the South China Sea. And the biggest danger I faced in the service — was from my own reckless youth and that of my fellow young, knuckleheaded sailors.
I am not a fan of the war in Iraq. I feel our troops were backed in there and put in a situation where our country would look weak if we withdrew without deposing Saddam. I’d like to see us get the hell out of there yesterday. I don’t know what that would do to us in terms of perception by other nations. A bunch of extremist terrorists may perceive us as evil. But real nations that will go to war over a lunch tab might perceive us as weak if we pull out without some sort successful conclusion. And no, I don’t know what that would be. I’m afraid we’re in a no-win-win situation. But then, I’ve always been a bit of a Gloomy Gus.
With my diatribe about Iraq done, I do challenge the right wing propagandists who put out this ridiculous notion that you can’t support the troops in Iraq without supporting the war. It’s just total bullshit. I was supporting the troops long before they got to Iraq. I was one of the troops, so to speak. And many of those talking heads or government officials who espouse such drivel never served a day in uniform. But hey, they don’t let a little hypocrisy get in the way.
So yeah, I’m appreciative of veterans past, present and future. The military can be idiotic and bureaucratic and supreme ass-coverers and let things happen like Abu Ghraib but I wouldn’t want any other country’s military protecting us. Like Texans used to say about Lyndon Johnson, “He may be a bastard, but he’s our bastard.”
