MEMORIAL DAY 2012

When we established this blog, it was designed to serve as a venue for sharing our travels with our friends.  However, it is difficult to ignore this tempting vehicle for electronic pontification.  It has been beckoning me for several days to say something…anything…simply because I can.

There are two or three times per year when all of us are intensely reminded of the sacrifice that others have made on our behalf; this weekend is one of them.  Most of my friends and I, along with tens of thousands of other men from my generation, served in Vietnam.  Many of those who returned alive, if not undamaged, kept a low-keyed countenance to that service because it was tainted; at least, we were made to feel it was tainted because it was an “unjust and unwanted war.”

In 2012, however, all who serve are honored whether the war is “unjust or unwanted” simply because their service is/was unselfishly given for our benefit.  For countless others, the ultimate sacrifice was unselfishly given and for that we must be unrelentingly grateful.

I am constantly saddened by the way our present government, and governments dating back to the American Revolution, has treated returning GIs.  Close scrutiny will show us that soldiers from every single war in our history have had to fight tooth and toenail for benefits owed them by a, seemingly, unappreciative government.  It has been easy to ship them off to deal with some politically motivated mess, but not easy to meet our obligations to them afterward.  It's necessary to mourn and honor the dead; it is more difficult to honor the merely damaged.

In my opinion, it is a national disgrace and we need to demand from our political leaders that the government meet its obligations to those who served in the military and survived with every bit as much enthusiasm as it honors the dead.

For an emotional tribute go to: For The Fallen | Military.com