VETERAN’S DAY

Today as you know is Veteran’s Day. It is the day we honor all those men and women who put their lives on the line, when our nation, that is, us, asked for their help. We asked for this help and said: “We will give you what you need to finish the job. We will train you to fight, take you to harm’s way, arm you and ask of you that you stand in the face of mortal danger and possible die. If you don’t, we will put you in jail, so we at home can curse you for not willingly sacrificing your life, for that privilege.”

That is not all, we will ask these people to spend only 19 years on this earth and risk the future of their lives, the years we’ve already lived. Some of us may make the claim, and rightfully so, that they fought and expect others to do their duty. To those I say: “Thank you, if it weren’t for you, I would be speaking Japanese, or German, or even Chinese and Russian. Instead I speak English, the language in which this country wrote it’s founding documents in.

The trouble I find in my heart and soul is that those that choose not to fight for whatever reason: had no passion for the cause. As a nation in wartime, we should rally around the flag. But those circumstances are quite different when we have a Viet Nam, where it is an undeclared war, built on policies rather than dangers. The two great wars were immediate threats to our existence, as well as the Korean War to a lesser extent, while the wars of Viet Nam, and the Middle East are strictly wars for political or financial power!

Regardless of the reasons, we did ask people to go overseas and fight. Some went willingly, some went because they didn’t want to spend their days in jail, and some went without any motivation except, love of this country. To all of those men and women I say: Thank you: you deserve my heart felt thanks for risking your lives. I will honor your bravery and service for the rest of my life, and I will always respect you for that.

To those who refused to go, I will say: Thank you, you have stood up for what you believe in, have tested the value of the Constitution of the United States, and in doing so, made us all realize we collectively should have moral judgment as the fabric which we weave into our beliefs as Americans.

I hope no one wants war. I hope that no one has the arrogance of power that we should run over the world because we are so strong. I hope that the will of the people will always balance out the stupidity of the politicians that get us into wars, and the military that practices wars. That is not to say we should not have and be thankful for the military, because they constitute our sons and daughters, who believe in their country and what it stands for. They keep us alive as a nation, and should always be strong.

So where should we stand?

A strong military is needed to keep our peace and freedom, but a stronger people is needed to keep the military in check, when it is run by old men with nothing to lose, but maybe their sons or daughters. Free men must sacrifice not only their lives for the cause of freedom, but sometimes their very own freedoms for the cause of justice.