Most of us cannot begin to imagine having a rocket propelled grenade embedded in our side and then it being surgically removed moments after it was fired through the air and becoming lodged in our body. Most of us cannot imagine the medic service members having to perform emergency surgery on the spot to save our life. That is one of many stories of the U.S. military war veteran. During World War II, most of America was engaged in the war efforts. The tremendous support of our military covered the gamut, from corporations to learning institutions to factories to mom and pop businesses, etc. Everyone was involved in supporting U.S. efforts to protect the freedom we have now come to take for granted. Every facet of the United States had its feet in support of the U.S. military at war. Then something happened and several wars later, support decreased during an unpopular war. Those soldiers came home to scorn, resentment, bitter hatred, unending protests; no celebration or parades for having survived the atrocities they fought their way through in order to come home alive. What was once common support became scarce as international hostility continued and U.S. involvement continued.
This weekend I watched a movie titled “Taking Chance” starring Kevin Bacon. It was a movie about a U.S. Marine Corps officer escorting the remains of a Marine named Chance Phelps who was killed in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. I cried from start to finish. It was the saddest and yet most beautiful movie I had ever seen about what occurs when a soldier is killed in war. Lt. Col. Strobl traveled with Chance’s remains from Dover Air Force Base to Chance’s hometown in Wyoming. It was a long trip with several modes of transportation and layovers and connecting flights. During one scene when there is a flight layover and Chance’s remains are in an airport hanger overnight, Lt. Col. Strobl requests to stay with the coffin. He sits in a chair in sight of the casket the whole night. The dignity, grace and care given to that fallen Marine were poignant. As a relative of people who have served in the military, I was comforted that had any of my relatives perished in the war, their remains would have been as gingerly guarded and as cared for as Chance’s. Then I became angry. Angry that service members, who have given such sacrifice to protect us, do not receive the same level of care and concern when they return home breathing. Why are there so many war veterans out of work? Why are so many not getting the medical and mental care they need and seek? Why aren’t we reaching out in huge numbers to assist them in acclimating into mainstream. Instead, we reject them and deject them. We judge them. They have seen horrors most of us will never see. Can we really expect them to return home as when they left? We need to nurture them anew when they return. They’ve been through what we can’t begin to imagine, as the example I cited in the first two sentences of this note.
Military personnel comprise of less than 1% of the U.S. population. At a moment’s notice they are ready to throw their lives in front of ours to protect us; to kill and be killed to protect us. Do you have any idea how enormous a commitment and sacrifice that is? Yet, not enough of us take care of them when they are breathing, nurture them when they are breathing, appreciate them when they are breathing. Words mean little and are superficial when after we say them, we turn our backs to them and expect they will return to “normal”. There is no normal when you’ve seen what they’ve seen, have done what they’ve done, experienced what they have. We should give them keys to our cities, free mental and medical care for life, open our payrolls to give them jobs that will afford them a substantial degree of livelihood so they can begin to feel “normal” again. Holidays that commemorate, memorialize and otherwise celebrate and honor the military are merely exercises in futility when so many issues regarding military veterans remain unresolved. If you know someone in the military, give a heartfelt outpouring of thanks to them. They deserve to be ‘sincerely’ honored and respected by society continuously. It costs us nothing to treat them like we would want to be treated had we walked in their shoes and seen the world through their eyes. They are our guardians. Just saying.
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