The Future of Veteran's Day

This Sunday I stood up in church to be recognized with other Veterans. There I was the only blonde female and just barely half the age of the many honored octogenarians of America's Greatest Generation. I felt little a weird. And, doubtless, the men around me felt the same as they stealthily steadied themselves on the pews before them, chins up and shoulders back. "Apparently that young woman doesn't know what the word Veteran means," must have been their thoughts. Even the young Boy Scout handing out poppies to the standing soldiers, found me so incongruent to his vision of a veteran that he passed me right by. My fellow parishioners had to flag him down so I might receive my due.

I am a veteran, a retired Captain of the US Air Force. I served during the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm, in human intelligence. During that time I was a missile order of battle analyst in the Joint Intelligence Center in the basement of the Pentagon. I was part of the team that debriefed the returned USAF prisoners of war. That's as close to the action as I ever got. It was close enough and it counted. Like the men who were around me at church, I was proud and honored to have served. But, I was humbled standing beside their experience, not simply of war, but of life. They bore scars I may someday earn. They have survived battles of love and loss and they have yet to face the ultimate battle with death. Whether you win or lose, depends on your faith- or at the very least a nihilistic perspective. After the service, I saw a white haired woman with a poppy. I thought perhaps she was a member of the WWII WACS or WAVES (Women's Army Corps or the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy.) I asked her if she was a fellow veteran. She said no, but her husband was and he had always bought a poppy on Veteran's Day. She pulled out a picture taken over a year ago. It was his gravesite. I remember his name, Elmer, from the marbled granite stone laying flush to the freshly turned earth. Ironically, being a fellow widow, that picture did not strike me as odd. She was living in the now, honoring him, keeping him in memorial as he is, not as he was. He was a veteran of life.

As I discussed my Veteran's Sunday experience with my Army officer brother-in-law, he observed that soon there will be but three people standing in church to receive their poppies. We are about to lose a critical mass of veterans via natural attrition. Certainly, there will always be a few of us. We still have Korean, Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm, current War in Iraq, low intensity conflict and peace time military veterans. However, it is doubtful we will ever have the majority in a generation of citizens standing as veterans again. Veteran's Day, originally Armistice Day, was born upon the end of war, World War I. It was reinvigorated and signed into a new law by President Eisenhower after World War II with a fresh corps of honorees. Today's fewer veterans of younger generations are multi-colored and multi-gendered. For them, Veteran's Day celebrations have fallen away or are too polemic to even suggest in some areas. This concerns me.

Veteran's Day is about serving something larger than yourself, larger than your own life because that is what you risk when you take the solemn oath. It is not just a way out of poverty, a guaranteed college loan or a weekend job. There is always the risk of war- just or unjust- the soldier doesn't get a choice. And, sometimes it comes up as it did for the POWs we debriefed. My brother-in-law is awaiting his orders to report to Iraq. He'll go in March. I have noted that where there is no one living to honor there is no celebration. Veterans are remembered in areas of the country where military members and bases are concentrated. Outside of these regions, veterans are disdained or apathetically ignored. After brief moments of patriotism, they are forgotten. Memories are short. What will happen when America's Greatest Generation has fought the final battle and are with us no more to take the front line? I wonder if Veteran's Day will survive.

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Jena Six "Epiblogue":

In my last blog I wrote of my daughter's thwarted, but inspiring impromptu Jena Six current events project for her third grade class. At that time I had sent a letter to the local Parent Teacher's Association suggesting an informal coffee for those who were interested in the topic. The PTA president was quite supportive. I have since received a response. Unfortunately, the members of the committee were less enthusiastic; but they did not stonewall. They felt such discussions would be better suited for the January and February PTA events which will feature guest speakers on the topic "Racial Bias and How it Affects our School Community." Sadly, in my opinion, this is a compartmenting of the African American experience; it's their issue, not a whole community issue. It will be kept in its regularly scheduled time slot of African American History month with all the legitimacy and focus of Valentine's Day. That is to say, it's seasonal.

I am assured by the PTA president, a native European who has lived here in Virginia for some time, that the letter I wrote was a step forward. It "evoked response" and "generated discussion" not previously held in that small committee before. Still, to me it feels like slow gain. I am new to being active in this process of race relations and have recently come to understand that this is the painful, phlegmatic pace of progress. Despite or perhaps because of this, I don't see myself leading demonstrations or even switching political parties. Even so, I am but one more added to the ranks of forward motion. The PTA president has sent copies of my original letter of request on up to the state and national levels. I have not yet heard from the top. Regardless, I will be at the discussions in January, February and any other time along the way.

Comments

[pvstpfrdwife]

Veterans Day seems to have become the day where we celebrate another day off of work, instead of the celebrating the true heros of our country. Many years ago I was asked if I wanted to attend the commissioning of my friend as an officer into the Air Force. My reply was sure, thinking I was just doing my duty as a friend and being supportive. Little did I realize that day would change my entire outlook on the armed forces. My previous opinions were the same as many of the twenty-something crowd in which we ran... "Oh look there's the fly boys out for a night of fun and games" or "Hey there goes the jarheads for a run on the beach". We never stopped to think of the actual sacrifices in which these men and women were making. On the day of the commissioning, I took my seat and waited for the ceremony to begin, sitting there admiring my freshly manicure nails and mentally planning my evening festivities. But what I was presented with that afternoon was the most amazing patriotic experience I will treasure forever. I watched as my dearest friend and several others pledged to protect me and the world from harm. To give the most precious gift they possess, their lives, so others may flourish. My eyes welled up with tears and for once I understood what it meant to be an American. It was my most Patriotic moment. It didn't matter if one of us was a Red State and the other a Blue State we were just plain old Americans. Now on Veteran's Day I don't just rejoice that it is a day off work, but I give thanks that these wonderful people have given me the freedom to live me life in comfort and free from harm. Thank you Ms. Anne M. Plant for your efforts, here's one Ameican that will always remember!!!

[JuanMoTie]

Good post, Anne. As a Vietnam vet, I agree that Veteran's Day may be in peril. You see, WWII was the last "good war". It was also the last war in which the majority of American males participated. We remember that sacrifice. Korea, Vietnam, and now the middle east are all "protested wars", but no less bloody.

The average American has lost any sense of Duty, Honor or Country. Everything is "ME, Me, Me" and the hell with you (or the country). Duty and service still live in small towns, and that is where most volunteers hale from.

Veterans will lose their significance for the ordianry American until we have another "big one", as I am sure we will. Once we realize (if ever)that veterans guard our freedom to hate Bush or burn the flag, things may change.

[LittleSis]

All hope is not lost....
My son's elementary school held a Veteran's Day Celebration. I asked my father ( Vietnam Vet ) to come and allow our community to honor him. This is our first year of school, so I did not know what to expect. The entire school was present for the assembly, along with some 40 veterans and 200 parents. It was an emotional day filled with songs, readings and presentation of the colors by the boy scouts. The names of the Veterans were read, at which point they stood and were given an emotional, deserving standing ovation. They then followed the flags into the campus for a patriotic parade. All the children were waving flags and giving words of thanks. I have never seen my father get emotional untill that day.
They will continue to be honored and our children will learn....

[wrabbitt]

Women veterans are getting the same indifference as all veterans get, I am proud that as a fellow vet you will admit it . i'm still having trouble with the whole idea that being a veteran in america is one step above the homeless attention level they know we are here but, they don't have to admit it..

[Ben Dixon]

Veteran's Day is about serving something larger than yourself, larger than your own life because that is what you risk when you take the solemn oath.

But today most American's don't know what that is becuase they are not vested in this country. That is why we should have mandatory military service, or at the least mandatory federal service for all American's before they can vote.