In December, after eight years of combat, 32,000 Americans wounded, and 4,400 lives lost, the President told America that the Iraq war was over. And civilians nationwide began organizing parades--most notably, one for 100,000 people in St. Louis. Now, the President and First Lady are planning a historic White House Dinner -- called "A Nation's Gratitude" -- for 200 Iraq veterans and their spouses from all 50 states. It's the First Family's way of saying "thank you" for their service and sacrifice.
The Pentagon is billing the black-tie dinner as symbolic of a grateful country -- and it is. It's a wonderful gesture from the First Family and an incredible honor for the few invited to attend. But unfortunately, one million vets of Iraq can't pack into the East Room on February 29th. So the question we have to ask is: what about the rest of them? And what about all the American civilians who can't attend to say "thank you"? Shouldn't the entire nation be included in "A Nation's Gratitude"?
We think so. That's why today IAVA is proposing a deadline: we're asking President Obama to convene a meeting of mayors nationwide to organize a National Day of Action -- Operation Welcome Home. The goal? To turn America's growing goodwill toward our Iraq veterans into concrete action. The one million veterans of Iraq represent the less than one percent. And all Americans want an outlet to honor their service while raising awareness and directing critical local resources to veterans and their families for the transition home.
As history closes the chapter on Iraq, Americans from all corners of the country want to respect all those who served there, remember those who died, and respond to the challenges they're now facing at home from record unemployment to troubling suicide rates. It's time for all of us, from the President to the Pentagon to mayors and ordinary citizens nationwide, to work together to channel our collective goodwill, support and momentum to deliver critical resources to the veterans' community. Instead of having scattered parades all year long, we should work together -- civilians and veterans united -- to create one historic day of action: parades, memorials and service fairs in cities and towns large and small.
Just a few weeks ago, St. Louis was the first city in the nation to welcome home our Iraq veterans. It set the national benchmark not simply because it turned out 100,000 Americans in support of Iraq veterans, but because it was a multifaceted coming home event. The highly impactful, grassroots, civilian-led parade gave Americans a chance to say "thank you" to the troops. It was awesome--and it went a step beyond symbolic. It opened with a sober Memorial Ceremony to honor our dead and it ended with a Veterans Resource Village to connect local St. Louis veterans with critical employment, education and mental health resources. It was smart, popular, bi-partisan and even fun.
Since then, Douglas Wilson, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, has stated repeatedly that the Pentagon supports the St. Louis model. In a recent interview on The Rachel Maddow Show, Wilson said "the kinds of things that we saw in St. Louis are the kinds of things we love to see around the country." He and the Pentagon brass also support the President's White House Dinner. Yet, they have strongly told Mayor Bloomberg "no" to a citywide event in New York. (Insert head-scratching here.)
Like any other hometown, New York City loves its vets too. And patriotic civilian leadership from both parties is asking the question: If our NY Giants deserve a parade, don't our Iraq vets? These leaders want to give Operation Welcome Home the national momentum it deserves too. Folks ranging from former Mayor Ed Koch to City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-SI) to Speaker Christine Quinn (D-3) support a citywide celebration. Councilman Ignizio started this whole push for a Big Apple Parade way back in December. As one little girl from Staten Island sums it up, people just want to connect and say thank you. So what's the harm in that?
The idea has caught fire. And we've addressed almost every single argument against it. Across the country, ordinary Americans are joining the guys in St. Louis to coordinate their own events. In San Antonio, Richmond and a dozen other cities, they're planning parades and service fairs for their local Iraq vets. Lead by civilians, not veterans themselves, this welcome home movement is gaining steam by the day -- reinforcing the urgency to coordinate our efforts and resources nationally. The American people are speaking. Loudly. And it's time for the Pentagon and the President to lead, follow or get out of the way.
At the end of the day, we all want to welcome home America's veterans in the most positive, meaningful and impactful ways possible. We know parades and a White House Dinner are not enough. Not even close. But if we're smart and proactive as a country, we'll rally the goodwill that started in St. Louis to spotlight and deliver community resources nationwide now--instead of delaying until history closes the chapter on both wars. A National Day of Action for those who have already returned should pave the way for those yet to come home, while activating the country around our entire community for years to come. Americans are keenly aware of the lessons after the Vietnam War. They know that honoring and supporting our troops 10 years after a war ends is a disgrace. We need to show those that have fought for our country that we have their backs now. So if the Pentagon says a national event isn't an option now, then they need to tell Americans when. None of us have a crystal ball--combat operations might not end until 2013--at the earliest. So we're looking to our leaders for some productive ways to organize and activate locally in the meantime.
No matter the front they fought on, our returning veterans are coming home today to entirely new battles -- against unemployment, invisible mental health injuries, and bureaucratic red tape around their hard-earned benefits. The end of the Iraq war has increased the demand within our community for services, support and understanding of the issues our veterans face. A National Day of Action could raise the standard of awareness and resources to support our veterans' community on the scale we've seen for other causes like Hope for Haiti, Live 8 and America: A Tribute to Heroes after 9/11.
In a perfect world, every Iraq vet could visit the White House for a black-tie dinner and every day would be Veterans Day--but that's not possible. But replicating St. Louis at scale, a demonstration of our entire nation's gratitude is possible. And now is the time for the President and the Pentagon to listen to the American people who want to help. Let's channel that unprecedented goodwill and gratitude into something practical and lasting, in a way that benefits our veterans and their families for years to come.
If we do it right, it will do more than just help our veterans. It might just help unite our divided country. And that's a mission all veterans would be proud to be a part of.
Paul Rieckhoff is the Founder and Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the author of Chasing Ghosts. Crossposted at www.iava.org.
Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff
Operation Welcome Home needs to include the truth that this war was unneccesary and wrong. If it doesn't we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.
No American institution is more admired than our military and rightfully so. They have performed admirably under the most dire circumstances again and again. They succeed because they believe in self-examination.
The problem with our wars is that we can never question their underlying assertions or fictions because that's unAmerican. When, in fact, nothing could be more American.
This War in Iraq was fought on behalf on lies, ignorance, and profiteering. The lives of young soldiers depend on learning from our mistakes not parades.
This is what I think would be an appropriate measure of national gratitude; Give the vets land and the resources they need to create self sustaining eco villages throughout the country. Vets already know how to live and work together so let's relieve the stresses of mortgages, jobs and etcetera and let them create their own eco villages for their entire families. Housing can be modest but comfortable, they can have communal kitchens, dining halls, laundries, small business centers, schools and trade schools, clinics and organic gardens and farming for healthy home grown food.
They have earned the right to a life of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Give them the chance to have it by providing them with the resources they need to provide a vital, comfortable life for themselves.
Nobody should be thanked for attacking someone else on their home soil... end of story. If the war was in America, then we'd all be protecting our freedom and we can thank our neighbors for standing with us.
This is a war nobody should have been fighting. Thousands of people both foreign and domestic lost their lives and you want to "thank someone" for that. Its absurd.
But if you really have to thank someone, Thank Bradly Manning.
It would be a very BAD taste (not to mention bad karma) to celebrate & commemorate the Iraq war with victory parades. Not just for what it has done to Iraq, but what it has done to the United States as well. A collective end-zone dance is not what the world needs to see.
If the Iraqi people are feeling it, let them go ahead and throw our military a big party, then perhaps we could follow suit. But when the military has to turn tail and run, lest they be prosecuted for war crimes by the "liberated" country, that's not something to celebrate, especially not in front of those who will be paying for it for generations to come.
The military is blameless. It's everybody who wasn't marching, mailing, or caterwauling about this stupid war before it began who deserves the truth.
I'm certainly not saying we have to blame the military. I just think it's unwise to do another "Mission Accomplished!" display of pride, since the country we leave behind is an even more broken, violent, sectarian and repressive than the one we invaded -- and the world knows it.
Also, there is no doubt that a celebration would be used to politically stoke the jingoistic fire to invade yet ANOTHER Arab country. And (god forbid!) there may soon be ANOTHER reason to get out and protest in the streets.
For those of you who responded that parades "glorify" war and other balony, I have but one reply:
“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” George Orwell (y'know, the guy who wrote 1984)