Veterans Day is a time to be thankful for the men and women who have served or serve in our military. I am taking this opportunity to share why Veterans Day is important to me.
I have never served in the military, so sometimes I feel a bit “hollow” in comparison to those who have committed their lives—past and present—to our armed forces. There are other occupations where people put their lives on the line for others; however, the military is the biggest commitment one could make, in my opinion.
Several of my friends from high school are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have made sacrifices; they had to leave spouses and children behind and military life is taking a toll, both physically and emotionally. When I think about my life with a safe home to go to, spending time with family and friends etc., I am thankful. I am not in the desert maneuvering in 130-degree weather, having to watch out for snipers, land mines, a “human bomb” or experience the post traumatic stress that our men and women serving in the armed forces are facing today.
I am also grateful to those who have served before: people like Mayor Reed, Councilmember Forrest Williams, numerous city employees, relatives, neighborhood residents who served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam and many others. People who served have many stories to share. Sometimes the stories seem unbelievable, then you hear a similar story from another veteran and soon you realize that life in the military is like no other.
I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to grow up in San Jose free from warfare that so many other people in this world have endured. Our quality of life is due in part to the sacrifices that men and women made by entering the military many years ago to travel overseas to keep our country safe. One way to honor our veterans is to attend the annual Veterans Day parade downtown. When veterans see high attendance it makes them feel proud of their service. Please consider attending the parade next year.
On this Veterans Day, I am thankful for all the veterans and the commitment they endured. I am hopeful that the war will end soon so that those who are still with us can return to their families and friends.
Just for today, perhaps we put aside the small stuff that we normally worry about and realize that we are lucky. Lets be thankful for those who have served before and for those who are serving now and appreciate our special place in the world: San Jose.
John,
My son and I watched Saving Pt. Ryan last night and I too felt that hollow feeling you described.
I never considered myself a Veteran, even though I joined the Navy and served honorably. I was in and out before Vietnam.
My experience was adventurous. Having served on a small base where the Mercury project and the 7 Astronauts were based.
Today I will be celebrating my Veteran experience. My fellow Veterans are in great need of support with in the medical arena. Socially we are many years behind in securing the support that they are entitaled to.
Perhaps a start is to shout,
“Bring our Sons and Daughters home”!
I am in Shock and Awe of where this confrontation has lead us.
The Village Black Smith
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living.
Omar Bradley
Freedom is never free.
P.O.
Good post today. You state in paragraph 5 “our quality of life is due in part” etc…
I would argue that our quality of life is due entirely through the efforts and sacrifices that our armed forces made in WW2 to defeat Hitler and his war machine. If America had not entered WW2, Hitler would have conquered Europe and then advanced to America. So it is not due “in part” but entirely.
Another point, most real veterans don’t brag about their service or wear it on their sleeve.
Veterans should be honored by making sure they are taken care of when they return home.
Whether it is proper medical treatment, counselling, housing assistance, etc. Too many times veterans are homeless twenty years after a war has ended.
Pierluigi:
Thanks for your excellent post.
Frankly, not enough is being done to take care of the families and those that come home injured. As a nation, we’ve got to better on both counts.
Pete Campbell
Very beautifully said Council Member. I want to thank my Dad who fought in three wars for my freedoms. He passed away 9 years ago this Dec. I always think of him more on Veteran’s Day than any other day. I remember when my Dad left for Nam. He was gone several years. God I remember missing him a lot. We got letters from him, and once in awhile we got a phone call, but it just wasn’t the same. I was a little girl when he left, and well I was a Daddy’s girl all right. I never felt very safe when he was gone.
I remember when he came home to violent protests. It really sadden me because they fought for our freedoms, and now they were being treated with distain. I was young and didn’t really understand it. I felt betrayed by my country for how my Dad was treated when he came home. I remember my Dad looking a hundred years older, but glad to be home. I was sure happy to see him and quite frankly it had a very strong effect on me. When he left for work the first couple of months after leaving the military, I worried until he got home.
I don’t think one can ever really understand the sacrifices these brave people make for our freedoms. There are lots of stories we’ll never hear from them because like Police Officers, they have seen things in a day we could never fully comprehend. For those of you who are or have served in the military to defend our country, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate your sacrifices and I love you for putting your life on the line for all of us. You will never be forgotten, and you are not alone. God bless all of you, and keep you safe from harm.
To those of you who are reading this I must say one thing, when these men and women come home from fighting, they come home changed. They have been through things we could never understand. Please be loving and respectful toward them, regardless of your view on the war. If you can help them become employed, provide housing, or even just a loving hug, and a caring ear, please do so. They deserve it, they earned it, and we owe them. Thank you.
The Phillipines, Hong Kong, PR of China, Singapore, Thailand, the Persian Gulf states of Oman, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain…never as a young man growing up in Seven Trees did I ever imagine seeing such exotic locales, all the while serving the greatest country the world has ever known. To all my fellow veterans out there, including my Dad and many a relative, this is our day…enjoy it and God Bless.
My dad was in the “Private Ryan” thick of things in WWII with the 101st Airborne, in Normandy at Utah Beach June of ‘44, in Holland for the liberation September of ‘44, in Bastogne in a foxhole with nothing to eat Xmas of ‘44, and ultimately at the Eagle’s Nest in Germany where his first order of business was to take a leak on one of Hitler’s paintings.
I went back to Normandy with him in ‘94 for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Up until that time I couldn’t relate to all of his war stories but once I was there and could really get a feel for what happened, I was overwhelmed. And the reception by the locals for these aged American vets was nothing short of a hero’s welcome.
My dad died before “Saving Private Ryan” was released. This film told his story better and more accurately than any other previous WWII film had. I really wish he had been around for this tribute to his division and what they went through.
My dad never claimed to be a hero but clearly he was, as is any veteran from any war, whether it was (is) one I agree with or not.
#4- George, very well said. You are absolutely correct. I was shocked to see how our heroes are treated when they come home from the war. Presently, many returning home are injured, many have suffered terrible emotional scars, and our government pretty much abandons them. They don’t receive much money, or decent health care, or shelter. What a horrible way to show them our gratitude.
We can help by demanding that they are treated well. We can ensure their fair treatment by writing letters to elected officials, and by waging our own war in the voting booth. Voting for a President who will ensure decent health care, benefits, and housing for these heroes is just one small way we can repay them for giving us so much.
I didn’t catch the whole thing last night but on John Stewart’s Daily Show he had John Mc Cain on and really went head-to-head with him over Iraq and made some very intelligent and compelling points about the sinister methods used by the Bush administration in promoting its fascist warmongering agenda.
Any chance we can draft John Stewart as a candidate for president?
The sad thing,World War two veterans fought fo a cause, came home and helped build our nation and rebuild other nations like Japan,Italy and West Germany. They fought for a cause!
Today`s solider, returning veterans, were lied to by our current administration as to the cause they were fighting for. They come home dead, or alive with many injuries both physical and domesticly. Suffering families and not taken care of by the administration that sent them to Iraq.
My father served under Ike in WW11, and my nephew is in Afganistan, my nephew has a wife and two small children at home, our only wish is he makes it home alive.
John Glenn said this, which should make you think a little:
There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January.
In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the
month of January. That’s just one American city,
about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq
When some claim that President Bush shouldn’t
have started this war, state the following:
a. FDR led us into World War II.
b. Germany never attacked us ; Japan did.
From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost …
an average of 112,500 per year.
c. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea
North Korea never attacked us .
From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost …
an average of 18,334 per year.
d John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962.
Vietnam never attacked us.
e. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost ..
an average of 5,800 per year.
f. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent.
Bosnia never attacked us .
He was offered Osama bin Laden’s head on a platter three
times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on
multiple occasions.
g. In the years since terrorists attacked us , President Bush
has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled
al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya , Iran , and, North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who
slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.
The Democrats are complaining
about how long the war is taking.
But Wait
It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno
to take the Branch Davidian compound.
That was a 51-day operation..
We’ve been looking for evidence for chemical weapons
in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find
the Rose Law Firm billing records.
It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the
Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard
than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his
Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.
It took less time to take Iraq than it took
to count the votes in Florida!!!
Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB !
The Military morale is high!
The biased media hopes we are too ignorant
to realize the facts
But Wait
There’ s more!
JOHN GLENN (on the Senate floor – January 26, 2004)
Some people still don’t understand why military personnel
do what t hey do for a living. This exchange between
Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading.
Not only is it a pretty impressive
impromptu speech, but it’s also a good example of one
man’s explanation of why men and women in the armed
services do what they do for a living.
This IS a typical, though sad, example of what
some who have never served think of the military.
Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):
“How can you run for Senate when you’ve never held a real job?”
Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):
“I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps.
I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions.
My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different
occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn’t my
checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It was
not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the
daily cash receipts to the bank.”
“I ask you to go with me .. . as I went the other day…
to a veteran’s hospital and look those men …
with their mangled bodies in the eye, and tell THEM
they didn’t hold a job!
You go with me to the Space Program at NASA
and go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans
of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee…
and you look those kids in the eye and tell them
that their DADS didn’t hold a job.
You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in
Arlington National Cemetery , where I have more friends
buried than I’d like to remember, and you watch
those waving flags.
You stand there, and you think about this nation,
and you tell ME that those people didn’t have a job?
What about you?”
For those who don’t remember
During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney
representing the Communist Party in the USA .
He was elected as< /FONT> a Senator!
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.
Richard #11 touches on an interesting question.
Certainly WWII was as devastating, destructive, and traumatizing as any in history; yet has anyone heard of mass pshychological problems in the returning vets?
Korea was a bit strange, and yet once again, no big psychodrama in the aftermath.
Yet VietNam, Afghanistan, & Iraq I & II, wars with which I have never agreed, nor have many others in this country, bring back boatloads of traumatized vets. Why did so many come back from VietNam as whacked out junkies? Why are so many returning vets from Iraq steeped in depression? Is it as simple as the fact that despite the Hoo-Ah, they really didn’t believe in what they were asked to do?
I can never disrespect anyone who offers to lay down her/his life so that we may blog in comfort and enjoy freedoms that the people from those countries can only dream of.
Yet I still wonder why so many have come home broken mentally in the recent wars but that was not the case with WWII.
#12
As usual, JMO is wrong in his rants.
The first part is pure fantasy.
The second part occured in 1974, not 2004, and the above version is distorted beyond recognition of the truth.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/glenn.asp
JohnMichael #12
As for the second part of your “quote”: John Glenn left the Senate on January 6, 1999. Metzenbaum left the Senate on January 4, 1995. How could they have had an exchange on the Senate floor in 2004? However, a similar exchange took place between the two during the Ohio primary campaign of 1974.
As for the first part, it is a fake. Glenn denies he ever said any of it.
In fact, this is a copy of a well-known fake email that was invented and circulated by nutty rightwingers and exposed as such long ago.
#13 Ike warned us to be aware of the Military Complex! They elected this president and his Administration ! We are paying the price in lives for these greedy people. Prior to this war, Corporations involved in the Military Complex were having serious financial problems, on the verge of ruin. Just look at what happened to General Dianamics in Mountian View, their stock skyrocked when we went to Iraq. Insiders in the Bush Administration made a fortune in stock overnite. That`s just one of our Military companies here. We have a few members of the “M C” right here in Silicone Valley. Washington DC insiders like Gen Powel.
SJI intellectuals feel that the liberation of 2 countries and millions of people from the brutally oppressive regimes of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban are but mere annoyances that interfere with their self-absorbed hatred of George Bush.
Thanks, Novice. Once again you bring a dose of reality to Earthlings.
BTW – How are things on planet Cluelessia?
And to just think…had there been vast oil deposits in the Dufar region of Sudan, JMOC and the rest of the neocon delusionals would be talking about “George W. liberated the millions of Sudanese from oppressive Muslims and their ethnic cleansing campaign.” Or how about the “liberation of millions from famine and an oppressive military regime” in oil-rich North Korea (pss..no oil in NK)? Burma (no oil)? #18 is right on when it comes to our governments true intentions in Iraq. Don’t believe all this right-wing nonsense about WMD, Al Qaeda, imminent threat to our country, liberating oppressed peoples, democracy, blah blah blah. Hey, Is it just me, or is the reason for us being in Iraq constantly changing? In closing, have any of you neocons actually served this country?
Correction to post 19: Darfur region of Sudan, not “Durfar”…my apologies.
These really are trying times for the left.
It’s getting harder and harder for the media to suppress the good news coming out of Iraq, the humanitarian work our guys are doing and the hearts and minds that we’ve won over in Iraq.
Freeing millions of people by toppling one of the most brutal dictators of our times and driving Al Qaeda from Iraq – you’d think this would be great cause to celebrate.
But based on the sentiments expressed daily at SJI you’d be dead wrong. Hand wringing, “Bush is Hitler”, and US defeat at all costs continues to be the order of the day for leftist politicians and those in the bay area.
The US Military walked the walk and we should be as proud as we can be of their great accomplishments.
Nothing worth fighting for?
We are going to share the planet with an ever increasing Islamic population – that’s a fact. So what brand of Islam do bay area leftists want to share the world with?
Here’s a hint. The last time I checked, Taliban types stone women for adultery, lash the *victims* of rape, and throw homosexuals off of 6 story buildings.
Our guys, the absolute best of the best, are rolling up Al Qaeda in an attempt to stem the tide of fundamentalist Islam and give moderate muslim states a fighting chance.
So what’s the left’s answer to checking the spread of fundamentalist Islamic extremism?
Nov 17, 1:46 AM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP) – Soldiers strained by six years at war are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.
Ah, Novice. What do you make of this? I guess the Left has even infiltrated the military. What is the world coming to? When even soldiers are smarter than you, what hope is left for the rest of us? Can you imagine, even soldiers recognizing the folly of our adventure in Iraq? Oh, Novice, please save us from ourselves.
What do I make of the article?
It’s pretty obvious, but then you’re a leftist moron, so I’ll break it down for you in simple terms.
We need a larger military and more funding.
Thanks for asking.
Very eloquent response, Novice. “Leftist Moron”—what are you, in 3rd grade? I could fire insults back but it would be too easy and serve no point.
As is typical of the right, you love to spew childish insults when your argument lacks substance.
I won’t hold my breath for your response because I’m sure you’re on your way to Iraq to fight this noble war. Good luck, but I hope your return is safer than the more than 3000 who haven’t been as fortunate (not to mention the scores more Iraqi’s who haven’t survived this “fight for freedom.”
“I was greeted by friendly Iraqis in the streets of Baghdad every day, but the atmosphere in Ramadi was different. I am not exaggerating in the least when I describe their attitude toward Americans as euphoric.”
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001517.html
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/totten/1196
We should be absolutely proud of our troops and what they’ve accomplished in Iraq. True heroes totally deserving of our deepest respect, admiration, and gratitude.
American troops are winning the hearts and minds of the middle east.