R.J. Matson/Post-Dispatch
On this Veterans Day, its worth remembering that the holiday originally was named Armistice Day, a commemoration of the end, on Nov. 11, 1918, of the “war to end all wars.”
By November 1954, it had become apparent that hadn’t quite worked out, so Congress renamed it Veterans Day, to honor those who had served at any point in the nation’s history.
Eight months earlier in Indochina, the French had lost the battle of Dien Bien Phu, which ultimately would lead to millions more U.S. veterans to honor on Veterans Day and 58,000 more to honor on Memorial Day.
In 1919, the British drew a line around the part of the Ottoman Empire it had defeated and created the Hashemite monarchy in what it declared was the nation of Iraq. Nationhood never quite took, and that eventually — after a similar display of hubris by an American president — led to millions more U.S. combat veterans to honor on Veterans Day.
To the east in 1919, the Emir Amanollah, arguably the last reformer his nation has known, drove the British out of Afghanistan. The reform period didn’t last very long, and Afghanistan become a Soviet satellite. The Soviets couldn’t control the country either, eventually leading to the rise of a Pashtun government controlled by fundamentalist Islamists called the Taliban, and eventually leading to even more U.S. combat veterans to honor on Veterans Day.
All these wars. All these nations. All this hubris. All these veterans. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your sacrifice.
Would you like to sign up for another tour?
President Barack Obama is scheduled to spend some time on this Veterans Day meeting, yet again, with his military advisers on the question of sending more future veterans to Afghanistan. The president’s national security adviser, James L. Jones, has denied reports by CBS News this week that Mr. Obama has decided to send four more combat brigades and 9,000 more support troops to Afghanistan, a total of about 25,000 troops.
On Veterans Day, it’s important to note that because of the crushing demands of fighting two wars at the same time, if the president does decide to send more troops, many of them won’t be deployable until next year. Rotating troops in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and giving them at least 12 months of “dwell time” at home, is becoming a difficult task.
Meanwhile the stresses on soldiers, Marines and their families have becoming crushing. Divorces are up. Domestic violence is up. Suicides among active duty troops are up — 188 last year alone. Experts say 25 percent of all the homeless people on U.S. streets are veterans.
Unemployment among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is estimated to be twice the national rate of 10.2 percent. At least a third of all combat troops coming home have been diagnosed with mental illness, ranging from depression to severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
All of this came together, along with religious paranoia, to create last week’s unspeakable tragedy at Fort Hood.
Today we honor vets with flags and speeches and parades that few people will bother to attend. Better to honor them by not sending them to prop up corrupt governments in ancient conflicts we don’t understand and by not hanging them out to dry when they come home.
Better we honor our heroes by not creating so many of them.
No, there isn’t; that’s why I wrote that. That’s only your programming talking.
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There is no such thing as an “ex-Marine.” Once a Marine always a Marine, Semper Fi.
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My dad was an ex-Marine (and, yes, there are ex-Marines) who fought in the Korean War. He used to say something like, they were in the business of bringing an end to war. I never believed it, though. There’s too much money involved.
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—Leave it to the PD to “celebrate” Veteran’s Day by writing an apologists creed for all the west’s presumed “hubris”, all leading to an excusatory conclusion blaming “us” for a jihadist-martyr-wannabe’s actions.
—You are shamelessly, pathetically, and proactively partisan in all aspects.
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Let’s also not forget the vets who never fired a shot but held a place on the line during periods of peace. They, also, have made many sacrifices on our behalf.
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Honor the troops for all they have done for our country by hearing their stories through free documentaries – http://bit.ly/27d6Kd
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Dear Stltoday.com:
Quit confusing Veteran’s Day (November 11th) with Memorial Day (last Monday in May). You have a picture of a tombstone at a National Cemetery on today’s stltoday.com’s home page. Let’s put a picture of a living non-World War II veteran on your home page (nothing against World War II vets, but there are non-World War II vets out there).
Rgds…
Mike
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“Thank you for your sacrifice.” This nails it: sacrifice is the problem with everything that plagues us, not the least of which is our [egalitarian] war policy. If you own a leaf sucker/blower, yet choose instead to resort to a fork from your kitchen drawer to clean up your yard, would you be acting rationally or psychotic? We do the same with individual lives – we put our men at just a slight advantage over our enemies, when we should pound the crap out of them with our technology; and then get the hell out! As it is, these men are killed and maimed for the sake of politicians’ sensibilities and “world opinion” – which rightly considers us paper tigers / sugar daddies. End the welfare programs to these (and all) nations; end the road / school / toilet building for these nations; end stationing our men to “serve” these people; end sacrifice!
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In my brief time on earth I have seen the United States go to war to halt the spread of Communism (Korea) to intervene in a civil war (Vietnam)to restore an oppressive government (Kuwait, 1st Gulf War)to topple a dictator (Iraq, 2nd Gulf War) to remove an oppressive regime (Afghanistan).
My bible tells me that killing is justified in self defense. Somehow, we seem to have taken the role of policeman of the world and it has ruined our economy, destroyed what America should stand for, and wasted the lives of thousands of young men. I truly believe a new isolationism is called for. The hell with the world economy. If we cant make it here with American jobs, we dont need it.If a country needs help in their civil war, seek another country to intervene. I am tired. I am old. I want better for my grandchildren. I want a wall around the United States, a secure defense against aggression, and an economy that benefits the American worker, not some third world wage slave.
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Amen.
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