The 11th Day of the 11th Month
a poppy day
As I mentioned on yesterday’s Midrats, I have an affinity for the British, and Commonwealth really, view of what in the USA we call Veterans Day.
For whatever reason, generations ago we drifted from Remembrance Day that marked the end of The Great War, World War I. The war where the West tried to kill itself.
Its first meaning and how it is still recognized in Great Britain is close to our Memorial Day, except it is more focused, more serious, more somber.
So, as a veteran I’ll tip my hat to my fellow veterans today, but I’d like to take a moment to look to the Mother Country for a bit.
I am no fan of the royals but they do raise the bar when it comes to military service. Queen Elizabeth, Mountbatten, George VI, Prince Phillip, King Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince William, Prince Harry, etc. all got their hands dirty and didn't rest on the laurels.
Granted we do have a handful of veterans in both political parties but on the whole i think America didn't really respect it's military until after 9/11 and only then begrudgingly.
One day of the year with some free food scattered around and lip service doesn't do justice nor does it go anywhere near helping our veterans.
I've said it once and I'll say it a million times if the USA had mandatory military service our country and it's citizens wouldn't be in the unsat condition were are in now.
If a country is good enough to live in then it's good enough to fight for.
We who served stand, salute, and remember ALL those who served in the past. And we especially honor and remember those absent friends who paid the ultimate price. We personally knew and served with them in peacetime and wartime. Whether they died in training, day to day military operations, or in combat, they all gave of themselves in service to the greater whole of the nation. Let us hope and pray that the nation will choose to expend the lives of its service personnel with wisdom and honor as we look to the future. “We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”...George Orwell. Please, choose wisely.