How do you celebrate Veterans Day? How should we? I think that varies with the individual or family, whether one is or is not a veteran, and sometimes which war hits closest to home for us.
Certainly there's nothing wrong with a good parade, honor ceremony, or display of the flag. In many places you can buy a remembrance poppy, evoking memories of World War I, and a tradition in English-speaking countries since the 1920s.
I sometimes feel that the trappings of patriotism--the outward signs, such as a flag pin on a lapel or a patriotic meme on a Facebook wall--get more focus than actual, substantive ways to support veterans and their families.
Last year I posted some thoughts on how to thank veterans that might be worth another look, if you're so inclined. But it seems to me that we as a nation need to think long and hard about how we treat our active-duty military personnel and our veterans. It's easy to wave a flag and say "Thank you," and I'm sure many feel good to be publicly appreciated--but is that the supportiveness they truly need?
If we, as citizens and taxpayers think veterans should be better-served than they currently are, we first should educate ourselves about where the needs truly lie--then get active on a local, state, and national level. To me, that's the best form of patriotism: the hands-on, trying-to-make-it-better kind. P.S. Did you vote for better government last Tuesday?
If we're paying enlisted personnel a living wage, why do so many of them end up as prey to the predatory payday lenders whose businesses cluster near military bases?
Back in 2011, I wrote about dilapidated schools on military bases. Many were still struggling to improve their facilities as recently as 2015, though academic scores were rising.
If we're so grateful as a nation to our veterans, why don't more employers make a point of hiring them?
Why are there so many homeless veterans? Also, what can ordinary citizens do to help them? Why are social and mental-health services spread so thin that veterans too often fall through the gaps?
Why do so many veterans commit suicide? How can we stem this trend?
It seems clear to me that we still have many serious "system upgrades" to put in place, before any "thank you for your service" we say won't be at risk of seeming kind of hollow, to all too many of our returned warriors.
No matter how sincerely we mean it.
IMAGES: Many thanks to Honor Our Military (based in Milwaukee, WI) for the photo from their 2014 Veterans Day Parade; to the Remembrance Day Pinterest page and Pin for the poppy-themed thought (photo sourced from Hubpages); and to Ultimate Medical Academy via Pinterest for the quote image about real heroes. Thanks are also due to Diply via Pinterest for the Mark Twain quote about patriotism. Finally, I am grateful to the National Veterans Foundation for the "dog tags" Thank You image.
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| A Veterans Day parade in Milwaukee, WI, complete with banners, flags and uniforms. |
Certainly there's nothing wrong with a good parade, honor ceremony, or display of the flag. In many places you can buy a remembrance poppy, evoking memories of World War I, and a tradition in English-speaking countries since the 1920s.
I sometimes feel that the trappings of patriotism--the outward signs, such as a flag pin on a lapel or a patriotic meme on a Facebook wall--get more focus than actual, substantive ways to support veterans and their families.
Last year I posted some thoughts on how to thank veterans that might be worth another look, if you're so inclined. But it seems to me that we as a nation need to think long and hard about how we treat our active-duty military personnel and our veterans. It's easy to wave a flag and say "Thank you," and I'm sure many feel good to be publicly appreciated--but is that the supportiveness they truly need?
If we, as citizens and taxpayers think veterans should be better-served than they currently are, we first should educate ourselves about where the needs truly lie--then get active on a local, state, and national level. To me, that's the best form of patriotism: the hands-on, trying-to-make-it-better kind. P.S. Did you vote for better government last Tuesday?
If we're paying enlisted personnel a living wage, why do so many of them end up as prey to the predatory payday lenders whose businesses cluster near military bases?
Back in 2011, I wrote about dilapidated schools on military bases. Many were still struggling to improve their facilities as recently as 2015, though academic scores were rising.
If we're so grateful as a nation to our veterans, why don't more employers make a point of hiring them?
Why are there so many homeless veterans? Also, what can ordinary citizens do to help them? Why are social and mental-health services spread so thin that veterans too often fall through the gaps?
Why do so many veterans commit suicide? How can we stem this trend?
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| Looks elegant--but are we making it REAL? That's an open question, I fear. |
It seems clear to me that we still have many serious "system upgrades" to put in place, before any "thank you for your service" we say won't be at risk of seeming kind of hollow, to all too many of our returned warriors.
No matter how sincerely we mean it.
IMAGES: Many thanks to Honor Our Military (based in Milwaukee, WI) for the photo from their 2014 Veterans Day Parade; to the Remembrance Day Pinterest page and Pin for the poppy-themed thought (photo sourced from Hubpages); and to Ultimate Medical Academy via Pinterest for the quote image about real heroes. Thanks are also due to Diply via Pinterest for the Mark Twain quote about patriotism. Finally, I am grateful to the National Veterans Foundation for the "dog tags" Thank You image.
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