Day 143: I'm sorry...

As you guys know every once in a while I get something stuck in my craw and I just have to vent.  I'm not sure if it was because of the History Channel special, "Vietnam in HD" this past weekend or the fact Memorial Day is just around the corner but when it comes to honoring our vets I get a bit miffed over the lack of appreciation for ALL service men and women.  Well, let me clarify that.  The lack of accountability for how we, the citizens of these great United States, treated our vets from wars less glorified. 

Before I proceed let me be perfectly clear.  I personally appreciate, respect and have an immense sense of gratitude for ALL service men and women from ALL military conflicts this nation has participated.  What I truly resent is our "pick and choose" attitude towards those vets we wish to honor purely over whether or not we supported a particular conflict.  World War II was the "good war".  Our enemy was obvious and our objectives were clear.  The bully in the playground had to be destroyed.  But Vietnam was another story where objectives weren't entirely clear and political rhetoric, rather than reason, was used to justify our involvement.  But in both cases our military fought and sacrificed with great honor.  So why then did we treat those soldiers differently?  I still have yet to hear a satisfactory answer. 

The actions of the soldier on the ground have been the same since the colonial war all the way to the present day wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  They struggle to maintain the balance between fear and duty.  They fight for their fellow soldier.  They fight to stay alive.  They kill, they bleed, they die, for whatever agenda our politicians have spun in place.  But we as a nation only honor those we feel have fought in what we would call an honorable war.  I just don't understand that.  We send these men and women off to fight and die, to do the bidding of politicians who have failed in their diplomatic responsibilities.  And yet some vets earned our thanks while others have been ignored.  Yeah, I know Vietnam was an unpopular war but that didn't justify treating those vets (my father, for one) with such contempt.  Resenting the Vietnam veteran is like hating the hammer the contractor used to build your house. 

The United States has never been one to apologize for anything, even if we were incredibly wrong.  Apologizing is a sign of weakness and we carry a reputation of being a global bad ass.  Instead, what we do is overcompensate.  For our failures in Vietnam we over-gloried the efforts of those who fought in Grenada as well as the first and second Gulf Wars.  Vietnam vets had to hide the fact they served in that war whereas today's vets are expected to show themselves off so a grateful nation can shower praise upon them.  Again, let me remind you, I truly honor ALL vets from ALL wars and I can't imagine that I could ever pay the debt owed to all those who have served in uniform and especially to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  My anger, my ire is directed at our nation, our politicians, our citizens who at one time so shamelessly turned their backs on a generation of citizen soldiers who were just trying to serve their country and come home alive.  I know much has been done in recent years to rectify this imbalance but I personally feel we haven't done enough.

So I would ask some of you this Memorial Day weekend, when you say your prayers of thanks and well being for our service men and women around the globe, perhaps you can throw in a request for forgiveness for how WE collectively failed to do the right thing for others whose sacrifice was no less significant.

Here's to ALL vets!

P.S. - I would like to apologize to all of you.  I know this is a resentment I've harbored for many years and I need to let things go and appreciate the good that exists now.  Younger readers probably don't understand what I'm talking about but those who lived during 60's and 70's should.  I really don't expect anyone to agree with my point of view but I do appreciate the fact you took the time to listen.