As an eight year veteran of the U.S. Army I always feel conflicted during Veterans Day. Whenever I hear about a business that is giving away something free to veterans on November 11th, I never take advantage of it. My former cohorts go out every year and get their free breakfasts or free movie passes, but not me. I have an immense feeling of guilt, almost like I'm stealing from those who deserve it more than me. Those who did more, gave more or even those who never got to come home.
Some of my earliest memories are of my mother's friends coming back from Vietnam. As I grew up, I watched them fall apart and turn into old men. Some couldn't keep a job. Quite a few got divorced or sabotaged their relationships and almost all were alcoholics. They clung to each other as if they were the only ones who understood each other. They never complained or asked for a hand-out. When they were together they always had a good time and they kept each other from straying "too far" over the line. It's when they were alone that they got into trouble. They couldn't deal with the outside world like the rest of society did and therefore spent a lot of time in the police logs and sometimes in the obituaries. I remember at least one suicide.
If Memorial Day is for honoring the Nation's fallen dead, then it seams (to me) that Veterans Day is for honoring those who came back with only half their lives intact...and that's not me. I'm fine. My small insignificant sacrifice on Veterans Day, is to not use their sufferings as an excuse to get something for free. I usually stay home on November 11th and spend time with my wife and kids if possible. It's the one thing almost all of my mom's friends would have wanted if they could get any part of their lives back. That's how I choose to honor them.
At the end of this post there is a link. It is a short film directed by the famous John Houston (The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen) that was banned by the U.S. Government in 1946. It shows the mental condition of soldiers returning from the European Campaign of WWII. They used the term “psycho-neurotic” back then. During Korea it was called “shell-shock” and then “battle fatigue” during Vietnam. Today we call it “post traumatic stress disorder" or PTSD for short. Whatever you call it, the politicians and leaders of the 1940s buried as much evidence of it as possible. Many of these veterans were locked away and hidden from society, instead of being given treatment. This was all done so that the civilian population wouldn’t have to interact with them. The problem was easier to ignored and deny for the “good of the country.” The soldiers of that war suffered just as much as the soldiers of today, but society (and Hollywood) would have us think differently. It’s good to know that the government doesn’t have the same level of censorship as they did back then.
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