Thoughts on Veteran's Day
Nov. 12th, 2007 07:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hertinknessParades. Flowers. Yellow magnetic ribbons. Full page splash ads in the Sunday paper. This is how a lot of people celebrate Veteran's Day. Me? Not so much. I tend to treat Veteran's day as any other day in terms of how I act and what I do.
Now, before you get out the pitchforks and torches, let me explain why:
My grandfather fought in World War II. He was a flight mechanic on a Liberator that flew patrols down in the Bahamas looking for U-boats. Since he was based in Florida the whole time, he's not elligble to join the VFW (which is ANOTHER gripe that I have because he was on the wire as much as anyone else doing the same thing at the time but anyway). Joining the army was really the first time he had been out of the coal mining company town that he was born in, and at first, I'm sure it was a grand adventure. Right up until the point where his friends started not coming back.
He has had some... issues since then. There are some things that he associates with the war that shouldn't be. One example: when my brother and I were kids, we used to take massive family vacations to the beach. When he came with us, he would always make us kids play in the sand way back beyond the berm, before the sand even got wet, almost to the dunes. I asked my mom why he did that, why he was so scared for us, and I guess she felt that I was old enough to know: the first time he had ever seen the sea, he was in the war.
Do I ask him about it? Let me ask another question- do I ask him about the rock fall in the mine that killed his best friend as he was standing next to him? The correct answer would be hell no. I don't ask. I don't make 80 year old men that I care about sad just to satisfy my curiosity. I let him go, and let him feel what he needs to feel, talk if he needs to talk, and then we move on when he's feeling better.
And that's pretty much the same reason why I don't do anything major on Veteran's day. These people were shot at, lost friends, lost bits of themselves. Some of them want to forget. Do I really want to make them remember so that I can feel better about myself?
It's a funny world: if all those full page ads and magnetic ribbon buyers would pay the same amount in taxes or donations each year, we would never have to worry about the VA going south again. That's how I prefer to celebrate Veteran's Day, by voting for social services, or giving money or blood, or even just something as simple as helping someone who is having trouble getting through the checkout line. Wear the poppies if you like- just for the love of God, do those other things too!
Now, before you get out the pitchforks and torches, let me explain why:
My grandfather fought in World War II. He was a flight mechanic on a Liberator that flew patrols down in the Bahamas looking for U-boats. Since he was based in Florida the whole time, he's not elligble to join the VFW (which is ANOTHER gripe that I have because he was on the wire as much as anyone else doing the same thing at the time but anyway). Joining the army was really the first time he had been out of the coal mining company town that he was born in, and at first, I'm sure it was a grand adventure. Right up until the point where his friends started not coming back.
He has had some... issues since then. There are some things that he associates with the war that shouldn't be. One example: when my brother and I were kids, we used to take massive family vacations to the beach. When he came with us, he would always make us kids play in the sand way back beyond the berm, before the sand even got wet, almost to the dunes. I asked my mom why he did that, why he was so scared for us, and I guess she felt that I was old enough to know: the first time he had ever seen the sea, he was in the war.
Do I ask him about it? Let me ask another question- do I ask him about the rock fall in the mine that killed his best friend as he was standing next to him? The correct answer would be hell no. I don't ask. I don't make 80 year old men that I care about sad just to satisfy my curiosity. I let him go, and let him feel what he needs to feel, talk if he needs to talk, and then we move on when he's feeling better.
And that's pretty much the same reason why I don't do anything major on Veteran's day. These people were shot at, lost friends, lost bits of themselves. Some of them want to forget. Do I really want to make them remember so that I can feel better about myself?
It's a funny world: if all those full page ads and magnetic ribbon buyers would pay the same amount in taxes or donations each year, we would never have to worry about the VA going south again. That's how I prefer to celebrate Veteran's Day, by voting for social services, or giving money or blood, or even just something as simple as helping someone who is having trouble getting through the checkout line. Wear the poppies if you like- just for the love of God, do those other things too!
