There are two holidays in November, which are intertwined for me and many others. The first is Veteran's Day and it makes me sad that we have so much hoopla over Halloween and just sort of gloss over Veteran's Day as another money maker for retailers. Originally called Armistice Day, it commemorated the end of WWI. In 1954 President Eisenhower was instrumental in renaming it Veterans Day to encompass WWII and Korean War vets. In 1971 some bureaucrat decided to tidy the calander and move holidays to make long weekends. That seemed to be when the respect diminished. Then we had the country's distaste for the Vietnam war and those vets just got shuffled along, out of sight, out of mind. Fortunately, good sense prevailed in 1978 and it was moved back to November 11th to be commemorated in the US along with UK and Canadian Rememberance Day.
Several of the men in my family served our country, despite being the world's most unlikely warriors. They did it because at the time, it seemed to be the right thing to do. My son is the only one still living and with his usual, nonchalant attitude, doesn't see himself as anything special. I disagree. While ALL my children are special, he went halfway around the world to have people he never met try to kill him and he them. I understand war in a philosophical sense, but my head and my heart do not - particularly when my first born is involved. I want the world to spend part of just one day reflecting on what our Veterans have done for us and at what cost.
Instead of shopping the mall take those few extra dollars and make a donation to Wounded Warriors or Team Rubicon. Thank you on their behalf.
No comments:
Post a Comment