My eternal gratitude to the men or women who gave their lives to serve this country so we can be free enough to act like assholes on Twitter
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) May 26, 2014
Another Memorial Day, another avalanche of rote, meaningless verbal genuflections towards our men and women in uniform. I don’t intend for this to be cynical, though I realize it could and may well be taken that way. I’m just frustrated that our commitment and devotion to those who serve and to families who’ve lost loved ones is limited to flowery expressions of gratitude and meaningless platitudes which do little more than make us feel good about ourselves. It’s SO much easier to feel you’re supporting our military when you talk about how grateful you are for their sacrifices. After all, today’s barbecue was purchased at the cost of young American lives who died so you could get sunburned while overindulging in food and alcohol. Talking about missing the point….
I have neither the time, the energy, nor the inclination to debate whether or not the freedoms we enjoy are because of those who’ve died in service of their country. No, my purpose here is to wonder how it is we’re so willing to express our undying gratitude for those who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice…and yet so unwilling to lift a finger to support veterans fortunate enough to still be drawing breath? Our duplicity and dishonesty when it comes to those who’ve served is as immoral as it is borderline criminal.
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance. Why isn’t it also a day of action?
We’re a country that loves our soldiers but profoundly indifferent to our veterans. Once an American returns from war and takes off their uniform, we collectively wash our hands of them. Our government shortchanges them, Congressional Republicans filibuster funds to support them, and their needs are barely acknowledged, much less addressed. We salute military personnel at airports, shake their hands, and express all manner of gratitude for their service. What I can’t fathom is how that gratitude so easily translates to indifference when the uniforms come off and the transition to civilian life begins.
If we truly gave a damn about our men and women in uniform, we’d back up the flowery expressions of gratitude with money and programs to help veterans make the transition to civilian life. We’d allocate the resources necessary to ensure that someone who returns from a war zone with PTSD and/or other combat-related injuries gets the treatment they need for as long as they need it. We’d do right by veterans by ensuring that they have the same level of health care available to members of Congress, most of whom have never seen a day in combat. We’d have jobs programs and other options available to assists veteran with the sometimes challenging task of reintegrating themselves back into civilian life.
Instead of doing the right thing by our veterans, we have an underfunded Veteran’s Administration ill-equipped to handle the volume of veterans in need of their services. We have Congressional Republicans using veterans as just another means to score cheap political points. Our elected representatives wax rhapsodic about their gratitude to those who sacrifice in order to serve their country, yet they vote against funding for programs to support them when they come home.
Even worse than the things I’ve mentioned is that we’re willing to sit idly by while our veterans are shortchanged and in many cases left to fend for themselves. We talk about how much we love and honor them; we just don’t want to actually DO anything or pay for programs to help them. We should be demanding that caring for veterans be a priority, and that this care shouldn’t be nickeled and domed by a Congress devoted to lip service but short on action.
Then again, it’s far less expensive and labor-intensive to honor the fallen than it is to take concrete action in support of those fortunate enough to not return home in a flag-draped casket.
