Veterans Day

Every Veterans Day is a time I hate. It depresses and outrages me.
This year the local parade was the center of attention for the veterans in the peace movement in Denver. At first they were told they wouldn’t be allowed to march with the other veterans in the traditionally poor attended Veterans Day Parade. The reason given by a group called by the oxymoron, United Veterans Council, was the Veterans For Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Iraq Veterans Against the War had chanted, “troops out now” at last year’s parade. That was a political statement which the “council” wanted to avoid. Not sure if it was the troops out now or the political statement they meant.
I attended last year’s parade despite my great dislike for such events and don’t remember the chanting. I know I didn’t chant. I do remember quite a bit of spectator applause along the route despite our group being last in line.
I do remember seeing the “Young Marines” atop a float raising the flag ala Iwo Jima. The poor kids had to maintain that position throughout the parade route. But I’m sure they were proud and honored to do it.
Now that was a political statement to see young kids dressed in combat gear imitating Ira Hayes and friends!!
How much more political does it get than to indoctrinate young boys ten or eleven years old to the fine arts of combat? Of course, no doubt those young kids were playing the latest version of “Call to Duty” on their X-Box or Wii play stations already.
The VFP and others decided at first they would do a counter march along the side walk at the parade since they were being excluded in the “official” march. It had been suggested they march in back of the street sweepers without a permit if the Denver Police Department refused to provide their permission. The police did as expected and refused to issue another permit for the same parade.
I was of the opinion the veterans opposing the war should take a chance of being arrested and walk behind the street sweepers anyway. What better symbol of this nation’s disregard for all veterans than walking behind street sweepers? After all, the Bush administration has tried since the war began to sweep the veterans’ issues under any convenient rug they could. Budget cuts and abuse of active duty and National Guard troops in multiple rotations to an illegal and immoral war are only the beginning of the administration’s lack of respect for the individual troop.
The leadership of the local VFP and other groups weren’t of the mind to risk arrest, however. I wasn’t surprised at all by that decision. The timidity of the peace movement’s veterans groups in Colorado has been an ongoing thing that has kept me from being a full participant in group actions and attendance at meetings.
I’ve grown really tired of the constant tactical scheme of marches, parades, rallies and speeches by the peace movement.
The urgency of young men and women dying in Iraq and Afghanistan seems to warrant a greater sense of urgency by the “movement” instead of weekend events and a return to normal following them.
The urgency of probably a million Iraqis dead since 2003 because of the war seems to warrant greater reactions than time consuming organization of rallies and marches.
The continued budget cuts of human services and all aspects of social safety net programs across the nation while 500 billion dollars drains into the bloody soil of Iraq and Afghanistan seems to warrant an attitude of outrage followed by outrageousness.
But the reality has been the “movement” holds out the deluded hope it can bring the end to the wars and the changes to government through the electoral process in place across this nation. The elections of 2006 were said to be a referendum on the war and the results were a clear message citizens of this country wanted it ended.
The response of the newly elected Democratic controlled Congress has been a classic demonstration of cowardice of politicians lacking a moral compass. Their only compass has pointed toward the green fields of cash offered by special interest groups.
And still the peace movement fails to change tactical strategies! The movement congratulates itself on lying down in the streets of America to be arrested in the
“catch and release” tactic of civil disobedience (often coordinated with officials of government and police to avoid anyone being upset). It hails the large rallies in Washington D.C. with hundreds of thousands of activists as a symbol of resistance when in truth they are the same people from the last rally and the rally before that.
They continue to be the same choir of voices that have been ignored by the general population, the press and certainly the Congress and the administration.
The veterans’ peace groups continue to follow suit with the same strategy. I’ve attended two actions that could be called grass roots; the Camp Casey event in Crawford, Texas in August of 2005 and the Veterans and Survivors March in spring of 2006.
Camp Casey became engulfed by the groups like United For Peace and Justice that wanted on the Cindy Sheehan bandwagon. Pretty soon it became indistinguishable from the rest of the movement.
The Veterans and Survivors March drew international attention but couldn’t sustain the momentum because too few of us were willing to forsake our lives to attend to the crisis we have in our nation. Instead we wait for the next election or the next Cindy Sheehan to galvanize us to action. While we wait the erosion of rights and the continued takeover of the nation by the “ghost government” epitomized by Blackwater destroys what little semblance of freedom and democracy we have left.

The Veterans Day Parade in Denver took place on Saturday, November 10, 2007 before a meager crowd along a route near the State Capitol and the City and County of Denver Civic Center. The United Veterans Council relented and allowed the veterans opposing the war to march after pressure from the city’s mayor. The national Veterans For Peace took credit for creating a letter writing campaign.
The grand result of the Veterans Day Parade in Denver was a four day media mention for the anti-war veterans. The veterans who marched got a few seconds of airtime on local television news. Some chose to march in their old uniforms and resembled the other veterans in the parade dressed in uniform. Some chose to wear the uniform of the antiwar movement which seems to be tee shirts with organizational emblems and banners and posters with three or four word quips like “Troops Out Now”.
In Iraq, troops continued to be killed despite parades and graveside memorials. New studies came out indicating one of four homeless people in America is a veteran. One in four (or more) of the prison population is a veteran. Nearly five hundred confirmed suicides by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have occurred. One of every three veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan has required some mental health treatment. The infrastructure of Iraq remains in ruin. Potable water in most of Iraq remains scarce. Childhood cancer rates in Iraq continue to soar. Depleted uranium in Iraq continues to be used. Healthcare access for returned veterans of all wars remains inadequate for the needs. The nation’s safety net programs, educational programs and human service programs continue inadequate because of funding shortages. Living wages and employment security continue as problems. Thirty to forty percent of all Americans remain uninsured for healthcare. Unions continue to dwindle and die while the cost of living, cost of transportation and the cost of gasoline rises at record rates. Housing has recorded the highest foreclosure rate in history. Environmental consequences of neglect and abuse are now being seen in epic storms, fires and pollution. The American economy is on the verge of collapse under the weight of debt caused by endless war.
This list of conditions that should elicit outrage is only partially complete. Racism, homophobia, misogyny, religious oppression and fanaticism, child abuse, domestic violence and gun violence should also be mentioned.
And the “movement” response to the outrage? The continued use of rallies marches and parades! Don’t like something going on in your world? Go to the rally on Saturday. Help organize the march for the Democratic convention in Denver. Write a letter, sign a petition, email a congress person. And then go shopping because there’s a hell of a lot of bargains for Veterans Day!!
I watched the footage of the parade on the late news Saturday, the 10th. I saw vets in uniforms looking proud because they’d served their country in time of war. I saw marching units of ROTC, Army, Navy, Marine and Navy. I saw high school marching squads. I saw veterans for peace, many in uniform marching, with the same prideful appearance. And I wondered. What do we have to be proud about? What pride is there in that uniform we wore to war? Do veterans who profess to be about peace still take pride in their “service”? Should I take pride in seeing the after effects of napalm strikes on a village in the Danang area? Should I take pride in burning down other villages and creating refugees? Should I take pride in watching as a form of “water-boarding” and torture is used on a female prisoner by military intelligence officers accompanying my unit on a patrol in which she’s to show us enemy positions? Should I take pride in a body count when another Marine decided to extract gold teeth from the dead? Should I take comfort in a prisoner hit in the face with a metal entrenching tool by another Marine?
What the hell am I supposed to be proud of doing? What pride do I derive from my alleged service to my country, guys?? What victory is there in fifteen minutes of media coverage for a parade that glorifies war and the poor bastards who die and are wounded in war? Is Semper Fi supposed to make me feel all warm with unit pride?
I take no pride. I want nothing to do with any uniform. I detest a military state of mind that allows for the destruction of human life and fails to meet the basic needs of humans worldwide.
When will the outrage be enough that parades, marches and rallies are no longer enough?