Veterans Day 2008

Five years of the current wars and a whole new generation of veterans has been produced. They will have their own nightmares, wounds and difficulty ever being the same son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister, or friend. And America will “honor” them with a day that is no longer even a holiday. Just a weekend parade here and there across the nation. And really the parades are more recruitment tools than honoring the veterans for the alleged service we’ve given this nation.

As usual, I object to a day that honors war, warriors and violence perpetrated by a government of rich, fatted cows who have fed on the backs of the poor and middle class far too long.

I continue to hear the same old clichéd line whenever I meet someone new that discovers I’m a veteran of Vietnam; “thank you for your service”. It’s easier to just accept the well intentioned comment than to go “Rambo” on them and ask them what damn service they are thanking me for.

Was it taking part in killing the old papa-san who happened to get in the way of Marines one day doing a search and destroy patrol? Was it the napalmed village full of kids and mama-sans? Was it the brutal investigation of a terrified Vietnamese woman by Naval intelligence that included an in-the-field form of water-boarding, the use of a .45 cal pistol to break her cheek bone, punches to the face and body and eventual execution once the Marine patrol was told to go up the path?

I’m just not understanding why Americans think I did any service to this country by taking part in an unnecessary war responsible for killing 58,000 plus Americans and 3 million Vietnamese. I’m sick of being seen as someone who “protected” our democracy by fighting “gooks”. If it ain’t gooks then it is haji or rag-heads. There’s always some pejorative word to capture the enemy’s race and ethnicity that isn’t like “us”.

Veterans Day is like Memorial Day. Both are attempts to cast the military veterans as righteous and courageous heroes who have fought for flag and country. Both are attempts to ease our collective consciences about the atrocity of wars we have continued to allow in our names. The days are attempts to glorify and sanctify militarism and imperialism so our future generations of sons and daughters will want to emulate those of us duped into believing we were going to make a difference by killing in the name of God and country.

This nation’s people love a parade. They love to see “Johnny come marching home”. They love all those red, white and blue flags and bunting. We get our little boys to dress up in costume uniforms of Marines to hold the flag like Ira Hayes held it over Iwo Jima during WWII. We gather together high school kids dressed in uniforms of the various ROTC programs with mock rifles held “shoulder arms” marching in lock step with one another.

We love to say we are a nation of peace but anybody that visits our nation’s Capital will be overwhelmed by the number of war memorials to be found in the Washington DC area. What does that say about our peaceful nature? There is an insane dissonance that we look at these war memorials as tributes to peace making.

How does the participation in killing other humans bring us peace? I guess the thinking is kill enough to get the other side to submit and we’ve brought peace to our world. The problem with such logic is resentment and hatred bred from the use of force seldom brings peace.

Making nations or groups of people capitulate to the more powerful force merely enslaves them to the power of a stronger force. They will most likely seek their retribution whenever they find a way of inflicting pain on their perceived oppressor. Occupation and oppression doesn’t make us a peaceful nation. It makes us bullies.

Oh yeah, the words I speak are not the words of patriotism some like to hear. They want to hear about the glory of our conquests. The whole world is a game and our role is to defeat all others to “win” for America. And like adolescents and small children, our politicians think they can keep hitting the reset button until we get it “right” to win the world domination game.

Ok, I don’t love my country more than anything else. I love humanity more. I love true peace more. I love justice more. I love being a citizen of the world more. I love the children of our world more.

I am tired of waving flags and cheering soldiers to perpetuate one war after another. I’m tired of being enslaved to the concept of my country right or wrong. I am sick and tired of phony days of tribute to the culture of death and violence that has been the essence of America far too long. Veterans Day does no honor to any of us.

Wm. Terry Leichner, RN
Denver VVAW member