On my Facebook feed today, I've noticed that everyone and sundry is recognizing Veteran's Day. "Thanks to everyone that's served, that continues to serve, we wouldn't have the freedoms we do without you, etc., etc., etc."
I know that I'm going to seem horribly anti-American for my sentiment here, and if you feel that way, I'm sorry that you're going to take it the wrong way. And you WILL take it the wrong way.
But... somehow I just can't seem to feel thankful for the fact that thousands of American soldiers have died overseas - for what? Seriously, for what? The right for our corrupted, greedy government to rape the Middle East of oil in the name of profit? So that we can fill our gas-guzzling cars and pollute the air even more than it already is? So that thousands, millions, of citizens in countries far away from Japan to Iraq could die in the name of an ideal, an ideal that in the end means nothing at all?
How about the soldiers in the armed forces that make little to nothing for their families? While the very people that they serve, their fat-cat bosses in the United States Congress, sit on their over-privileged asses and make six-figure salaries for their rest of their useless lives? Is THIS something to be thankful for?
Let's talk about the people coming home from Vietnam, in their wheelchairs, with their arms and legs blown off, now sitting on street corners homeless with cardboard signs begging for food, or going insane in mental hospitals because they have endless recurring nightmares of the innocent women and children they shot - "in the name of freedom". Yeah, how about that for a celebration?
Maybe before we toot our proverbial horns about being thankful on Veteran's Day for the people that have served this greedy, selfish country, we need to consider that these same people need decent food, housing, medical care and a standard of living that's just a bit more than a cardboard box under a highway.
How about THAT for thanking veterans, America? Think you can manage that?
Didn't think so.
1 comment:
I agree with where the perspective of your post is coming from. My thanks is toward the individual military member themselves. Not toward the wars, the government greed, the deaths, those that have to suffer with PTSD. I know that's why I made my post a little more personable, urging ppl to show their gratitude by getting involved with the individuals that have suffered through service. It makes me sick to this day how funding of the government doesn't go toward the care of it's vets. Those suicide numbers are from an old Dr Phil show I watched on OWN this morning. How a vet that sat in his garage with a gun to his heat was told it would be 6 months until they could get him in for psychological evaluation. 6 months?!?!? are you f*cking kidding me?
Again, your post is well warranted. I personally cannot stand the "Happy" people express today. In no way do I promote saying "Happy Veteran's Day". To me, it's a day of recognition and appreciation. I know the vets in the home Scott and I go to don't like the phrase as well. To me, it's the personal sacrifice these men and women make, physically, mentally, emotionally, and the toll it takes on their families. The vet we accompanied at the vet olympics had your same exact feelings on it all. Even Scott, who lost his father to suicide from PTSD I know keeps some of his anger about how the government and military treat people coming home from wars. They go from heros to zeros with the flick of a switch from military to civilian.
I don't feel your post is anti-American. It's just cold, hard facts, and I think YOU would be surprised how many ppl DO agree with you! *hugs*
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