Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran’s Day. There’s a great sale at Wal-Mart. Where you can buy the latest mass produced goods from China. I hear there’s also a great sale at JC Penny’s where you can pick up a simply stunning terrycloth bathrobe made with pride in Shri Lanka.

That’s where you must have been today. You must have been out at all those great sales. I hope you got some great bargains. I hope you got a good jump on all that pesky holiday shopping, we all know what a pain it is.

The reason I know you were out bargain hunting is… I did not see you down town at today’s Veterans Day ceremony. It was a brief affair. A few words from the mayor, a little prayer from the padre, the laying of a wreath to honor the fallen. That’s all, not much. It just would have been nice if more than fifteen people showed up for the ceremony. In a town of six thousand plus people you would think there would have been a better turn out. They were out in force at the High School football game. The whole fuckin’ town was there. Do you think you could have stopped by on your way to the game or on your way to the mall to downtown and shown your support for the men and women who defend this country? Most of whom spent at least four years and maybe as many forty years of their lives making sure you had the freedom to go to football game or to the mall.

I am a Veteran and I did not join the Navy so that some day people would bow down to me or raise me up on their shoulders and carry me through town. None of us did. And that is why you need to remember. You need to remember on your own, with out having to be asked. You need to remember that soldiers died today. You need to remember to show your respect when there isn’t a parade that you have to go to because your son or daughter is marching in it. You need to remember.

For the last few weeks the nation has been bombarded with election news and advertising. The news media has told us that the number one thing on voters minds was the war in Iraq.

Was it.

Was it really.

Tj