Impressions of Veteran's Day 2013

"Happy Veteran's Day!" I was told via texts from ancient Army buddies. It was obvious those texts were mass messages. "Thank you for your service, Battle Buddies!" I was told by being tagged in a facebook post along with 89 other individuals. In honor of Veterans' Day, any form of social media was plastered in generic well-wishes to service members from... other service members and/or service member families.

Analyzing the posts/texts, there weren't any posts (if there were, they were very minimal) from civilians. It is like we are a group of guys hanging out at the bar rooting for our football team and when our team scores we make our way around the room patting each other on the back. Everyone in the bar wears the team colors and feels that our unity somehow impacts the results of the game. Whether we win or lose, we appreciate the show of support from... ourselves.

It was my impression that service members care about service member issues but the rest of the world does not. And even further, it is my impression that the generic "thank you for your service" messages from my fellow Army friends was more a ploy to turn the attention back to themselves to highlight their own heroism than to actually thank their fellow comrades in arms.

Maybe I'm a cynic about the texts and posts because I don't really feel an expression of gratitude to me is warranted because the Army gave me more than I ever gave it. And it's an ugly truth for me to say, but there are other service members who are just biding their time unable to pass a PT test or using the service for personal gain (tuition benefits, health care, bonuses, etc) so signing the line was really a selfish act. I felt as if I were another number on the roster on some list with those posts. And it's those same lists that have actual veterans who have sacrificed, who have both the physical and mental scars of war, who have actually led and commanded other soldiers, who are role models and heroes, who have performed valiantly under the worst circumstances.

I won't speak for others, and I don't mean to be unappreciative, but personally I don't belong on that list. I know some service members that do, but I refrained from thanking them as it feels hollow and my gratitude would be seen just as insincere as the FB post because it was only on Veterans' Day that I felt inclined to say "Thank you."

One friend suggested that if we are really grateful to Veterans then we should actually start supporting them by becoming aware of Veteran/service member problems that plague the services and give actual time and money to their causes. It sounds like a good plan and I fully agree, but if you return to my first paragraph, the impression is that only service members seem to care about service members and even the actual displays of caring can be a front to glorify the self. I would like to think that Veterans' Day means something, but I'm sad that for most it might really be a bunch of guys hanging out at the bar on game day.