We should always honor our veterans

Saturday, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day, a time we should especially remember to honor the service of our country’s military veterans, men and women who have given so much so we can enjoy our daily lives in relative ease and comfort.

There are well over 320,000 veterans in Minnesota. More than half of them are 65 years of age and older. They served at a time when military service was, sadly, politicized. In a country which supposedly values and honors military service, we should never, ever forget there was a time when soldiers returning from war in Vietnam were treated poorly simply for doing their jobs.

In subsequent years, as these soldiers are now into their 70s, we have thankfully gained a greater appreciation for their service.

A high school math teacher and hall of fame hoops coach, a former U.S. Marine if there truly is such a thing as a former Marine, once told his students no military man ever started a war. Wars, he declared, are all too often started by politicians.

It shouldn’t matter whether the men who served in the military were drafted or not. According to an online source – obsidianportal.com – two-thirds of the soldiers who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam era were volunteers. Whether they were drafted or volunteers, served in combat or never faced incoming fire, we should appreciate the service of those who give so much.

My father, a young U.S. Army second lieutenant during World War II, spent a significant amount of time in the South Pacific During World War II. He was part of the retake of the Philippine Islands from Japanese invaders. Like so many men his age, he told us little of his service. He was annoyed when one of his sons found his bronze star and purple heart medals. Nearly 60 years later, when his eldest grandson was home on leave from service in Iraq, the two shared stories.

My father volunteered for military service and was sent to the Pacific, at least the stories his children were told, was because our grandfather was a German immigrant.

After active duty, Dad remained in the U.S. Army Reserves. He served as needed and didn’t retire until pushed to relocate his family to the South or call it a career. After decades in the military, he chose his family.

His grandson was a U.S. Army reservist in a road and bridge company. He had a debt to pay for the government paying for his college education. The notion of the government waiving tuition debt wasn’t yet politically fashionable back then.

When he came home on leave from Iraq, he told us the road and bridge work lasted only a few months and his group was doing guard duty and infantry work. Were you trained for that, he was asked. The answer was something to the effect of, ‘No, but when they’re shooting at you, you learn real fast.’ The two worst days, he said after his tour ended in 2004, months after he was initially told it would, was the day a friend was killed by a roadside bomb and being shelled Christmaseve into Christmas morning.

Many who serve in the military don’t see actual combat, according to The Soldiers Project. According to 2019 statistics, only 10 percent of the entire military force engage in battle.

Whether a veteran saw combat or not, we all owe them a debt of gratitude.

That sign of gratitude could be as simple as preferred parking spaces at the grocery store for veterans. Discounts on coffee for veterans. Opening a door for a vet is always a nice touch, or simply thanking them their service means a lot to many.

On a grander scale, we should never short change benefits for veterans. They’ve done so much for us. Their care is the least we can help fund. A bus ride to the VA Medical Center can make a world of difference toward making needed health care accessible. Make 100 percent sure our government provides them the physical and mental health care they need. Help them with reintegration when their service is complete.

We owe them that much. Probably more.