Veterans' Day
As I sit here poolside in Cabo San Lucas,
soaking up the sun and nursing a hangover,
thousands of servicemen and women work in harm's
way over in Iraq and elsewhere. I imagine few, if
any, of the Americans lounging here at the pool,
pounding down drinks from the swim-up bar, are
thinking about the members of our military today.
Veterans' Day is one of those holidays that gets
little recognition, just as service people
themselves don't get anywhere near the recognition
that they deserve. But it is thanks to their
service that I and every other American can enjoy
the fruits of our labor at home and abroad.
Even now, after military campaigns in Iraq and
Afghanistan destroyed two of the most oppressive
regimes in the world, most of the public's
attention is focused on the supposed
ineffectiveness of the Bush administration's
prosecution of the War on Terror. The critics claim
to care about the welfare of the troops who
continue to fall victim to homicidal attacks, but
in reality, such tragic casualties are as much a
political tool for those critics as the economy or
unemployment rate. The service of our military
members has become politicized to the point where
outrageous parallels between Iraq and Vietnam have
been drawn.
Though Veterans' Day this year comes at the
beginning of what promises to be an election year
full of vitriolic rhetoric, I hope most Americans
take a moment to praise or thank the next
serviceman or woman that they meet. Differing
opinions of the Bush administration's handling of
the war may abound, but our military men and woman
are just doing the job they signed up to do:
protect America's freedom, so we can take a week
off from our daily toil and drink piña
coladas at the swim-up bar.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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