It is Veterans’ Day, and we want to thank all of our veterans for their service to our country, and by extension to each and every one of us as individuals. We owe you a debt that cannot be repaid. We owe you our freedom.
Out of deep respect to the millions of Americans who have served in the US Military, and with a sincere desire to correct the disingenuous image of veterans being foisted on the public by the entertainment industry and others, please allow me to present what most veterans are not:
Most veterans are not unable to readjust to civilian life. They return home, find jobs, build families, pay taxes, and are good neighbors.
Some veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and should get all the help we can give them. Most veterans, however, are as mentally and emotionally stable as the general population.
The rate of suicide among veterans is higher than their fellow citizens. Again, those who are at risk should get all the help we can give. It remains true, though, that most veterans are not self-destructive.
Most veterans have not been trained as snipers or martial arts experts. Most military occupations are in areas like communications, logistics, medical services, food service, transportation, law, construction, meteorology, computer science, intelligence, and so on. For every service member in a combat unit, there are seven or more in occupations that support them.
A few veterans find employment with companies that provide contract services that supplement military activities. Most veterans do not.
As a group, veterans do not usually become involved in criminal activities. The fact that they have military training does not pose a threat to society.
There are inducements provided for military service like the GI Bill, early retirement, reenlistment bonuses, and home loan guarantees. People do things for more than one reason. Like me, the majority of veterans joined the military to serve America. The benefits are a consideration, but you have to love our country to volunteer to be separated from your family, endure harsh living conditions, live in foreign countries, get bossed around, and risk getting wounded or killed.
Most veterans do not end up being homeless. The majority do not become alcoholics or drug addicts. All the help we can give should be given to those that do, but routinely and continually portraying veterans as dirty, ragged, addicts and vagrants is an injustice.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to veterans’ families. Their lives are disrupted, and they serve, too. It is unfair for them to frequently be portrayed as dysfunctional. Some family members become emotional when interviewed about the hardships they endure. They have earned the right. Most just make the best of it, and they deserve all the honor and recognition we can give them.
There is a lot more that might be said, but I
won’t belabor the point. All I want is
for the readers’ consciousness to be raised. When we hear a distorted version of reality over and over, we begin to accept it as the truth. Some in the media may think they are doing a service by bringing our
attention to the problems some veterans face.
However, they need to put it in perspective, so that they do not paint
all veterans with the same brush. Sadly,
many in the media, politics, and the entertainment industry stereotype veterans
in a derogatory way for their own personal gain.
