Everybody remember to call or email a VETERAN today...

[Richardo]

...and thank them for their service.


I'll start by thanks every single Veteran on DU - you're what makes this country great :patriot:

I'll also be calling my Dad (Air Force) and F-I-L (Army) later today....

[piesRsquare]

1. Later...it's 6:40 am here in California. n/t

[Richardo]

3. Point taken

:thumbsup:

[liberal N proud]

2. I will call my dad later today

He is up but getting mom ready for church, I am sure.

[shireen]

4. question

does the term "veteran" apply to people who were in combat only?

what about peacetime operations? A friend of mine served in Korea, after the war was over. Would he be considered a veteran?

Thank you vets! We appreciate you here at DU. :patriot:

[lazer47]

5. see below

Definition of a “veteran”
Pursuant to M.G.L.c.32 §1, and c.4, §7, cl.43, you qualify as a veteran if you meet ONE of the following three requirements:
1) You have at least 180 days of regular active duty service and you were honorably discharged or released.

2) You have at least 90 days of active duty service, at least one day of which was during wartime per the chart below, and you were honorably discharged or released.

To qualify as a veteran of this conflict... ...you must have at least one day of wartime service during this period
World War II
Merchant Marine
September 16, 1940 through December 21, 1946
December 7, 1941 through December 31, 1946
Korea
June 25, 1950 through January 31, 1955
Korea-Vietnam
February 1, 1955 through August 4, 1964
Vietnam
August 5, 1964 through May 7, 1975
Lebanon*
August 25, 1982 through
Grenada*
October 25, 1983 through December 15, 1983
Panama*
December 20, 1989 through January 31, 1990
Persian Gulf*
August 2, 1990 through

[HereSince1628]

6. Thanks but as a veteran I really don't need or want a lot of thanks

Not to say that thanks isn't going to be welcomed, maybe more by some veterans than others. But honestly, Veteran's Day was never intended to be a celebration of the survival of veterans.

Veteran's Day is meant to be a bit of time, maybe just a few minutes, since it has always been unlikely to be an entire day, of somber reflection and contemplation on why wars are bad.

As a veteran I'd ask that people stop and consider the sacrifices, yes with some gratitude, but also with some remorse and re-commitment to the values that brought the fallen as well as the returned to their personal sacrifices (small and large).

As a veteran I'd like folks to show some interest in the reality of PTSD, the reality that 1 in 4 of homeless Americans are veterans, the reality of traumatic brain injury with no external scars that leaves perhaps thousands of veterans emotionally unable if not rationally able to return to their former lives. I'd like some interest in veterans from forgotten wars and geopolitically petty skirmishes who are now aged and sick and can't afford health-care because they slip through the cracks in the a system that has outdated standards of income-based need testing. I'd ask for some interest into how their families, widows, and children are getting on.

As a veteran I'd ask that people stop and reflect and continue to reflect until for a couple seconds if not a whole minute the horrors of war and its aftermath sink deep into their emotional awareness. In the revulsion that would result there might be seeds of hope that in the future there will be fewer wars and fewer veterans.

As a veteran I'd ask that people stop and consider whether this country is carrying on in the manner that would be respected by so many who paid so much. In my mind the one thing we really can do for Them that will make Them proud is to restore and maintain a society that makes their best dreams accessible possibilities for everyone.

If I sound sound overly somber, I'm sorry, because as a veteran I'd really hope that people get to live their today, their tomorrows and their remaining years in good health and in the successful pursuit of good cheer. Why? For no better reason than this... to fulfill the dreams of those who served, but didn't get to return to be veterans who get thanked..

[Richardo]

7. Well put.

[donsu]

8. NO

there is no draft

our military people chose to join

chose to kill non-white citizens in Afghanistan and Iraq

they are not people I want to know

[Richardo]

9. Happy Veteran's Day to YOU too!

:hi:

Point of information: Many veterans WERE drafted, which you would know if you knew any history prior to 1980. Many died to protect your right to be an ungrateful dumbass. :patriot:

[donsu]

10. no draft for Afghanistan or Iraq

I was around for WWII, Korea, Viet Nam and now these two

I salute the draft dodgers.

no wars ever

[HereSince1628]

13. In a free nation that view is OK

Historically, and I think even contemporarily, US soldiers have for the most part all believed that their effort was to preserve that right.

I'd not want to absolve any criminals of ill behavior, but the soldiers I've known didn't make choices to serve or to select targets based on the opportunity to kill people of another skin color.

[Toots]

11. I hate this day and Memorial Day as well

It serves only to bring back memories I would rather keep hidden and forgotten. I understand how important it is to give thanks to those that defend our nation and lives but so much misuse of the military has been documented that I am only reminded of the bad when both of these days roll around. It is only me and my personal feelings I am talking about..As a country we need a strong military and they deserve strong praise..

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. I'm always perplexed when somebody thanks me for my "service".

I spent 4 years doing absolutely nothing of merit or useful. Most of the time I was trying to figure out ways to get out of work, counting the days until I would be free again, cussing the bosses, bitching, moaning, and being an ordinary marine.

Oh, yeah, and I did a lot of really useless stuff like marching, shooting off guns, saluting, and other things that rational people don't do.

One of the best days of my life was walking out the Main Gate and grinning at the knuckle-draggers (MPs) and getting back to civilization and sanity.