Fairfax, VA, USA. We Americans stumble our way through history searching for ways to protect democracy and eliminate ever more destructive conflicts with authoritarian regimes, hopefully before they start.

But as we know, flawed political agreements and inept management are too often the product of distracted governance that leaves festering tyrannies in place to make war again.


The men and women who answer the call to service have worn the uniform, in defense of our nation, as the actors of our civil impulses during times of national duress. When the guns fall silent, they do so only as a respite from conflict. In time, they sound again on another battlefield.

The end of a catastrophic event known as The War To End All Wars came at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. The Allied Nations and the German government had agreed upon an armistice during talks near Compiègne, France. It was a cease fire agreement, later to be firmed up by treaties, trade and other obligations that ended the conflict.

In time, soldiering would be needed again as the optimistically-named War To End All Wars became World War I, a mere marker on a long road of 20th century conflicts that consumed whole generations of men and women. Veterans Day has become a formal opportunity to pay our respects to all veterans of all wars, dead or alive, including those engaged in America's armed struggles, whether domestic or foreign.

When these wars are over, we again will try to make an enduring peace, and try again until the next conflict, striving for the day when the cycle can be broken forevermore. This grand effort — and a naïve fascination with massed armies on darkling plains — can mask the real sacrifices of our veterans, made worse by a cascade of clichés (like hate the war, love the warrior). But it is our warriors that staunch the flow, buying us precious time to get it right next time.

And then there is … thank you for your service. No veteran of our acquaintance resents the sentiment behind being thanked for their service. But those of us who have served always feel that gratitude is best directed to all of the others who deserve it more.

The graveyards are full of such heroes; the transports home were full of the stunned and grateful. Most returnees from our conflicts lay down their weapons, put away their uniforms, and savor an elusive normalcy that becomes in time a fleeting memory. In truth, our war veterans pay a dear price: an eclipse shadows the past and the future is irrevocably changed. All that remains in life is a sense of the terrible now that was for a while the nexus of our lives.

That intersection of meaning is the central point around which all comparisons and aspirations must revolve. In the sadder cases, some of our veterans remain lodged in that terrible now and never truly come home. Others take it with them and move on, facing life as one more hill to climb until they are surprised and healed by love.

We must all hear the distant gunfire to appreciate what our veterans of war have done on our behalf. And what they continue to do as they internalize the unimaginable, explain the inexplicable, and find a basis for love and kindness in their lives.

Living a productive life under such circumstances stands in outright defiance of the dark forces of violence, despair, and the machinations of despots.

So, on Veterans Day, or any day at all, greet a veteran and acknowledge their achievement.

… thank you for your continuing service ...

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment