memorial day (go back »)

I don't adorn my car or house with flags and yellow ribbons.  I don't wear my patriotism on my bumper or on my lapel.  I have a friend in the Special Forces who is finally retiring after 25 years.  He's going back to the same town in Wisconsin where he was born and raised and where he met and married his high school sweetheart.  His wife told me that he called her one night during his last deployment to Iraq.  All of a sudden, she heard him yell "Shit!" and start running.  He hung up and she panicked.  The next day, he called to explain that it was a sandstorm.  A month after he got home, he told her that he was being shot at but didn't want her to worry.  There you have it.  The GIs I have known are just plain salt of the earth.

I figure the best way we can honor our soldiers, deceased and still alive, is to make sure they are not forgotten or discarded when they return.  If we can write a blank check to the Iraqis every month, we can certainly pay for the college education or vocational training of our returning veterans.  I don't mean match funds that our soldiers have set aside themselves. I mean pick up the entire bill.  The same goes for medical and dental care. 

I've heard enough posthumous tributes and award ceremonies to last me a lifetime. I've heard enough excuses from financially irresponsible public officials concerning why we cannot afford to educate and rehabilitate our fellow Americans.  We obviously learned nothing from Vietnam about choosing our battles cautiously.  At least we can learn how to honor our veterans and show our gratitude when they return home from war.  Commitment to a new GI bill is a litmus test for my vote.  If a politician can't commit himself to our soldiers, he can't commit himself to anything of value.  He is an ingrate and deserves only removal from public office and a one-way ticket to Iraq.