Veterans deserve respect from America - an article by Peacebirds son (himself a vet)

[peacebird]

When I think of Veteran's day, the first thing that comes to my mind is my own family's history of military service. My grandfather, Major F. J. Werz, fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. My other grandfather, T. Sgt. W. H. Parman, received a purple heart for taking a piece of shrapnel in his leg as his plane was shot down over the Black Sea.

Veteran's Day is a day to remember our troops for doing what they were told was necessary to defend this country, and for the sacrifices they made to ensure our country's long standing tradition of democracy. The soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are sacrificing themselves for an ideal that Americans hold so dear; freedom.

I do not think veterans get the respect they deserve from our society. I am not talking about individual American's level of respect, but more of our society as a whole. Politicians say they honor the troops, and use this idea of military pride as a political weapon to advance their careers. It is sad to me that it has come to the point where politicians are using the troops in this way.

Many implications come from the 'Support the Troops' magnets seen often on the back of cars these days, the worst of which in my eyes is that by having one you are assuming that someone else does not. I cannot imagine someone actually not supporting our troops.

I hope that everyone can remember this Veteran's Day that our men and women fighting the good fight do not have the luxury of politics. Show your support of our troops by voting in politicians that you believe have our troop's best interest in heart. Hopefully on Veteran's Day everyone will leave the politics to the politicians and give credit to our veterans for their service.

An easy way to show your support is to spend $25 and send a forward deployed service member a care package through the USO. The website, www.operationusocarepackage.org, will allow you skip the political garbage and really brighten a soldier's day.

According to the website, "each USO Care Package contains, at a minimum, one prepaid international calling card, a disposable camera, toiletries, sunscreen, and a personal message of support from the sender."

Show your support this veteran's day, and hold true to your magnet!

(posted in his college newspaper)