Defending the Defenseless

This will have to be quick since I am going to participate in the Veterans Day Service with the USSVI Charleston Base in Summerville SC this morning.

All of my social media platforms are filled with wishes for a Happy Veteran’s Day this morning. I am truly grateful for each and every remembrance from family, friends and acquaintances. I am especially grateful for the wishes from people who I served with either directly or indirectly. You all are the reason for the day, and I send my personal thanks to each and every one of you.

As we were getting ready for devotions this morning, my mind was filled with thoughts about why this day is so important. The original day was meant to commemorate the end of the First World War on November 11^th. That war had been horrific in the way it was conducted. Not that any war is easy or comfortable, but that war introduced horrors unimaginable in previous wars. Terms like shell shock were introduced into the language to describe the horrors of massive bombardments on large concentrations of troops. Machine guns and gas decimated the ranks of approaching armies. Planes filled the skies and deadly torpedoes sent hundreds of ships filled with sailors to their doom.

The world breathed a sigh of relief when the Armistice was signed.

But the returning troops carried the scars back to their homes. Scars that are both internal and external. Scars that would haunt many of them for the rest of their lives. The government was ill-prepared to treat them. We will never know how many died from those wounds that never healed. The rate of men who turned to alcohol and other forms of relief were not recorded very well in those days.

The thing about the wars that followed is that we didn’t really learn much.

The war to end all wars didn’t end any wars at all. Conflicts all around the world continued and, in many ways, got worse. The Second World War produced even more death and destruction.

The common thread is that someone had to defend people who could not defend themselves. The second part of that common thread is that the ones who made the sacrifices saw and did things that most of us could never understand.

I was not I combat during any of my twenty years. While we tangled with a few aggressive opponents in places we never talk about, it was never like someone was shooting at me. My only depravations were isolation, loneliness, the occasional typhoon, and exposure to potential chemical and other hazards from time to time.

When someone thanks me for my service, I try to remember to thank them for being worthy of that service. Often, they have a family member who carries the scars of their own service. Occasionally, that sacrifice was the final one. They never got to wear the honored title of veteran.

The Veteran’s Administration has gotten much better.

The level of care I am receiving for my own hidden wounds is far better than I remember from the stories I heard over the years. All of the folks I have dealt with are caring and compassionate. I hope this is the standard now.

We still live in a dangerous world. We have many enemies who would like to rule over people who just want to live a life filled with music and joy and family and peace. But until those people and that evil is eradicated from this earth, we will always have to rely on strong people who are willing to take the risk of someday becoming a veteran.