Veteran’s Day originally came into existence shortly after World War I when it was known as Armistice Day, marking the end of what was known then as the Great War on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month.
In the years since that time, Veteran’s Day has come to encompass all of our wars and to honor the sacrifices and service of all of our veterans who have answered the call of duty to preserve our freedoms.
However, as with so many other things in our society, both the politicians and citizens pay a lot of lip service to the concept of honoring our veterans, but that’s about the extent of their effort — everybody talks about ensuring that we recognize appropriately the debt we owe our veterans, but nobody does anything about it.
The scandal involving the Veteran’s Administration, with the stories of veterans literally dying while waiting to get an appointment to see a VA doctor, was outrageous, but it was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the neglect of our veterans by our society and by the powers-that-be in Washington.
The recent story in the Boston Globe regarding the homeless veterans who have been dying from drug overdoses in this area was one of the saddest pieces of reporting we have seen in a long time. The story highlighted the total disregard for those who have left military service with severe emotional and physical issues, but who have been let to fend for themselves.
So we urge all of our readers this Veteran’s Day not merely to thank our veterans for their service, but also to send an email to our politicians in Washington to demand that they provide adequate funding for the programs and services that our veterans desperately need. It is absolutely shameful that some politicians can be opposed to small increases in taxes that could pay for these programs to benefit our veterans, without whose sacrifices, after all, we would not have the sort of free country in which some people can make billions of dollars without paying back the debt they owe to those who put themselves on the line to preserve our way of life.