Monday, May 25, 2015
Memorial Day
It is an irony that we celebrate Memorial Day with sentiment and thanks. Those of us who remember leaving the military during the Vietnam conflict recall that finding a job was not easy. We were "baby killers", bent and warped by daring to join rather than resist. Looking back, one might say we were not treated badly, but we were. I had to bury my service on my resume even though I put in nearly four years. I would not bring it up in interviews because that stopped the process. Since then, there has been a 180 degree turn in public sentiment. Part of that is due to the all-volunteer services. We let others do our fighting and we thank them for that. That is not healthy in the long-run because the public gets out of touch. One can dislike the draft but it brought ordinary citizens to the reality of warfare and reminded them that citizenship means more than grilling burgers on a day off. On this Memorial Day, I salute those who served in spite of public sentiment. It was doubly hard for them.
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