Saturday, July 30, 2022

We Only Respect the Dead


I have been an anti war proponent since I can remember. I was born to a military family during the Korean War. There have been precious few years in the ensuing 70 years of my life that I have not seen the USA in one armed conflict or another. Small or large conflicts, the USA has been more than willing to sacrifice some of the brightest and bravest of this country to the petty political goals of cowards.

I was taught though to respect our armed forces, just not necessarily respect the civilian leaders who arbitrarily sent them into harm's way. I hate war, but not as much as my career Air Force father hated it. He had lived it and knew what a total waste of humanity it was. He justified his continued presence in the Air Force as an anti-war position. If we appeared ready to respond to threats, there would be none. Sadly, he later admitted that if there were no real threats of substance, our political leaders would come up with some. The cowards in civvies just loved to sit around the big war board moving military pieces like it was a game to them. In reality, that is all it ever is to them.  Playing war is so much more fun when people actually die.

Among many of the reasons my father chose to retire after 31 years was the use of the military as a preemptive political tool.

To make matters worse, our leaders over the years have consistently and conveniently forgotten the veterans who came home alive. It's as if any respect leadership had was pre-deployment, when deployed, or if they were dead. Any respect or consideration was totally gone once the survivors came home. Which left only the dead to revere publicly.

Vets began to really start to complain in numbers in 1932 with the rise of the "Bonus Army". Right up through the Vietnam War, Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond, they have had to fight for the help they should have never had to even ask for. It has been 90 years and little has changed. Vets die for us and then the ones who survive are forgotten. We only respect the dead vets, not the live ones who we feel all they deserve is a "Thank you for your service" once in awhile. It's a fuckin shame how we treat our military veterans.

The politicians use them, abuse them and then they toss them away. It is easy to lay some flowers, cry some tears for the dead and then go home feeling uplifted and patriotic.  Actually doing what needs doing and supporting those veterans who made it home seems to be the hard part for the GOP especially, to get behind. Don't get me wrong, Veterans have always sucked hind tit in both parties interests. But in recent years, it is primarily the GOP who have consistently blocked legislation aimed at helping Veterans.

What an insensitive, unpatriotic despicable party the Republican Party has become. I am ashamed to even consider them fellow Americans. Fuck the GOP.

Later .....................................

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The first tune for the post is actually from across the pond. The same issue for vets exists there as it does here. The group is Ferocious Dog. The song is "Broken Soldier".  Next up is "Broken Boy Soldier" by The Raconteurs

You don't have to enjoy them, but hopefully they will fire you up.



5 comments:

Nan said...

One thing that continually baffles me is why so many veterans are right-wingers. They can't all have experienced traumatic brain injuries.

MRMacrum said...

Nan - Yeah the tendency of Vets to favor the GOP baffles me almost as much as how can any woman support the Right. There are truths and realities we are not supposed to understand I guess.

peppylady (Dora) said...

Last I read that the veteran budget is just under 7% as our military's budget is just over 45% that goes to corporate America.
Coffee is on and stay safe

yellowdoggranny said...

I love soldiers and the military..but hate war and have since the Viet Nam war...and hate the fucking men that send them off to war..

The Blog Fodder said...

American and Canadian treatment of veterans is cruel. As you have more who have seen active service it is even worse. Since the end of the draft, rank and file soldiers appear to be drawn from the lower income brackets. They are already looked down on. The extraction industries, for whom the military is their enforcement arm make sure that the population is convinced that they are fighting for your Freedom. What a crock. And when their service is finished they are no longer of value and are simply a tax burden. Why are Veterans' Services not part of the Defense budget?