This site is best viewed using Mozilla Firefox browser.

Veteran Affairs

2008-04-01 12:10:00

At life’s dear peril: Memorial Day 2008

Question: What would happen if our lost soldiers could speak up about the extent of the sacrifices they made for our country – for you and for me?

Answer: As our American troops wage war on two fronts, we live in strange times here in the United States. In the middle of an extremely important election year, the candidates say little about the wars. And they say even less about the welfare of the men and women who are risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The pollsters declare that other issues, like gasoline prices and home mortgages, rank higher in the minds of the American people. We’re told the voters want to know where the candidates stand on tax cuts and immigration. Meanwhile the troops fight on in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan – fight and bleed and die for you and me. As we observe Memorial Day this year, we do indeed attempt to honor the dead of our wars in strange times. I think of other epochs, when Americans could express their feelings more naturally. I think of the period after the Civil War when a strong man could look over the fields of one of the great battles and openly shed a tear over the terrible loss of life on both sides. In those days, the poet James Russell Lowell wrote: “Many loved Truth …But these, our brothers, fought for her, At life’s dear peril wrought for her, So loved her that they died for her …We sit here in the Promised Land That flows with Freedom’s honey and milk; But ’twas they that won it, sword in hand.” In today’s up-tight, materialistic world, we could stand some of this idealism. It would be healthy for the people of our nation to look the Truth in the eye – Truth with a capital T, as James Russell Lowell would have it. It would do the American people some good to honestly come to terms with the idea each person’s individual freedom was purchased with the blood of heroes. American heroes suffered for freedom, suffered horribly. Many of them live with disabilities that will haunt the rest of their lives. Many died in the cause and defense of freedom. It would be a wholesome thing for our nation to live up to the spirit of Memorial Day – to publicly grieve the dead of today’s wars, rather than hide their caskets from public view as if they were a source of public shame. These precious young men and women, who gave the last breath of life for our country, are the best our nation has to offer. We must give them the tribute that James Russell Lowell gave to the war dead of his era – honor and dignity and praise. And we must do so publicly, as we do today. At the same time, ours is a realistic age … and we must be straightforward about the sacrifice we ask of the brave men and women we send to war. Once again, among those most able to tell the truths we need to hear are those who experienced war and lived to write about it. Between the Civil War and World War I, the poetry of war changed greatly. Poets who knew the scourge of war first hand took us down from bombs bursting in air to the stench of the trenches. They took us down into the reality where bombs blew the bodies of the doughboys to shreds. In his recent book, “Here, Bullet”, poet Brian Turner carries this later tradition into the war in Iraq. “There’s nothing romantic about this, unless pain and sweat and heat and blood … are romantic,” the Army veteran writes. “All of this and more is where we are, the clock stopped here, the day as yet unfinished, blood smeared on my forehead …“Look around. No one knows who the enemy is. All of it looks like Thursday evening on a freeway cutting through town.” That’s reality in Iraq and Afghanistan – war without a front. Or is it a front that surrounds you on every side 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a year that lasts 15 months in the Army and you’re lucky enough not to get killed or wounded! And maybe lucky isn’t the right word. The Defense Department says the chance of psychological problems climbs 60 percent each time one of our troops goes back into the war zones. And many of our troops are on their second, third and fourth tours of combat. The sacrifices are harsh – incredibly difficult! Yet our fighting men and women speak only of honor and duty. They do what’s asked of them with valor in their hearts. They don’t grumble about how hard this is. The troops are brave. But sometimes I wonder. What would happen if they did speak up about the extent of the sacrifices they make for our country – for you and for me? Would Americans be more worried about gas prices and tax breaks than about the welfare of their soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard? It the troops forced our awareness a little more, would there be more people at patriotic ceremonies on Memorial Day this year … and fewer flocking to the shopping malls for the bargain sales? Let’s face it, though, the troops aren’t going to complain. They’re better people than that – better Americans. They’ll just do their duty … with courage and with dignity. If they’re injured, if they become sick, they’ll suffer … but again, with courage and dignity. And if they die in our country’s service, they’ll do so with honor. And their families will bury them in privacy. And most often, they’ll also grieve without the support of the communities in which they live – a great change and a great loss in the culture of our country. This is why our observance of Memorial Day is so crucial. This is about patriotism, certainly … but it goes beyond patriotism. Observing Memorial Day is the way in which our nation pays homage to the dead of its wars. What we do on this day speaks to who we are as a people, and what we are as a civilization. I’m saddened by what I see today. Things have changed much since the day of James Russell Lowell, when people would sit and listen to a lengthy poem in praise of those who gave their lives in a recent clash of arms. And there are problems in this era when, in debates of public policy, gas prices and the mortgage meltdown trump the welfare of our troops in the field. Our veterans’ hospitals are filled and overflowing as sick and injured troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan in mass. People blame our elected leaders. Yet the priorities of politicians reflect the feelings of those who elect them. America’s heroes – including those most recently arrived from combat – are forced to wait weeks and months to see doctors and therapists. Many express anger when they hear stories of this mistreatment of our veterans. But how much of that outrage finds its way into letters and e-mails to Congressional Representatives and Senators? Our nation’s veterans – young and elderly – wait years for disability claims to wind through the Department of Veterans Affairs. In DAV Magazine, I read how our organization fought the VA for 18 years to get benefits for the widow of a World War II hero. People wonder why disabled veterans and their families must face such a nasty struggle in the VA benefits system. They ask why the government doesn’t just give the VA the money it needs for medical programs, so it can take care of all our disabled veterans. But here’s the problem. Our elected leaders have to balance all of the demands made by the people who elect them to office. So it’s no surprise that many politicians pay the closest attention to the loudest voices. Right now, the hue and cry is elsewhere, not focused on America’s veterans. Here’s some Truth with a capital T. The VA expects to treat 330,000 veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan next year. That massive number comes in addition to other eligible veterans who need the system and served during World War II, the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and a number of smaller military conflicts. There’s an enormous dollar sign associated with providing that care … as well as disability benefits paid to more than one in five veterans who served one or more tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sure, caring for our nation’s veterans is part of the cost of war. I hope everyone’s aware of that, especially while our troops are fighting their hearts out on two fronts for you and me right now, today. But is it any wonder – in this era of demand for lower taxes – that politicians pay more attention to issues that have a lower price tag? It’s just a whole lot easier. Listen, I’m not here to tell you which issues are most important as we elect the next President of the United States. And I’m certainly not here to tell you which candidates deserve your vote. We don’t do that in the Disabled American Veterans. We’re a strictly nonpartisan organization. But I am here to tell you – on Memorial Day – that the best way to honor the war dead is to honor and serve those who lived and need the support of our nation’s people today. And that means placing America’s veterans high on the public policy agenda! Gas prices, mortgages, and taxes may be important issues … but they are not more important than those who purchased the freedom of our nation’s people with their blood and their health! If America is going to send her best, most loyal young people off to war, our nation’s leaders better be prepared to deal with the consequences. In war, men and women in uniform – many of them very young – die. That is the plain and simple truth. Those we remember on Memorial Day, were killed in the cause of our country. In war, our troops suffer terrible wounds and injuries. Sometimes their minds are shattered. Often, they come home with lifelong illnesses, some with no names. War is not a trivial thing. A civilized nation respects those who bear its terrible burden. I hope our nation’s leaders will show their respect to those who have carried freedom’s torch. When they send the men and women of our armed forces to war, they shoulder an enormous responsibility, one that must not be taken lightly. And I hope America’s people will urge their elected leaders on to fulfill this essential duty … because, without that public pressure, nothing will change. You show the deepest respect by coming to Memorial Day service to honor the dead of our wars. You render due tribute to those who gave up the breath of life long ago, as well as those who made the ultimate sacrifice only recently in Iraq or Afghanistan. You have remembered what James Russell Lowell called: The single deed, the private sacrifice, So radiant now through proudly hidden tears. Thank you once again for coming to observe Memorial Day, honoring those who preserved our nation “at life’s dear peril.” The quotes from James Russell Lowell are from his “Ode Recited at the Harvard Commemoration,” one of his most famous poems. The sincere grief expressed throughout this long ode is without doubt influenced by the death of an uncle during the Civil War. The quotes from Army veteran Brian Turner are from his prose poem “9-Line Medevac” from “Here, Bullet,” a book of poems about this combat veteran’s experience of Iraq. Published by Alice James Books (www.alicejamesbooks.org), “Here, Bullet” won the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award.