Few Remember

Today is Veterans' Day and its sad to see some many people (from Politicians to Ordinary People) completely ignore what today signifies (remembering the 18 Million Men and Women who put their lives at risk everyday so we don't need worry about anything.)

The United States did away with the Military Draft for Men in 1973 (Women were never Drafted.)

A poll done in 1973 found that 88% of ALL Americans either served in the Military or knew someone close to them (Husband, Wife, Son, Daughter, Brother, Sister, Girlfriend, Boyfriend, Friend, etc.) that served in the Military.

A poll done in 2018 found that 0.1% of ALL Americans either served in the Military or knew someone close to them (Husband, Wife, Son, Daughter, Brother, Sister, Girlfriend, Boyfriend, Friend, etc.) that served in the Military.

From 88% to 0.1% in 45 years (now 49 years) shows the reason so many Americans no longer really care about Veterans’ Day, Memorial Day or the Military in General.

My Dad is a Veteran and he enlisted in the Military when it was 100% All-Volunteer (ie. he wasn’t Drafted.)

When I was a little kid and then a teenager we had 1 TV Channel and it had no real Commercials (it didn’t need them since we only had 1 PX/BX and 1 Commissary to shop from.)

The Commercials we did have were Patriotic ones telling us what great things our Military and Country did in the past as well as how not to walk down Foreign Streets wearing an oversized Cowboy Hat and belt buckle screaming and shouting “Yee-Haw.”

When I went to the Movie Theaters (watching a film that had come out months before in the US and was already in the local Foreign Movie Theaters) we had to stand for the National Anthem before the movie started.

In Elementary and Middle School we had to be part of the American-German Friendship Club or at least participate in the American portion of the different Programs and Celebrations that showed how great America was.

We took trips to American Overseas Cemeteries where American Soldiers from World War 1 and World War 2 died and were buried – far from home. We took official trips to local German Concentration Camps so we knew why America was in Europe 50 years after World War 2 ended. During the Cold War (when I was a kid) we took official trips to the Inner-German Border separating Communist East Germany (backed by the Soviet Union) and Democratic West Germany (backed by the United States) so we knew why we were sacrificing our childhoods (the carefree ones American kids back in the US were having.)

Those are just some of the things we had to do (and I gladly did.) It is weird that Military Brats, Soldiers and Military Spouses kept being shown all the Patriotic things when our Fathers, Mothers, Husbands, Wives, etc. were already servicing in the Military and doing the most Patriotic thing an American can do.

Back in the States, Americans received no such Patriotic reminders. They watched Commercials telling them which Holiday toy their Parents had to stand all night in line in and then fight hundreds of others for just so their child could play with the cardboard box instead.

They spent Memorial Day having BBQs, Independence Day going camping and Veterans’ Day preparing for all the Black Friday Sales that would start in a few weeks.

Today, Americans of all ages and all backgrounds tend to forget what makes America the best country in the World. We won World War 2, we won the Cold War, we are the only Super Power left in the World, our Culture and Language is envied and copied by Billions of non-Americans around the World on a daily basis and Billions still seek to come to the United States (either as Tourists or Legal Immigrants) to see the “American Dream” for themselves.

We aren’t a perfect country – no country is perfect – but we are the best in the world that for Centuries other countries and other people have wanted to copy or become part of.

On Veterans’ Day today remember the 18 Million American Men and Women who risked their lives to fight for all of us and lived.

On Memorial Day remember Millions of American Men and Women who risked their lives to fight for all of us and have died.

On Armed Forces Day remember the Hundreds of Thousands of Active-Duty American Soldiers who continue to risk their lives to fight for all of us.)

Every day, remember the good and the bad that America is and the Men and Women who made it that way and strive for the good while remembering the bad.

Support the Boots (Soldiers and Veterans) even if you don’t support the Suits (the Politicians.)