Veterans' Day Reflection

Crosposted at Disabled Americans for Democracy

By official count, 2,842 Americans have died and 21,077 have been wounded (see http://www.antiwar.com/casualties) since the start of the Iraq war. These brave service members join those from previous wars whom we honor today.

I know about military service and sacrifice.

My father was lost at sea while on active duty as a naval warrant officer. My stepfather is a career naval officer, having retired after thirty years on active duty, including three tours in Vietnam.

My father's brother died young, in a car crash, but not too young to have served in the Air Force and done a tour in Vietnam. I have a maternal uncle who was a career naval officer, while both my stepfather's older brothers served in the Second World War. Even my mother did a stint in the WAVES in the early '60's.

What about me? Have I done military service? Well, no. It would be difficult for me to do so, since I was made blind and crippled at the age of six by the incompetence of a doctor in a U.S. naval hospital.

I understand military service to this beloved country, and I understand sacrifice.

As you listen today to the president and vice president, ask yourself whether they understand: A man who skipped out on his National Guard commitment and a man who received five deferments; a president who did not heed the advice of his military experts as to the size of the force actually needed in Iraq, whose Defense Department consistently fails to equip the troops adequately while lying to military families; a president who forbids cameras at Dover Air Base or anywhere they might photograph the caskets of our dead; a president who refuses to attend funerals for our dead; a president who has consistently cut funding for care for our wounded and for research that would aid in the care and recovery of those suffering traumatic brain injury…

I understand what it means to honor our troops and our veterans. Do they?

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