Lest we forget, this weekend we celebrate or thank the veterans who have fought and continue to fight the sometimes vain and sometimes glorious wars our country has engaged in for most of it's history. As a boomer who came of age in the cauldron of the Viet Nam debacle, I will be forever sceptical of any politician's plea for war, and having avoided the call by a series of fortuitous circumstances I never had to deal with the homecoming and the attendent shame and ambivilance so many of my generation faced.
I have always been turned off by the mantra that we must honor the troops. Meaningless gestures of parades and applause and salutes don't replace closed or substandard clinics for the wounded and the dejure discrimination so many face as they try to reintegrate into society. If I see a vet, I will thank him for his service, but I curse the idiots who send these men and now women out to die needlessly. I will start believing in our nation;s wars when the politicians who are so ready to start them are leading the troops into battle. Happy Memorial Day....
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