By Kurt Schlichter
Monday, November 11, 2013
This Veterans Day, let’s honor our warriors, not
patronize them.
We veterans resent the left glomming on to us to justify
the welfare state, responding to any observation regarding the millions of
liberal-voting deadbeats feeding off of Uncle Sucker with the smug rejoinder
“What about the veterans who need help? Why do you hate veterans?”
Like progressives ever cared about our warriors – the
only reason they aren’t lined up to spit on our returning fighters is they know
they’d get their teeth knocked in.
Let’s be clear – being a veteran is not a “Get out of
work free” card that excuses you from the basic responsibility of supporting
yourself and your family. If I pass a bum with a sign reading “Homeless Vet,” I
don’t feel an overpowering surge of solidarity. I feel disgusted that another
low-life is trying to milk sympathy off a proud status that millions of us
earned with our blood and sweat and years of our lives.
Are there vets who need help? Of course, but those aren’t
the ones you see playing the vet card to avoid work and fuel their addictions.
Some legit ones have physical injuries. For others, the wounds are invisible
and hard to understand, like traumatic brain injuries. We owe these warriors
not only our support but our compassion as they struggle against an insidious
enemy. They are eager to overcome their challenges and to build productive
lives.
These wounded warriors are getting some of the help they
need through the government – taking care of those hurt in the service of the
nation is a basic federal government function and about the only kind of safety
net program that can be legitimately extrapolated from the text of our
Constitution. Where the government falls short – as it inevitably will, because
it is the government – the American people are picking up the slack.
But the “professional vets” you see demanding handouts
are, at best, exploiting their long-ago service. Just because you served
doesn’t necessarily indicate that you will forever demonstrate the kind of
character and self-respect that the military demanded you show when on duty.
It’s not a free pass for the rest of your life – in fact, fellow vets expect
more from you. We expect you to live up to the example of the overwhelming
majority of veterans who came home, hung up our uniforms and went about
building families and careers.
Of course, that assumes that all of the people out there
claiming to be veterans actually are veterans. My police pals inform me that
the only uniform most of these frauds have ever worn is an orange jumpsuit. A
vet can always tell a fake – asking for a DD 214 and getting a blank stare back
is usually a pretty good tip-off.
We vets aren’t victims. We aren’t pawns to be used to
justify giving handouts to couch-dwellers. We aren’t asking for anything except
to be taken care of when injured – and we shouldn’t have to ask for that.
Vets are humble – the guy who tells you how he was a war
hero invariably wasn’t. But because our military has grown so remote from most
Americans’ lives, many civilians are unsure how to express their gratitude
toward their warriors. Here’s how:
If you see an guy in a ball cap that reads “World War II
Vet,” “Korea Vet” or “Vietnam Vet,” ask about it. Make sure your kids listen.
These heroes won’t be with us forever, and their stories need to be told. I
remember speaking at a function and sitting next to an unassuming gentleman who
turned out to have landed at Normandy. For a military guy, this was like being
a garage band guitarist who got seated next to Pete Townsend.
Citizens often want to reach out to warriors they see in
uniform around town or at airports. That’s great. A “Thanks” and a handshake,
even a hug, is appropriate.
Now, this will fluster the warriors. The warriors will
tell you they are just doing their job, and they mean it. Most warriors are
baffled that someone is thanking them because they know so many people they
feel truly deserve it. Thank them anyway.
Sometimes a warrior in uniform at a restaurant will find
his tab paid when he asks for the check. This happens a lot. If you feel
compelled to do it, any senior sergeant or officer will tell you to save that
for the younger troops. They get paid less and they do the really hard work.
If you want to say “Thanks,” but you aren’t where there
are a lot of warriors around, then why not help out Operation Gratitude or
Wounded Warriors? Do you own a business? Think about hiring a vet. I did, and
she’s awesome.
Regardless of how you choose to do it, on this Veterans
Day, let’s honor our warriors – including deployed ones like my pals Jon and
Don. Instead of treating them like losers in need of pity, let’s treat them
like what they are – heroes.
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