[Peace-discuss] thank a vet?

[C. G. Estabrook]

I'll certainly thank a vet[erinarian].

They've obviously done more good in my lifetime than members of military 
organizations.


On 11/11/10 1:20 PM, E. Wayne Johnson wrote:
>  (I thought this article was in praise of Veterinarians. How wrong was
>  I.)
>
>  Thank a Vet by Laurence Vance
>
>  http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance216.html
>
>
>  We’ve all seen the bumper stickers: "My son is in the Air Force," "If
>  You Can Read This in English, Thank a Marine," "Proud Vietnam
>  Veteran," "Fly Navy," and of course, "Thank a Vet."
>
>  Why should we?
>
>  Why should we call them heroes, give them military discounts, grant
>  them veterans preference, express our support for them with ribbons
>  on our cars, honor them with a holiday, hold military appreciation
>  church services for them, and thank them for their "service"?
>
>  Veterans Day began as Armistice Day to commemorate the signing of the
>  armistice that ended World War I. It had nothing to do with honoring
>  current and former members of the military like Veterans Day is
>  celebrated today. And if the sole purpose of Armistice Day was to
>  honor World War I veterans, it should never have been celebrated
>  since no American soldier did anything honorable by intervening in a
>  European foreign war. And it doesn’t matter if he was drafted or
>  not.
>
>  Britain’s last World War I combat veteran, Harry Patch, died last
>  year at the age of 111. He boasted that he hadn’t killed anyone in
>  combat. "War isn’t worth one life," Patch said, it is "calculated and
>  condoned slaughter of human beings." In his autobiography The Last
>  Fighting Tommy, Patch wrote that "politicians who took us to war
>  should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences
>  themselves, instead of organising nothing better than legalised mass
>  murder." In the last years of his life, Patch warned some young naval
>  recruits that they shouldn’t join.
>
>  Frank Buckles, age 109, is the only American veteran of World War I
>  still living. When asked while being honored for his service at a
>  2007 Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery what he
>  thought about being there while the United States was at war, he
>  replied: "I’m no authority, but I’m not in favor of war unless it’s
>  an emergency." I think that Buckles is more of an authority on the
>  horrors of war and the folly and wickedness of war than the current
>  members of the Joint Chiefs.
>
>  It is only because World War I did not turn out to be the "war to end
>  all wars" that the holiday was changed to Veterans Day as a tribute
>  to all soldiers who fought for their country.
>
>  Although I believe World War II to be neither necessary nor good, I
>  come not on this Veterans Day to criticize the "greatest generation,"
>  who, it turns out, were also great at pillaging and carousing.
>
>  For reasons I explained in "U.S. Presidents and Those Who Kill for
>  Them," World War II marks the permanent establishment of the American
>  military as the president’s personal attack force to kill by his
>  decree Koreans, Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians, Grenadians,
>  Panamanians, Yugoslavs, Serbians, Afghans, Iraqis, Somalis, Yemenis,
>  and Pakistanis. Next on the list is Iranians. Sometimes these
>  presidential decrees are rubberstamped by a congressional
>  authorization to use force, but they are always preceded by
>  presidential lies and warmonger propaganda.
>
>  So why should a Vietnam veteran be proud? He was typically young,
>  ignorant, deceived, and drafted. He may have fought obediently,
>  valiantly, selflessly, and fearlessly, but since he had no business
>  fighting in Vietnam in the first place, I have nothing to thank him
>  for. And I certainly can’t thank him for preventing the Viet Cong
>  from turning America into a socialist republic. Besides, LBJ beat Ho
>  Chi Minh to that anyway. Many Vietnam veterans have written me and
>  expressed shame, remorse, anger, and resentment – not pride – for
>  having been duped into going thousands of miles away from American
>  soil to intervene in another country’s civil war. In fact, I have
>  found that it is those who are not Vietnam veterans who are the most
>  vociferous defenders of the war in Vietnam.
>
>  The most undeserved and oftentimes disgusting outpouring of
>  thankfulness I have ever seen is over those who have fought or are
>  fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The praise and adoration of those
>  fighting in "the front lines in the war on terror" reaches its apex
>  on Veterans Day, which has become a day to defend U.S. wars and
>  recognize all things military. These soldiers certainly have done
>  nothing worthy of thanks. Sure, they have rebuilt infrastructure –
>  after bombing it to smithereens. They no doubt removed a brutal
>  dictator – and unleashed American brutality in the process. And yes,
>  they have rescued orphan children – after blowing their parents and
>  brothers and sisters to kingdom come.
>
>  What is there to thank our soldiers for? They are not defending our
>  freedoms. They are not keeping us safe from our enemies. They are not
>  protecting us from terrorists. They are not guaranteeing our First
>  Amendment rights. They are not defending U.S. borders. They are not
>  guarding U.S. shores. They are not patrolling U.S. coasts. They are
>  not enforcing no-fly zones over U.S. skies. They are not fighting
>  "over there" so we don’t have to fight "over here." They are not
>  avenging 9/11. They are not safeguarding the American way of life.
>  Oh, and they are not ensuring that I have the liberty to write what I
>  do about the military.
>
>  What, then, should we thank our soldiers for? Should we thank them
>  for fighting an unconstitutional war, an unscriptural war, an immoral
>  war, an offensive war, an unjust war, or a senseless war? Should we
>  thank our veterans for helping to carry out an aggressive, reckless,
>  belligerent, and interventionist foreign policy? Should we thank the
>  military for sucking $1 trillion out of the federal budget?
>
>  But, some will say, these soldiers are just doing their jobs. They
>  can’t help it if the U.S. military sends them to fight in an unjust
>  war in Iraq or Afghanistan. They are just following orders. They
>  didn’t enlist in the military to kill people.
>
>  What would any sane man think about a doctor who takes a job at a
>  hospital knowing that the hospital instructs its doctors to euthanize
>  old and sickly patients – and then says he was just doing his job,
>  following orders, and didn’t take the job to kill people?
>
>  Why are soldiers treated so differently? Why do they get a pass on
>  committing or supporting those who commit murder and mayhem?
>
>  But, someone else says, the military has lowered its recruiting
>  standards and is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Many soldiers are
>  ignorant about the true nature of the military and U.S. foreign
>  policy. Why should we fault them for their ignorance? Why should they
>  be criticized for unjustly killing Iraqis or Afghans or Pakistanis?
>  They are just following orders.
>
>  Let’s go back to the doctor I mentioned. Suppose that after he takes
>  a job in ignorance at what he thinks is a reputable hospital he is
>  instructed to euthanize old and sickly patients? What should he do? I
>  don’t know of anyone who would say anything else but that he should
>  quit his job or at least refuse to euthanize anyone.
>
>  Again, why are soldiers treated so differently? Why do they get a
>  pass on committing or supporting those who commit murder and mayhem?
>
>  But, comes another reply, soldiers have a term of enlistment. They
>  can’t just quit their jobs. Doctors can walk away from their jobs at
>  any time. Then I guess it all comes down to morality: Be a mercenary
>  and kill for the state or refuse to do so and suffer the consequences
>  of dishonorable discharge and/or imprisonment.
>
>  It is high time that Americans stop holding veterans and current
>  members of the military in such high esteem. It is scientists,
>  engineers, inventors, businessmen, industrialists, software
>  developers, and entrepreneurs that made America great – not veterans
>  of foreign wars. It is doctors, iron workers, taxi drivers,
>  bricklayers, writers, electricians, and cooks that positively
>  contribute to society – not soldiers.
>
>  I would like to be able to thank a vet – on Veterans Day and every
>  other day of the year – but I’m still searching for a reason.

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