assignments

Veterans issues:

100 word – half page Write something related to veterans. This could be their impact on politics (and potential use as a symbolic tool for politicians), an experience you or someone you know has had with the VA system of care, a story a veteran (or their spouse or child) told to you about their time in the military, your opinion regarding how we treat veterans, or whatever. Here is a real example. My father, now 70, served in World War II. When I was young he rarely spoke of the War, but as he aged and started getting together with his fellow soldiers, he spoke more and more about that time. There are two things I particularly think of when his service comes to mind. First, almost everyone served in the military during World War II. Only for specific reasons did any young man not serve, and they generally supported the war effort in other ways. So my father never felt his service was anything special. He was just doing his part. My father also helped me realize that winning a war requires a multitude of people doing many different jobs. He loaded weapons and fixed the armaments for his unit's bombers. His book centered on the everyday life of the typical non-battlefield military person. One time I asked him if he was ever jealous of the pilots since they seemed to get all the attention and glory in the media, then and now. He said no. He did not begrudge the pilots. Too many times he saw only 90%, 80%, or 70% of the planes come back from the raids. The pilots put their lives on the line every time they taxied on the tarmac and you could only respect that.