Burly Veteran's Day

It's Veteran's Day, but I had to admit I didn't really realize every soldier is a veteran.

To me, a veteran means combat veteran. I'm not trying to kill the mood, but I find it hard to "thank" a veteran who served on some Alaskan base for a few years. It's serving, yes, but I can't refer to such as a veteran.

Here's a soldier you definitely want to hear stories from.

Also, getting to this thing about randomly walking up to a "vet" and thanking them: I'm sure those guys appreciate being appreciated, but it's also kind of disconcerting to have some half-drunk meathead slapping a soldier on the shoulder and demanding to buy him a beer. For, no doubt, being "awesome." I don't know, to me respect is respect, and it doesn't come from a bottle. Obviously I think most combat vets probably have little interest in being thanked for stabbing some other kid to death in a muddy ditch. War is war. I feel like Veteran's Day is the day when vets get some free drinks and cigars and meet other vets and talk about how it feels to still be alive, so long after they thought they wouldn't be.

I've been asked why I didn't join the Military when I was a young man. When I was hitting 20-21, the first Gulf War was ramping up. I remember hearing the reports on the radio of the first fly-overs and the anti-aircraft guns booming, and I remember being sure there'd be a draft. I was still a virgin, and not very keen on the idea of dying as one. So I can't say I had much enthusiasm for becoming a soldier at that time. Not to mention the "Don't touch me," thing, and an overall bad attitude. I wouldn't have cut it as a soldier.

In case you boys weren't sure what you're fightin' for.

Then when 9/11 happened, I was 31 and everybody was ready to join up and kill some "towel-heads." In that case, I can definitively say the Iraq Invasion was complete bullsh*t. It was a lie wrapped in a conspiracy and topped off with another layer of jingoistic bullsh*t. I had zero interest in invading a country because the U.S.of A got reminded of the reality of the world and had to find a scapegoat.

Again, being drafted isn't something I would have dodged. I think you give me a modern-day Hitler and I'd become a soldier and give my life to kill it. Give me a moral war and you've got a soldier. But don't give me lies to cover up sleezy American interests in oil-rich countries.

For all the soldiers who gave their lives serving this Nation, go with God, and I hope you are reunited with all of your loved ones, to once again smell the hint of jasmine in your girl's hair, and see the little child she named after you, and hear your father tell you how proud he was of you. I hope that for you all.