Here’s a wonderful piece by James Marten on who we are and why. It condenses the essence of our struggle then, in the 1880s post war era, as well as today.

Many American Veterans do not realize they inhabit the best of all worlds right now vis a vis their VA claims. Never in memory can I recall a time where we were respected and thanked for our contribution to America’s freedom as we are now. America, for a brief time, will give us that which is our due. At some time in the future, she will rebel at the high cost incurred and seek to diminish all that she has promised her sons of war.

America’s demeanor towards Vets is fickle. Many was the Vet, including me, who stepped off the plane at Travis AFB in California and took the bus over to San Francisco Airpatch. A great majority of us were greeted by a de facto army of protesters with nothing better to do than harangue us as we dispersed for home or new duty stations. Yes, some even spit on us. I arrived there, not in crisp 1505s, but in sweat-stained camouflage fatigues fresh out of the jungle. After two years, I had a tan that made me look Hispanic and a desire to be left alone. I was a natural target of their animosity. I resisted the urge to engage them because I was beginning to feel more affinity to them than the military.

For the next twenty years I would have very little to do with the vA except for a vA home loan. I desired nothing from them and expected nothing. Which is exactly what I got. When I did make the overture to them about remunerations for what were unarguably service connected injuries, I discovered just how jaded the concept was. We were promised a fig newton. It existed somewhere but I would never see it because it was virtual and not tangible. A mirage would be a good analogy.

With the advent of three wars and a military called to accomplish this in several different countries simultaneously while still ensuring a commitment to our allies in Europe and Korea, we discovered we were stretched thinly.  We fell back on our National Guard and other assets which were never intended to be called up unless a threat was at our doorstep or just off our shores.

America, for the moment, is honoring its commitment to its Veterans. How long will it be before the sentiments fade and the scenario described by Mr Marten in his Marquette Law Review come to pass again? It appears to be cyclic and peaks several decades after each conflict. Thus History teaches us than by 2025, a gradual wave of indifference will evolve into a nation turning its back on its Veterans once again. Just as in Mr. Marten’s thesis, we will be seen as a plague on the US treasury-undeserving of the largesse we demand as ours. Sadly, many civilians see this as a gratuity rather than a promise- something that can be rescinded when financial  turmoil demands it. This is what we experienced after both world wars.

Enjoy your time in the sun, ladies and gentlemen. Gird yourselves well and protect your six. You have no idea what’s in store for you. We who have trod this ground before you are the few left to sound the alarm. Our Vets from WW2 are all but a mention in history. Our brave ones who stood fast at Pusan in 1950 are also fading daily. In fact, the majority left are the approximate 900,000 of us who served in Vietnam and the adjacent peninsula. Our numbers are shrinking even more rapidly than those of prior wars due to the insidious nature of jungle warfare and its attendant diseases.

In sum, soon the only advocates for Veterans who are Veterans will be the post-Vietnam, pre-Desert Storm troops. They have also been given the size 2 t-shirt that doesn’t fit. Their travails over depleted uranium, CFS, suspect vaccinations and the like are a new battle only now beginning to bloom like an unwanted hernia. Somehow vA seems to think they can get a handle on this. In fact, they honestly believe they can solve it with 4,000 new employees! It reminds me of a new husband talking about his wife’s impending childbirth and saying “Relax. I know how to handle this. I read the book.”

Our nation is great because we make it so. Our Veterans are an integral part of that. To ignore their contribution and attempt to renege on the promises is foolhardy and will contribute to the eventual decline of our military. In fact, we as Veterans are a driving force for the young who seek their fame and fortune as soldiers. Our talk of past experiences exhorts many to seek admission to this exclusive club. If America demonstrates its disdain for them after their loyal service, we shall witness a decline in the moral standards and the timber of our recruits in future years. In spite of what you see now, there will be a reckoning and it will be ugly.

I close with General (and President) George Washington’s admonition:

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by this country.”

Read and heed in future years.