The problem of our military worshipping culture

[sabrina 1]

15. The worship of the military is very limited. It is phony, it is for the

theatrics only.

But when it comes to providing for those who served, who were injured, whose lives were destroyed either physically and/or emotionally, suddenly they become invisible.

I prefer to ignore the pomp and circumstance which really does nothing for actual soldiers and their families, and spend that energy on trying to help the homeless vets I see on the streets here every day.

Most people pass them by, many of those same people probably cry when they see the flag draped, uniformed images of our 'warriors' overcome by feelings of patriotism.

But I know for a fact that the reality of the lives of so many of those who have served has little to do with those images and that for the most part few people actually care about them.

As former Sen. Alan Simpson said:

'They were heroes when they were serving their countries, but now they are not helping by collecting their benefits' (paraphrased)

That is the true sentiment of this country towards the troops. The rest is propaganda.

Everyone was so angry with him when he said that, but he was actually stating what vast numbers of our elected officials and the public REALLY think of the military. They like the patriotic photos but not the reality.

I will believe they are honoring the troops when I see them getting emotional over all the homeless, disabled vets.

How often do we see THESE photos asking us to honor military veterans?










http://steelturman.typepad.com/thesteeldeal/2007/11/homeless-vetera.html|

1 in 4 Homeless are Veterans

"When the Vietnam War ended, that was part of the problem. The war was over, it was off TV, nobody wanted to hear about it," said John Keaveney, a Vietnam veteran and a founder of New Directions in Los Angeles, which provides substance abuse help, job training and shelter to veterans.

"I think they'll be forgotten," Keaveney said of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. "People get tired of it. It's not glitzy that these are young, honorable, patriotic Americans. They'll just be veterans, and that happens after every war."

I'm really not moved much by the propaganda photos. It has no meaning until the day comes when we do not see THESE kind of photos ever again in this country. Because this is the real way we 'honor' veterans, the rest is just advertising for war.