Returning Heroes deserve Honoring

@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
April 7, 2008 10:32am CST
I was a radio operator at command level during Desert Storm. I sat in a tent in Southern Iraq when the message announcing the signing of the ceasefire came over the radios and fax machines. I rememeber celebrating just like everyone else, I mean, it meant we were going home! I also remember saying that we might as well keep our ruck sacks packed because ceasefires have never meant an end to a conflict. In fact, there isn't a single example of a ceasefire bringing peace to anyone. It has been 17 years. When we returned from that war, we were given ticker tape parades and a "heroes welcome". Much of the response was from Vietnam War vets who said, "Never again!" Never again will troops return from serving our country and be treated like they were! Now we're 5 years into the natural extension of a "ceasefire" with a stinking bit of rancid tallow like Hussein. 5 years of young troops finishing the job that diplomacy prevented us from carrying out 17 years ago. Now I have friends who don't even admit they were in Desert Storm. Why? They say it's "an embarrassment". We returned to a hero's welcome, only to be told now that "we lost" or at the very least, "didn't finish the job". Meanwhile there are vets returning from Iraq now. War Vets who went through far worse than my cohorts and I. War Vets who just may be headed back when their unit rotation comes back up. Are we still willing to welcome them home to the heroes welcome they deserve far more than I did? Or are they going to be treated the way idiots and fools treated the Vietnam vets so long ago? How you welcome them home says far more about us than it does about them.
1 person likes this
1 response
olivebranch56
@olivebranch56 (910)
• United States
7 Apr 08
Ted, I have always been ver0y dist0urbed by the wa0y we treat our men and women who protect us at home and abroad. When we thought our homes and lives were in danger from 9/11, you didn't hear a lot of people standing up saying, don't go to war, it was oh thank you for serving our country and keeping us safe. Now we are there, and it is why are we still at war? Well we are still at war for the same reason we went to begin with. If we don't fight the terrorist on their land, we will have to fight them here at home. I believe that with all my heart. It amazes me how so called citizens of the USA can be so double minded. What has happened to the pride we used to feel in this country, when the flag waved, or the National Anthem was played, have we forgotten what this land was settled for. Our For fathers came here so we could have the freedom to worship as we chose, to be able to speak up for the things we believed in. What has happened to that pride? I have an idea, not that my opinion counts for much anymore. When our men and women who serve us come home from any service where they have protected our sorry butts, They should be the ones who get a paycheck for life, and health benefits. They do much more for us than the politicians who draw a paycheck for life. What have the politicians done for us that they deserve to continue drawing a check when they leave office. That money should be going to the people who have really served our country, the ones who make it possible for the talking heads to keep talking. Our young men and women deserve much more than what they are given. The American people should come to their defense, as they have come to ours, it is time to pay the piper. Give these deserving warriors their due. Their families should never have to depend on food stamps to be able to feed their children. If not for them, what would we be doing as a nation, probably speaking German, or Russian. Give them what they deserve, and cut off the politicians.
1 person likes this
ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
7 Apr 08
Yes it is disgusting... especially when you go to a VA hospital and see what passes for "serving the vets". I remember the new found patriotism after 9/11. I also remember a few months later when people started asking, "is it ok to take our flags down now?" I would answer, "if that's how you feel, it would have been more honest if you hadn't put the flag up in the first place."