I read this spring: The 3.3 million veterans who have served since September 11, 2001, “now are roughly half the size of the largest living veteran population: Those who served in the Vietnam era.”
While I knew this intellectually, it pained me to see: “As this year marks the 15th and 17th anniversaries of the onset of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…” This means that every 16-year-old born in the United States has ALWAYS lived with war, just as every 18-year-old has lived post-Columbine, the Colorado mass shooting.
Or more correctly, warlike conflicts, since the US doesn’t usually bother with such formalities involving Congress declaring war anymore. Because of the voluntary nature of the military, it is not always obvious on the home front that we’re at war, or in conflict, or whatever we call it. No war bonds or victory gardens.
And it’s a tricky thing to recognize the valor of a soldier in combat, even when one opposes the actual incursion. My long-held opposition to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq have led to some to label me in the past as unpatriotic, not “supporting our troops.” To which I said some version of “I support their right to come home in one piece.”
I’ve never understood how a bumper sticker actually translated into helping those who served in the military. Whereas helping homeless veterans, or helping those with the physical and psychological scars of battle are noble callings.
More Census stats:
“Veterans who have served since 9/11 are more diverse
“About 17 percent are women, 15.3 percent are black, and 12.1 percent are Hispanic. Almost half (47.6 percent) are still under the age of 35.
“They are an educated group. More than 46 percent have some college education and 32 percent have a Bachelor’s degree or higher. In 2016, about 612,000 post-9/11 veterans were in college.”
I still remember, maybe 10 years ago now, walking into my Biostats class to hear the students arguing over “which day” November 11 was – was it Memorial Day or Veterans’ Day?
I said that we celebrated it here and now as Veterans’ Day (Memorial Day being in May) but that it stems from an older remembrance – then I asked if anyone had ever heard “The eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month.”
NONE of them had.
Yes, I’m old, but I was younger then, and maybe at most 20 years their senior.
What do they teach them in these schools? There were people in my grandparents’ generation who fought, but I also remember learning about it in middle school history classes…
It look like 1941 is last time United States though congress. I know a few time which I would call a war. The term “police action” was used.
Coffee is on
As someone born just before 1960, I remember growing up with war. Every night on the news, the map of Vietnam and the casulty figures. When I was old enough to understand the news until I was almost done with high school.