This week we celebrate Veteran's Day, a day to remember those who have served our country and died in the line of duty. Unfortunately for many of us, that day is merely Thursday, Nov. 11 - the day I have a paper due or need to start enrolling for classes. Americans as a whole are becoming more and more globally introverted, caring far more about our current economic and social needs than for our soldiers abroad. This Veteran's Day, we should try to change this attitude and take time out of our day to work with some on-Grounds groups to honor military men and women serving overseas.
"Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it's time to turn the page." With these words, President Obama ended all combat operations in Iraq. Unfortunately, it is not quite as easy as washing our hands and saying "job well done" to end an overseas conflict that has been brewing for the past seven years. Obama's words ring hollow for men and women who are still under fire in the deserts of Iraq and especially Afghanistan, where troops have been relocated to fight some of the most intense offensives since the commencement of combat operations in 2001. These wars are still raging on, and as casualty reports are gradually being moved to the back of news broadcasts - somewhere between celebrity news and analyses of a still suffering economy - they also move to the back of our minds.
Although the economy is struggling, the nation's war efforts abroad do not affect the average citizen on the homefront in a marked way. Unlike during World War II, we are not being asked to buy war bonds and our parents are not spending extra hours on assembly lines making parts for Sherman tanks. Without daily news reports, how many of us without personal connections to those fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan would know there is still a war going on? The average American is far more concerned about the state of the economy and other pressing domestic issues than about wars in the Middle East. Of course, tempers flare when the subject of these wars arises in conversation. We can protest and counter-protest all we like, hold up our signs and blame or defend a president or two for a while, but we will return to our daily activities without skipping a beat after the smoke clears. Rather than focusing on the political aspect of war, we should instead focus our attentions on the individuals fighting to ensure our freedom to engage in this often frivolous rhetoric.
Some students at the University are taking the initiative to remember our troops this Veteran's Day.
A'ishah Hils works for the Colorado-based Adopt a Soldier Program. With the few minutes it takes to write a letter, students can remind troops overseas that people are thinking about them here at home. This makes our brave men and women feel as if they mean more to us than a mere troop statistic. "We have supporters from over 100 countries and all backgrounds. Soldiers don't care who you vote for or what God you pray to, or even your views on the war and foreign policy - the single most common thing we hear from them is that they don't want to be forgotten," Hils said. "Anyone can give a soldier the gift of knowing someone cares about them and remembers them," she said. Students should take advantage of these opportunities and take some time out of their busy schedules to write a letter to our soldiers this Veteran's Day.
Thomas Paine said it best when he wrote of the American Revolution, "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman ... What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly." What our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan hope to accomplish is a safe homefront for all of us. Despite this, we still tend to esteem them too lightly. Let us see if we can move toward changing this attitude on Veteran's Day.
Pietro Sanitate's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at p.sanitate@cavalierdaily.com.
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