Hey, It's Veterans Day
By Karl Klockars in News on Nov 11, 2007 2:40PM
We're not very good at this rah-rah patriotism stuff sometimes. Especially when it seems like there's so very little to be patriotic about. Day in and day out, we're bombarded with information about our dysfunctional County Board, our crumbling mass-transit system, a stumbling economy, a dismal federal government and a long-term embroilment in a far-away sandbox, so on and so forth, fill in your own blank here: _________________
So when we take these few yearly minutes to remind ourselves that A) there are a few things worth celebrating around these parts, and B) sometimes people have to go through terrible things so we can sit here and blither into our keyboards about everything under the sun.
Every year there's some trite rundown from the press (that damnable liberal anti-military media!) about the troops, and how even if you don't support the war you should support our fighting forces, and here's a 5-second "Hi, Mom!" from Sgt. Somebody from Hometown America, now back to the game. Unfortunately, there's no real other way for those of us with the aforementioned keyboards to do much of anything else. It's the best we've got, so please, suffer our requests kindly.
So here are the annual suggestions to: Hug that veteran family member. Spend some spare change on a poppy. Write a letter to make sure Walter Reed isn't ignored again. Donate some airline miles. Did you go down to Soldier Field Saturday for the Chicago celebration? Buy four homeless people a sandwich. One of 'em is a vet. Think about checking out some Vet's activities in the burbs. Throw a few bucks at Fisher House. Maybe just remind someone that the best way to support the military is to not put them in harm's way unnecessarily. Or, watch the new (extremely gornographic) Rambo trailer. Kidding.
It's not much on our part, especially compared to what many have given up in comparison, but we feel a bit obligated to pass these things on. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
Image from g2mil.com.
