More Than An Empty Mailbox

LTC Kent Shaw, U.S. Army
Ft. Knox, Kentucky

Only because of the selfless service of our veterans does America remain a beacon throughout the world for those who long for freedom and human dignity.

The word service was once synonymous with the military. "I was in the service," veterans of World War Two and Korea still say with pride today. There was a time when many Americans knew personally the meaning of service. It meant that one way or another—through the draft or enlistment or a commission—you had offered years of your life to your country, often by going into harm's way.

Today, very few Americans have this experience or even understand what it means to serve one's country. It's getting harder to fill the ranks. Fewer young people today view military service as a beneficial and desirable part of their education. They need help understanding the value and ideal of being in the service. That is why Veterans Day is important. Having this national holiday means that at least one day out of the year, all Americans encounter the word Veteran and have an opportunity to understand it. Yet sadly, the only way most Americans experience Veterans Day is by opening an empty mailbox.

"Oh, it's Veterans Day," they say. "I forgot. No mail today."

And they're right. They have forgotten.

Veterans today have a special obligation. They are the keepers of the flame, the bearers of our national memory. Veterans know better than any other Americans that the ideals of democracy and freedom will always be linked to the selfless service of our men and women in the Armed Forces.

Those who have experienced combat know there is both a bright and a dark side to Veterans Day. The bright side is the glowing pride that comes from participation, the pride felt every time a friend, a coworker, or a neighbor mentions WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Panama, or Somalia. You can say quietly to yourself, "I was there. I was a player. I made a difference." This also includes those who served on the home front contributing to the war effort in industry, on farms, or in other occupations supporting our Armed Forces.

On the other hand, there is something dark in Veterans Day, a sadness that accompanies pride. It's the anguish of loss and the despair that rises from wondering if anyone remembers or cares. Do people know the enormity of the price you and your comrades paid? All Veterans know what I am talking about.

In some ways, you lost something, whether it was your childhood innocence, or irreplaceable months, even years, away from spouses, children, and loved ones. Or maybe you lost something visible and tangible—a leg, an arm, or your best friend.

Yes, you are a Veteran and proud of it, but you paid a steep price for that distinction. You wonder, as you stand among the few people who still display "Old Glory" or march in poorly attended parades, "How many Americans still remember? How many truly understand? How many really care?"

These days, Veterans Day comes and goes quietly, with little fanfare or even recognition. Over the years, veterans have become novelties among the general public. Their role as a source of guidance is diminishing. It's not that veterans should be put on a pedestal. They are not an elite group of men and women, but they are a unique group. When it counted most, they were right in the middle of the action. If we don't honor them properly on Veterans Day, we lose a chance to teach a valuable lesson to the next generation.

Have we as a society allowed ourselves to become indifferent to the sacrifices of yesterday's veterans and today's military personnel? Have we allowed ourselves to forget the price that freedom demands? How many Americans today are prepared and willing to interrupt their daily lives to serve, to make a sacrifice for their country? Not that many.

Yet some do, and we can take great pride in our Armed Forces today. At the dawn of this new century and millennium, we have the world's preeminent fighting forces. The military is the best trained and arguably the most motivated peacetime force in history. I say "peacetime" with tongue in cheek, because right now, the Army, for example, has about 146,000 soldiers on point for the nation in 70 countries throughout the world. But let's not forget that those who serve in the military today are a small group in American society.

The overwhelming majority of American citizens have never had any association at all with military service. "A veteran?" most would ask. "Who's that? Someone who once played in the NFL or the NBA?"

That's why it's so important for veterans to speak up, to get their stories out there. Only because of the selfless service of our veterans does the United States remain a beacon throughout the world for those who long for freedom and human dignity.

May each of us make every day Veterans Day. The twentieth century taught us that the world will never be completely safe for democracy. Freedom will always require vigilance and exact a high price from those who would possess it. That price is the selfless service of the Armed Forces of democratic societies.

Because America's veterans understand what it is to serve, it is veterans who must help reconnect Americans to the ideal of service. If our nation is to remain strong, the core values of a veteran must again become the core values of the American people. They must understand that Veterans Day means so much more than an empty mailbox.