Opinion: Veteran’s Day Redux
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Over the weekend we ran a Veteran’s Day op-ed by lawyer and 101st Airborne vet Phillip Carter, talking about the military-civilian divide over use of the word ‘hero.’ The column brought forth some thoughtful responses, including in the comments of Carter’s interesting weblog, Intel Dump.
Blue Crab Boulevard remarked:
It is very evident how different the yardsticks are to those who serve. Coming from an Army family I see the differences if only vaguely since I was not allowed to serve myself. Carter is quite correct that the standard for being a hero within the armed forces is exceedingly high. My son touched on this same subject when he wrote of seeing the elephant.
That link is worth clicking on. Then there is ‘Knowing Woman,’ who was moved to write a long open letter. A couple of excerpts:
Please forgive me if I disagree with you on your point about the difference between ‘heroes’ and those who ‘do their duty.’ We, sir, are a nation of heroes and heroines. The woman sitting next to you in Starbucks reading the paper over a Cafe Latte may be one of the 1 in 3 women who survived the war of an abusive marriage while working full-time to support her children. The student studying at the table across from you may have been a battered or abandoned child putting himself through school while working two jobs in order to grow up and make a difference. The barista may have survived the war in Nicaragua and the hell of the exodus to get to the U.S. [...] Thank you, Mr. Phillip Carter, for your service, hero and duty-bound. Thank you for writing to us and telling us about this deep wound of separation you now carry with you. You have eloquently described a feeling many of us feel. I can only hope that my response encourages you, when you look at us in Starbucks, to see us civilians as your ‘all-my-relatives.’ We are.