Veterans Day Thoughts: November 11, 2017

I’ve known my share of veterans in my day, probably more than most people, I’d bet. I’ve never personally known a homeless one. I’m certainly not suggesting there aren’t any but, on this Veterans Day, I do pause to wonder.

It seems I can’t turn around without being confronted with the horrible claims that great hordes of “homeless vets” are filling our overpasses, alleys, and transit camps. At the same time, I wrack my brain and consider the brothers and sisters from my generation’s nasty little war. Almost without exception, they returned from military service and assumed a fruitful life as craftsmen, technicians, teachers, police officers, firefighters, physicians, attorneys, and, yes, even a few I’ve known enjoyed careers as urban planners.

I’ve known fewer veterans from other wars, but the ones I have known followed the same trajectory.

There was one person I’ve known who could be classified as a mentally disturbed vet. Less than two days spent in investigation, however, satisfied me that he was mentally disturbed long before he took our oath. And, sad to say, I’ve known a handful that gamed the system.

I find myself hoping then, that if the claimed numbers of purely homeless vets do exist, they will soon be recipients of the care we owe them. I repeat, soon. To heck with budget cuts.

On the other hand, if there are people who stand to benefit from careless documentation and lying eyes, I hope for the Christian concept of some very warm corners of Hell reserved for them. And, sometimes I do wonder.

One advocate did admit to me once that, within her substantial army of homeless vets, there were some individuals who simply “assumed the persona.” Evidently her organization also “assumed the claims,” for when I asked her if they bothered to demand a DD214 before “validating the persona,” she replied, with a blank stare, “What is a DD214?”

My response is omitted due to the fact that I try to keep this a family-oriented blog. Let’s just reveal, for the untutored, that the DD Form 214, “Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty,” generally referred to as a "DD 214", is a document of the United States Department of Defense, issued upon a military service member's retirement, separation, or discharge from active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States.

It is, therefore, I would argue, something that should be required to produce proof that some imposter is not insulting the memory of any veteran who has ever donned the uniform of a United States military person.

There are many people in our country who would violate what should be a sacred contract between our country and its vets. Unfortunately, too many of the transgressors tend to wave The Flag or The Bible, or both, in one’s face as they go about their mendacity. None are more sickening, in my opinion, that those who would steal, or abet the stealing of, honor from “the few, the happy few.”

So, on this Veterans Day, my friends, be vigilant, very vigilant. That bedraggled man in the worn field jacket standing on the corner begging money and claiming to be a vet is, with almost perfect certainty, not one. On the other hand, that business person walking by, in all likelihood may be. If he or she is from the Baby Boomer generation, the odds will rise even higher.

Remember that respect and understanding will outweigh hollow “thanks” all year long, not just today.

The man seated in middle came home from WWII
wearing a Purple Heart and the coveted
Combat Infantry Badge. He then led an exemplary
life and produced a world class daughter.
I have documentation of this.