At my kid's elementary school, there was a Veteran's Day Assembly today. It was a nice assembly, the kids sang patriotic songs, read some writings about why they are proud to be Americans, and honored veterans by singing the service songs.
There were 8 veterans representing the Army, Air Force and Navy, and they all had some connection to the school, either parents or grand parents. As one of the parents/veterans, it was a nice display. The kids all performed very nicely.
It also made me think of a lot of things. Firstly, my wife had mentioned that this would never have happened in California. Sad, but I agree with her. Our schools never did, but I also think that the political climate is different in California. Secondly, whenever I hear the "patriotic" songs, it makes me think of all the people I know and I don't know who have served. Sure, I served, but I was in a peace time army, nestled between the Gulf War and current war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have an understanding, and maybe a better understanding of what our soldiers are doing, but I still don't know. But what I do know, is that it is tough, dirty and requires a lot of sacrifice, both on the personal front and for all of their loved ones.
I'm glad I live in a country where we are free. We have so many things, things that we see as everyday, that others don't have.
To those who have served, thank you.
3 comments:
Do you and Heather watch The Unit? It's a pretty good show (created and often written by David Mamet, for whom I totally have a man-crush...on a parenthetical note, I heard a man-crush referred to as a "bromance" the other day and thought it was the perfect word...anyway) about a team of special forces soldiers and their families. It's pretty cool, though often heavy-handed (such as when the hot military wife of a special forces guy comes to and takes over a peace protest). I think you two might enjoy it given your backgrounds. G and I watch it every week
-Roger
Rog - I watched the series premier of that and it was just too Hollywood. It has some plusses and some minuses and I watch so little TV as it is, that it didn't make my list.
I appreciated, to a point, the fact that it focused on both the soldier and the family, but again sometimes was too fake (affair with commander, your example of a peace protest).
The military action part of it was just too Hollywood for me. It was great action, but I saw two guys, on the spur of the moment, go rescue hostages from a plane.
It is a good action show, in the same sort of way as the A-Team, but I don't think it hits the military drama in the way that I would like.
Hey Beau,
On the "this wouldn't happen in California" tip, the city of San Francisco just voted to ban the JROTC program from the public schools. I love living here, and generally like the region's politics, but I just don't get the people around here sometimes. And now, of course, the rest of the nation gets to look down on us and say "those crazy San Franciscans...!" If we hadn't had JROTC in high school, I'd have never had my shot at trying out for (and not making) the rifle team. (I think they took one look at my hair and tweaked the sight on my rifle.) But anyway, I'm glad you were able to have a nice ceremony at your kids' school in a slightly less hostile environment.
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