Veterans Day

 

It can get a person feeling moody; reflecting on their time in the military.  The year I spent in Viet Nam; one word doesn’t describe what my reflections trigger; melancholy, sad, somber; it’s a combination.  In a tropical war zone, ever wary of the constant danger, sometimes in foxholes, sometimes rolled up in a poncho sleeping in the rain and mud, sometimes being shot at, without enough decent food to eat; the experience left an indelible mark on me and on every other person there.  We did this because we were called on in service to our country.  I was one of the lucky ones who got to home.  Fifty thousand of us died in that effort.

 

Now, these years later we face another even more deadly threat, right here in our own land.  In one year this invisible viral enemy has killed five times the number of Americans as in the ten years of the Viet Nam war; and all of these newly dead are not off in some distant land, but right here at home, on our own soil, dying without their loved ones by their sides; and it gets worse every day.  We have an opportunity to hold this menace at bay while we wait for reinforcements.  It’s our next call to duty.  We can follow CDC guidance by wearing masks, distancing, and washing our hands.  It may not be what we want to be doing, but just like before, when you can see what needs to be done, you just do it.

 

Is this such a sacrifice that it goes beyond what we Americans should be asked to do for our country?  Is wearing a mask an infringement of our individual rights?  I don’t think so.  We know what real hardships are.  This is not a difficult ask.  It’s not an assault on our freedoms, it’s an inconvenience.  Can we all just put on our masks for a few more months, spare as many American lives as we can, and get a handle on this thing?