Lary Bloom
Writer, Editor, Teacher
The Bloom Blog
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Friday, November 11, 2005
Kiss A Veteran
No mail today. No school, either. The banks are closed. We are "celebrating" Veterans Day. But of course, we celebrate this as we do other holidays. It is, for many, merely a day off from work.This is 38th Veteran's Day since I returned from Vietnam. And, for the 38th time, I feel no sense of celebration, and no sense of the country's gratitude, if there is any. I read in the paper yesterday about how charities designed to help veterans actually steal from them. I see photos of old men wearing their legion hats saluting a flag and I think, well, we have failed our veterans.
Yesterday, I had a conversation with the widow of a man who caught hepititis in the Vietnam War, and died of liver disease a few years ago. I asked her if he ever applied for disability. No, she said, it was too hard to figure out how to do so, and to prove the connection. But the connection was real. The man is dead, and we know why.
It's too late for us to say thanks to him for what he did on our behalf. But it is not too late to thank the veterans you know, each of whom assume that they will get no thanks today.
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 5:39 AM
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