A few days ago I was watching the local news and the anchors discussed how men and women were coming home from Iraq. Instead of having a positive tone to their voices they stated something along the lines of "what may look like a regular event to most of us is a special one for these families." Then on the screen you saw Veterans being greeted by family members that they had not seen in a long time. The homecoming pulled on my heartstrings as a few tears began to dampen my cheeks. Meanwhile, the news anchors voices echoed in my head and disturbed me. How has it become a normal event to see Veterans come home from war and be welcomed with only a warm hello from their families?
I have never experienced the parades and celebrations that used to accompany the homecoming of Vets back from the World Wars. But, being a lover of history I have seen the pictures of an enormous flag hanging over the side of the Hudson Building in Detroit (symbolizing their gratefulness to our Vets) and pictures of parades that were held all over the country and attended by everyone. My grandparents used to talk about all of the dances that would occur when Vets came home. Maybe back then we had actual victories to celebrate. The celebrations went deeper then just celebrating the victories they were a tribute and thank you to all of the people that had fought for our country.
Have we as a country forgotten all about the most valuable attribute of American society? Have we forgotten how to be indivisible? As the country gets torn apart due to greed of the upper classes, and political parties trying to conquer their seats; what about the rampant Americans greed that occurs daily by not providing Veterans with the respect they deserve? Next time you see a Veteran make sure that you say "thank you." They all deserve to be respected by every American as our lives are protected by them.
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