Opus 2017-380: All Vets Are Not Equal

Today is Veterans’ Day.  It is appropriate to thank a veteran for serving, but like many things in life it should be done properly.

I write as a Vietnam veteran.  I was drafted.  I did not enlist.  I did not want to take time out to serve in the military but I accepted it as a part of my civic duty.  I am glad I served but I would not want to do it again.  I was not in combat and, although I did go places where people had died, I never was seriously threatened the whole time I was there.  I was one of the majority who struggled with boredom more than the Vietcong.

I do not deserve the same thanks that a warrior deserves.  Everyone cannot be a warrior.  Armies are made up of a minority who actually fight and a majority who support them.  That is the way it works.  Those who end up being warriors do not always volunteer for the position, but they serve anyway.  They are the ones who really deserve our thanks.

So, thank you warriors.  You paid a price that the rest of us cannot understand, even those like me who did their duty.

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