To all who have served in the armed forces of our country, I honor and thank you for serving. I honor you who have served in wars, you who have experienced the horror of war. I honor you who have returned from war wounded in body, mind, or spirit.
I honor your loved ones who waited, and worried, and prayed for your safe return. With them I join in thanksgiving for your return home.
Lord God, Almighty and everlasting Father, I ask your blessing upon all veterans today. Pour out your love upon them and bring healing of body, mind, and spirit. Grant all strength and courage as they go forward, and, Lord God, give them comfort, consolation, and your peace that passes understanding to keep their minds and hearts.
O Judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 839)
I've prayed this prayer. Thank you Mimi.
ReplyDeleteIt's very easy to take the freedoms for granted.
During the Viet Nam war, we made the mistake of dishonoring those who fought the war. I hope we never make the mistake again. If anger there is, turn it against the leaders.
ReplyDeleteDuring the Viet Nam war, we made the mistake of dishonoring those who fought the war.
ReplyDeleteAre you speaking personally, Mimi, as "we"?
Because I hear this, passively ("I was spat on", "I had 'Baby-killer' yelled at me"), yet I've never heard from anyone who was on the active end of those stories.
Now maybe, there's mass amnesia/denial, by the perpetrators (which IS possible).
Or maybe, there was mass INFLATION of incidents (qualitatively or quantitatively), by those who did/do have an interest in trashing any/ALL anti-war movements.
In MY Vietnam war protest memories (and granted, the fall of Saigon occurred when I was only 13!), the slogan re the troops was "Bring Them Home Now!" The only "baby-killer" was maybe, Richard Nixon (or no lower in the chain-of-command than General Westmoreland).
This is (as you can tell), a sore spot for me. Not ONLY because I feel like war protestors have been painted w/ a (ridiculously broad, if not slanderous) brush and maligned, but even MORE personally...
...where's OUR Veteran's Day? People have DIED protesting wars: where's their Memorial Day?
As the saying goes "They serve, who only stand and wait."
*I* would say, "They serve, who PROTEST the friggin' wars others are serving in!"
Just my 2c.
JCF, I did not do those things personally. I've heard veterans of the war, people whom I know and trust, who did receive the treatment or saw it done to others, and I believe them.
ReplyDeleteOf course, not all protesters of the war acted that way, but I believe some did. Many protest groups made a point of not treating veterans badly.
Well, one can't judge how prevalent abuse of returning troops really was, because people who have tried to find contemporary accounts of such behavior have consistently come up empty-handed. Or so say the people who tried, and no one seems to have responded to them in any relevant way.
ReplyDeleteLinks to any rebuttal to this would be appreciated. Meanwhile, it doesn't look anywhere near as prevalent as spitting (and other minor things like violent attacks) on anti-war protesters by anti-anti-war protestors.
My commentary is merely anecdotal and does not include a large sampling of witnesses, just people I know. I have not done the research. Baby-killer was one of the epithets used against the returning troops.
ReplyDeleteBesides, if one had been a spittee back then, would one necessarily tell the truth today when asked?