“We are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.” –Ronald Reagan.
Like many other holidays in the country, celebrating Memorial Day has morphed into something that doesn’t represent the original intentions of the date. Major League Baseball adorns its players in camouflage uniforms, friends drink beer at the lake and partisanship seems to vanish in wisp of patriotism for one of the very few times throughout the year. The day of remembrance for the women and men who have died so that we have the freedom to enjoy the Memorial Day staples is one that binds Americans together.
On the last Monday in May, similarly to the Fourth of July, we love our country once again. That’s not to say that Americans as a whole refrain from affection toward our land on the other 363 days, but rather that it is the day for outward patriotism. We show patriotism on these two days because it’s the cool thing to do. Instagram accounts are filled with pictures that have “Star Spangled Banner” lyrics as captions.
We claim to honor the sacrifices of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom and honor our veterans, but by the next day, we forget about them completely and return to our lives. This is unacceptable. Our veterans deserve better.
For starters, the members of our military have no need to die in unnecessary conflict. Hawkish foreign policy in the past decades left many young Americans dead over needless war. Iraq was a mistake. Today there are children who are mourning their mother or father due to intervention. It seems that the lesson may have not been learned either, as a presidential nominee from a major party has repeatedly spoken up about much greater intervention in the Middle East to combat Islamic extremism.
The American heroes that actually do the fighting have little say as to where they go, and unnecessary offensive engagements lead to casualties. War has consequences, and the glorification and political rhetoric over time seems to have diluted the fact that families are torn apart due to the decisions of predominately old white men in suits.
The men and women that we send to fight our battles also deserve the right to live when they return home. Post-traumatic stress disorder is an ongoing problem, and with close friends currently serving overseas, I pray that I never have to see the results of any potential conflict leading to death at their own hands. The United States Department of Veteran Affairs ran a study in the early 2000s, concluding that roughly 22 veterans commit suicide every day.
In a nation that has access to arguably the best mental health facilities in the world, there have to be better solutions. Whether that simply be awareness among the public for the time being, our warriors deserve full support from the public when they arrive home and to be nurtured by their friends and family in their times of need. In terms of other solutions, Congress needs to step up. Just two weeks ago, a bill passed in Congress lifted the federal prohibition on marijuana for medical usage in Veterans Affairs hospitals to combat PTSD and depression. While it is a phenomenal step in the right direction, Congress, with a Republican majority who claim so earnestly to love and respect our military industrial complex, needs to ensure that soldiers don’t die when they arrive home.
VA hospitals remain a nightmare by many standards, and many veterans suffer due to long lines and extensive wait time. Just last week, the secretary of the VA downplayed these wait times by comparing them to the lines at Disneyland, which isn’t a laughing matter. People don’t croak in line at Disneyland on a regular basis.
Veterans deserve the privilege of using their VA benefits at private doctors and hospitals, if they are unable to be treated by a VA hospital before their conditions threatens their lives. Whatever the costs may be, whether it be taxpayer funded or not, they should be paid without question. If Congress has the ability to declare war, they should have the responsibility to protect their army afterwards.
Veterans deserve more than just a day of praise. They deserve benefits that they currently don’t receive. They deserve our respect, and even if you aren’t forced to do so in our free country, their sacrifices are the sole reason as to why you are given the privilege to disrespect them. For there is a cost of war, and it is our nation’s duty to ensure that the men and women honored on Memorial Day have not died in vain, or due to lackluster treatment upon reentering society.
