Today is Veterans Day Federal holiday.  Yesterday was actually Veterans' Day.  At one time it was called Armistice Day after the Armistice of November 11, 1918, which ended World War I.  We honor all Veterans today.  This is a time to honor those who lost their lives in service of their country, but I am not going there today.  Memorial Day is also a time to remember fallen comrades.  I want to emphasize the veterans who are still alive today.

In the Jackson CLARION LEDGER a few days ago, a feature story appeared about homeless veterans.  According to the story, fully one-fourth of all homeless persons in this country are veterans.  Now, folks, there is something very wrong with that picture.  Many of these homeless veterans are Vietnam Veterans.  Some may be veterans of other conflicts, but that there are homeless veterans at all suggests that there is something badly wrong with our system here at home vis a vis veterans.  A part of it was the unpopularity of the Vietnam War.  It was never a declared war but only a police operation.  Yet it took the lives of more than 58,000 Americans.  Hundreds of thousands more returned from one or multiple tours of 'Nam different.  They were not the same people they were before they went on deployment. 

War changes things and people.  It does something to an individual for which the country who sent him/her should be willing to offer help of any kind when they return.  Many of the Vietnam veterans came home to people who seemed to have turned against them.  Who was the enemy in all of that conflict?  Really?  We rarely ever see a parade or any kind of program honoring the Vietnam veterans.  John McCain serves as a poster boy for Vietnam vets and for former prisoners of war, but there should be many more like him.  We as Americans need to honor the veterans--all of them--regardless of which conflict they served.

There seem to be two issues here:  One is the politics of war.  We disagree on that one--always have and always will.  We should do that in the voting booth and express our preferences and choices.  The other is the human factor of being responsible to support those who wear the uniform and fight for our country.  Whether we agree with the war or not, we should support those who wear the uniform.  We should support them with our prayers, letters, cards, emails, and gifts (Yes, they still like to receive care packages from home).  When they come home on break, then we should make a big deal of it.  It is a big deal for them to return home to the people who sent them overseas.  Then when their tour and deployment are over, we should give them little short of a tumultuous welcome home.  They have done something that we here at home have not done and probably never will do.  We appreciate them for it, and we want them to know it.

Then they need to have their health care provided by their country.  No questions.  They should get all benefits to which veterans are entitled.  They have earned them.  No question.  They should be honored by the home folks, not looked down upon.  We should invite them to speak to civic and school and church groups.  They should be invited to spend time with the children and youth and teach lessons which they have learned being in the service.

Sometimes the shattering experiences which they have had simply prove to be too much to be able to return to "normal' life here.  But more often than not, the proper kind of reception and honor can help their psyches, their spirits, and their emotions as they adjust positively to being back at home.  Let's do whatever we have to do to make these wonderful people know that we appreciate them and don't want them to be numbered among the homeless.