Veterans

My dad was my favorite veteran. This Navy boot camp picture was taken near the end of WWII. He didn’t see combat but his ship almost went down in a typhoon in the Pacific. Veterans Day is an awkward mix of emotions for me because Dad died on this day several years ago due to complications from Parkinson’s disease, a much more unpredictable enemy than the countries we fought in the war.

I don’t really know how Dad felt about war or the military, but I do know he had deferments for a few years because of the nature of his work and he enlisted when those ran out. The war ended while he was in boot camp. I wonder how he felt about that.

The salutes to veterans that dominate media on Veterans Day remind me that Dad rarely reminded anyone he served.

The tributes and messages remind me that I am a veteran too, but don’t waste your breath thanking me for my service. The Vietnam War was still on, I ran out of deferments and enlisted because I thought I’d have more choices than if I was drafted.

I had mixed feelings about war before enlisting, but what I saw and learned during the first few weeks of basic training crystallized my beliefs in the anti-war direction. I was honorably discharged less than a year later.

My feeling about war and the military remained negative for a long time. Over the decades, however, my thinking has changed. I am still against war but I believe that some wars are in some way justified. I have plenty of respect for military personnel and I understand their role in keeping our great country safe.

I started medic training but didn’t finish. Ultimately my ‘service’ consisted of sweeping floors, cleaning toilets, assisting a company clerk with filing papers, painting barracks, moving furniture and enduring ridicule and suspicion during the countless interviews that eventually led to my honorable discharge as a conscientious objector.

I only began calling myself a veteran a few years ago, although I don’t say it much. I’m not especially proud of my service but I am proud that I stood up for what I believed.

So while I don’t want you to thank me for my service, I do ask you to join me in thanking my Dad and other veterans for theirs. They fought to preserve our freedoms, including the freedom I had to do what I did.