Respecting our Military

We rely on our military. The men and women who dedicate their lives to our protection and safety are the spinal column of our nation. They serve us in times of both peace and war. The in-between times, too, when tensions concern our waking and sleeping.

They are our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers. Uncles and aunts, too, and legions of grandparents. Generations have served. Generations prepare to serve. And whether we personally don uniforms or not, we support their commitment and service.

We call on them to patrol territories in conflict. We do so to give hope and promise to the threatened under our own flag or that of ally nations or the United Nations. Military personnel are called to serve in times of natural disasters – floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, and all the rest – to keep order and provide comfort.

These are our men and women serving other men, women and children. People to people. Mankind being kind and helpful to others. It is what we are all trained to do. But our military provides the larger capability to deliver the promise in our name.

We house, clothe and feed our servicemen and women. We pay them, provide medical care and insurance coverage, as well as retirement pay based on years of service. We provide a vast array of services and aid via the Veterans Administration. And when their service comes to a close, we help them with transition to other careers, education and professional development.

All of this is right and proper as compensation for all that they do for our society and world.

Odd that when it comes time to deliver these benefits, our political machinery struggles with policy and budget to deliver on our promises to them.

That is not a shame. It is a travesty.

This should not happen. No way, no how. And most of our 330 million citizens agree with that statement.

So, what do we do? For starters, insist our elected officials follow through with our collective promise to serve and protect our military personnel during and after their service. As promised. We should also elect representatives who will also promise to follow through on our promise.

Anyone failing to do so should be suspended from public service and removed for breach of contract.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, our government – in our name – has been systematically removing protections and benefits earned by our military personnel. They are giving lie to our promise.

This movement is led by the sitting president and supported by the republican congressional representatives and senators. I think we all should know this.

This news item is brought to you by a fellow citizen – me. I am a past journalist and writer for news outlets. But this is a small role for me. I acquired this information from our free press. They have reported these developments all along.

Have we been paying attention? Or do we also suspect the integrity of our free press institution along with our military personnel and institutions?

Some serious questions are being posed. What are our answers?

August 23, 2018