Thoughts on Veterans Day: "We will remember them"

Having grown up in a military family and then my own 30-year military career, my thoughts about Veterans Day have changed over the decades. When I was young growing up around military bases during the 1970s and early 80s, I remember my father and his fellow officers and soldiers being almost all Vietnam veterans in the “new” all-volunteer military.

When Ronald Reagan began in his first term in 1981, he prioritized rebuilding the military with higher pay and revitalization

They were primarily in their 20s and 30s, facing a hostile media and entertainment industry which generally portrayed them in a bad light. Vietnam vets were depicted as habitually unemployed and/or homeless and racked with guilt or post-traumatic stress disorder. The movies 'First Blood' and 'Deer Hunter' were good examples of this milieu. That came despite the reality of Vietnam veterans as a group more successful compared with those of their generation who didn’t serve. 

Veteran’s Day at that time was not what we experience now, insofar as the primary veterans were Vietnam era with that negative stigma. At the time, World War II veterans were middle aged and a tough, silent group. World War I veterans were still around, though quite old (as were the occasional “ancient” Spanish American War Veteran). Veterans Day was important, but it was celebrated despite the wrongful stigma and the “malaise” in America of the late 1970s and the feeling among veterans that they were not appreciated outside their own circles.

This dynamic changed during the 1980s and the Reagan administration. When Ronald Reagan began in his first term in 1981, he prioritized rebuilding the military with higher pay and revitalization. The nation became revitalized with Reagan’s economic and foreign policy successes to the point Reagan won 49 states in his 1984 reelection.

Veterans were almost always portrayed in a positive light

Rebuilding the military was a primary focus in the 80s, and media and entertainment came around on that. Instead of the gloom of 'First Blood' and 'Deer Hunter', pro-military movies like “Top Gun” (1986) became the norm. Having been commissioned as an Infantry Officer in 1990, and deploying to the Middle East throughout the 1990s, I experienced the complete turnaround in treatment of the military by society. Returning from deployments in uniform meant the constant refrain of “thank you for your service” versus the distain many Vietnam veterans experienced. 

Veterans were almost always portrayed in a positive light. The nation seemed to go overboard in thanking veterans, and I suspect it was partly to make up for treatment of Vietnam veterans. Veterans Day became a more important Holiday beyond the military. Americans realized World War II veterans were a particularly important group to honor before they were gone.

During the post 9-11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, America continued the laudatory treatment of the military and veterans. I can still remember returning from Afghanistan in fatigue uniform and the airport loudspeaker announcing our return to cheers of civilians. Most younger Americans by then had grown up without the memory of the post-Vietnam treatment of veterans. During this period, World War II veterans were dying at thousands per day. 'Honor Flight', flying World War II (and later Korea) veterans to Washington DC to see the World War II Memorial, came into being to specially honor those veterans. 

“Old soldiers never die, they just fade away”

With the younger generation deploying to the post-9/11 wars, the nation continually honored their service. This tied all Veterans, WWII to post-9/11, together in a positive light. Unlike with the negative public sentiment directed at the military after the withdrawal from Vietnam, the public did not turn on veterans after the catastrophically botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. The ire was almost exclusively placed on the Biden administration and top decision-makers, but not the troops and vets. Though military recruitment has been in crisis the past few years, this has been mainly due to the perception of many military families of “woke” policies (which many believe the incoming Trump administration will reverse). Veterans are still honored.

Returning from command in Korea, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur repeated a “barracks ballad” in a speech to Congress exclaiming “old soldiers never die, they just fade away”. MacArthur died in 1964, just before the Vietnam War, and so never witnessed the inexcusable treatment of Vietnam veterans. Regardless, the sentiment about veterans “fading away” is something I have come to understand as I get older and watch former and fellow brothers in arms passing on to be with those who fell in battle. Lawrence Binyon wrote as part of his famous poem 'For the Fallen': “ They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them.” We honor our fallen comrades on Memorial Day, but we cannot forget Veterans are left to grow old and fade away. It’s important that American society honor their service before they join their comrades who fell in battle. It is the duty of every American. God bless America.