Nov 11 2008
Veteran’s Day:Fighting for what?
Well, another Verteran’s Day has rolled around. The date commemorates the day the Armistice to end World War I took effect, as fighting ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. As holidays go, there’s a nice symetry there. And so far, the holiday is still celebrated on the 11th of November, and has not been moved to Monday for convenience’s sake. So far, so good.
But something has always puzzled me about the holiday. Every year, orators point out that our vets put thier lives on the line for our freedom. But, putting aside patriotic sentimentalism for historical accuracy, when was the last time a vet truly fought to preserve our freedom? The War of 1812 probably, when the British invaded our country and burned parts of Washington, DC. But since then, it’s hard to see in which war our freedom was in danger of being lost. Make a list, check it twice. No freedom fights here.
The Mexican-American War of the mid 1840’s? Mostly a land grab by the U.S.
The Spanish-American War of 1898? More of the same, except this time it was a sea grab too.
World War I. Yes, there was a lot of destruction in Europe and elsewhere, but with the Atlantic Ocean between us and Europe, we Americans were in no great danger of losing our freedom to the Kaiser.
World War II. Close, but no cigar. Probably the most destructive war of all time. But, once again, the US was really never in any danger of losing our freedoms. The Japanese never really got close to the US mainland, and the Germans couldn’t even manage to invade England, just 25 miles across the English Channel. So how could they have crossed 3,000 miles of ocean to strike at the U.S.? Not even close.
The Korean War of the 1950’s? Were we ever in danger of being invaded by North Korea. Nope.
The Vietnam War of the 1960’s and 1970’s? A traumatic experience in many ways, but the Vietnamese were as likely to land in America as the Koreans.
Gulf and Iraq Wars? Saddam had eight years of stalemate fighting the Iranians. His chance of putting our freedoms in danger? Lower than zero. Ditto Afghanistan.
As this brief review makes clear, history shows that American vets have been fighting for something, but it was never our freedom. But the politicians and war hawks will never admit it, no matter how true. It might be too hard to explain what we’re really fighting for, so it’s better just to shove freedom in there somewhere. That’s not much truth to it, but it sure sounds noble and uplifting. Jingoistic propaganda often does.
