A veteran is anyone who has served. We tend to think of them as war heroes, people who were in harm's way. The guy that served meals for the trainees at Camp Pendleton for four years? No, not really. But a veteran is anyone who has served in the military. Including the cook.
The estimates range from 1:12 to 1:17 for the ratio of combat personnel to support personnel in the military. That is, for every man (or woman these days) in combat, 12 to 17 others are providing support, mostly without facing gunfire. Without these support personnel, those combat troops would not be able to do their jobs. Sure, we give special honor to those who serve under fire, and rightly so. And we give additional honor to those who have given their lives for our country, and rightly so. But if you are among the 90+% who served without being shot at, you're likely ignored. "You're not a veteran." That's the message.
To those who have served, I say "Thank you." For those who have pushed pencils and toted bullets and folded uniforms and cooked meals, I am grateful. Thanks to the medical personnel and the bookkeepers and the accountants and the maintenance folks. To the computer technicians and the recruiters and the trainers and the planners, I salute you. On this Veterans' Day, I wish to thank all veterans who have put in the time and effort to serve this country. Your work is appreciated and the military's job of defending our freedom couldn't be done without you. And, of course, a special thanks to those who served in combat. I hope you already know that.
1 comment:
Of course there are also those who served during periods of no combat. I was in from 17 June 1970 to 27 Feb 1975. Vietnam was still a 2-way rifle range until we were totally pulled out mid-1973, and from then on the USA wasn't involved any where.
I think I avoided Vietnam because I went to jump school, and was assigned to a stateside unit at the end of January 1971 (Basic, and Combat Engineer training prior to Jump school). While many of those I trained with who didn't go to jump school went to Vietnam, I was lucky. And in 1971 the US started pulling troops out, so I was in that particular timing such that by the time I finished training no one was being sent.
Anyway, you have a very good point, because too many people tend to forget those support personnel and those who served during time of peace, as if they weren't veterans. Thank you for your reminder.
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