I think I should start by pointing out that this day began as a celebration of peace, or at least that is to my mind its purpose. Five years ago, I visited a friend stationed with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. (“SHAPE” it is called in another of our efforts to make every organization fit into “acronymonia.”) My friend and I toured battlefields from World War One. You remember; it was “the war to end all wars.” We visited Verdun, his first trip, and my third. Verdun is the site of the longest battle humankind has waged. Hundreds of thousands of men on both sides died there in 1916 as a plot of land covering only several square miles changed hands repeatedly, until the battle-lines returned to nearly their original orientation and the engaged and bloodied nations turned to burying their dead and killing each other at other locales. If that seems senseless, understand that this was the point of the Battle of Verdun. The German plan was to “bleed the French white.” The only unforeseen and unwanted result was the near equal destruction visited upon the attacking Germans.
My friend and I also visited the grounds around Ypres, Belgium. There, on “Flanders Fields” where “the poppies blow, Between the crosses row on row,” thousands more died from bombs and from shells and from bullets and from disease and from the first use of chemical weapons and from sinking below the water and mud that covered a stinking sea of death and destruction. We were there to commemorate, with thousands from around Europe and beyond, Armistice Day, or more specifically, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Veterans Day is not merely a day to remember the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform; it is a day to rue that they have been called upon to fight and die and a day to celebrate the end of war. In a nation with a military led by civilian leaders answerable only to you, it is a day to reflect upon your role.
Dear citizens, in June of 1993, I arrived at Aviano Air Base in northern Italy. As a newly minted Senior Non-Commissioned Officer, I was taking on new roles and responsibilities for the care and feeding of the sons and daughters you send into the Air Force. At Aviano, we had a unique opportunity to do good. Like you, we watched in horror as mothers, trying to reach the market in Sarajevo to get food for their hungry families, were cut down by snipers. We were appalled by wanton and inhuman acts of violence that covered Bosnia. Those women and tens of thousands of others died while we waited in Italy. Finally, you decided—collectively, either by advocating for or against or by sitting on your hands and allowing others to decide for you—that we should act to stop the killing. Over a period of almost exactly two weeks, we bombed Serbian forces while Croatian troops simultaneously drove Serbs from their territory, ending the killing. Sixteen years later, that effort still holds. We were so successful that we reprised our role in Kosovo in 1999 and wondered why we had not acted in Rwanda and wonder now why we are not acting in places like Darfur or east Congo. These are your decisions.
On Thanksgiving Day in 2002, I arrived in Doha, Qatar, to play a tiny role in planning and executing the start of the war in Iraq, putting at grave risk the sons and daughters you had sent me at that point and hundreds of thousands of others who have served since then. Frankly, I do not know what you were thinking. But, we have a civilian-led military that our government uses to do those things that you demand and to do those things that you allow. While Bosnia was the zenith of my time in uniform—who gets to say they participated in actions that perhaps saved tens or hundreds of thousands of people?—the role you assigned me in Iraq was the nadir. Perhaps you are already familiar with the costs: as of today 4,362 dead American troops, 31,557 wounded. (Iraqi loses have been frightfully worse: over 85,000 killed and nearly 4.8 million displaced.) All this has occurred while we continue a fight in Afghanistan (918 killed, 4,434 wounded) that until very recently seemed to have dropped completely from the minds of most Americans. (Not from yours, of course.)
So, dear citizens, what role have you played? Are you advocating for or against the use of military force in these or other conflicts? Are you doing nothing? Are you participating in debates and decisions that may place your sons and daughters or your neighbors’ sons and daughters in harm’s way? Are you mindful enough and concerned enough on this Veterans Day to actively play your role in our civilian-led military? For the record, in case you are new to this page, I am for staying in Afghanistan and for leaving Iraq. And you? And who knows your opinion? We have this odd idea that discussing politics is impolite (except when we hide behind pseudonyms online and purposefully act impolite). Rubbish! Self-defeating and exceptionally dangerous rubbish! We are a Democracy, a nation of people who govern themselves. We are not to debate the decisions that are vital to our nation and ourselves? We are not to inform ourselves on the issues that matter and to discuss them amongst ourselves, to advise our elected representatives on how to represent us, to VOTE?! Which are you—active or passive? It is Veterans Day; time to honor the sacrifices of our military members. It is time to commit to our role in determining their use. And it is time, perhaps, for some to apologize for not participating. After all, dear citizens, whether we participate or not, we decide to make veterans—this day and every day. What will you do?
- Alan Howe, November 11, 2009
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