Central Valley Veteran’s Speak Out

Central Valley Veterans Speak Out
Veteran's Day is Saturday, November 11, 2006

The Community Alliance newspaper invited veterans, their families, and community members to send us their thoughts about this day. Here is what they had to say:

I remember Veteran’s Day as a kid of ten of twelve sitting with my Dad on the curb and waving a flag as tanks and soldiers passed by in parade. I played war the with my brothers and friends and thought it was “cool.” To me, Veterans always seemed to like war and be desirous of more military spending by the government.

I no longer think war is “cool” and now know it as the scourge of mankind throughout the ages. I am a Viet Nam-era veteran. I served honorably for four years in the US Coast Guard. I wish veteran’s organizations would focus on advocating on behalf of the mentally and physically wounded veterans and let others advocate for ever-increasing defense spending. My wish for Veteran’s Day 2006 is that the United States stop generating more veterans, and that my grandchildren or anyone else’s never be called upon to fight an unnecessary and unjust war. The world can never be at peace as long as war is profitable.

Paz,
Larry R. Mullen
Green Party Activist
US Coast Guard, 1961-65


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Unless you’ve been there, you will never understand what it feels like to hold your husband and say goodbye to him. There is the thought lingering in the back of your mind that he will possibly never come home. Standing in the airport watching my husband walk away was the worst day of my life.

My husband is deployed to Iraq for a year. I am reminded of the lyrics of the song, “Seasons of Love” from the musical Rent. “525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?” How will this next year measure? What will my husband miss? There will be no Thanksgiving, no Christmas, no Valentines Day, no Easter, no birthdays, no holidays. My husband will miss a year of the life of his 2 year old daughter and 4 year old step-daughter. He will miss his step-daughter’s first day of Kindergarten. He will also miss our first wedding anniversary. Politicians can talk on the importance of the “War on Terror”, but I see the emptiness that this war has caused in my home. War divides families. War destroys homes. War has no meaning.

Melissa Halsey
Wife of a U.S. Army Soldier

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A NEW HOLIDAY?

I grew up celebrating Nov. 11 as "Armistice Day", celebrating the end of "the War to End All Wars." Then we came to the realization that someone was just pulling our leg about that, and renamed it "Veterans' Day." As we already have Memorial Day and the Fourth of July when we wave the flag for our veterans, perhaps we could come up with a new holiday. How about, "
Victim's Day?"

It would be an annual day of mourning for all of the native peoples killed making the world safe for U.S. business interests. Participation in a prayer would be required of all schoolchildren, recited by the teacher in Korean, Mon-Khmer, Tagalog, Teribe, Yoruba, Quechua, Sakapulteko, Arabic,
Hazaragi, Navajo, etc. Example: "Our Father, who art on Wall Street, we thank thee for all of the blessings we enjoy at the expense of the Third World. May their starving children rest in peace. Amen. "

"Victims Day" ( alternatively known as "Cops of the World Day") might also have a touching closing ceremony; burning a huge oil derrick topped by a cross on the White House lawn, as the Marine Corps Band plays catchy tunes like "It's a Small World", "Semper Fidelis", and "Die Fahne Hoch."

Uncle Bill ( former S/Sgt USMC 1950-1954 )


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Uncle Johnnie was on Saipan. He never recovered from "shell shock." He would sit in rocker with a wavy smile. He never drove a car after Saipan. Uncle Chuck was a B-17 pilot. He parachuted out of flaming bomber at 10,000 feet. He was a P.O.W. for 3 years. He recovered.

I despised tyranny. With the defeat of Fascists, Commies were next.

When I graduated from college I received my "greetings" by special delivery. I promptly got drunk & had a motorcycle wreck which gave a 6 month reprieve. I had my misgivings about Johnson's war...but I had a plan. I would be a Quartermaster Officer. "In the rear with the gear."

I volunteered for Vietnam at the urging of my C.O. When I arrived in 'Nam, a southern Major asked,"Whar yew frum?" "Sir,I'm from San Francisco." The whole room went quiet. I was sent quickly up to the front.

G-5 was Psyops & Civil Affairs. I carried a card giving me free access to anywhere. My job was winning the hearts & minds of the civilian population. Families scuttling from the destruction of their villages sobered me up. I convoyed food to "Relocated Strategic Hamlets." I supervised rebuilding of our destruction. VC gave a me a pass because I was bringing cement for their tunnels. My saddest job was 101st Div. Solation Payments Officer. I would pay worthless Vietnamese money to families who had suffered at the hands of American troops. Empathy for the common Vietnamese people grew within me. I waded through the misery of innocents for 1
year.

I still despise tyranny. Only now I don't have to drive as far. I'm proud to be a Green, as are my sons.

Dirk Van Gelder

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This Veterans Day we must never forget that all wars and all killings are a sign of the failure of the human race to communicate effectively with each other and to resolve problems without death and destruction. My seven years in the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force thought me that when nations prepare for war they will eventually use their military skills and equipment against other and generally weeker nations. In the twenty-first century war is an outdated tool for resolving peoples/nations differences. It might be argued that prior to the atomic age war for the most part only killed the two combatants. This is no longer true. Modern war has the capability to destroy all life as we know it on earth today We must, specifically the United State and the European Union and the United Nations work towards a world in which full employment becomes the law within each nation's boundaries. Labor unions and peace and social justice groups must work for full employment - that is the passage of a law which will never permit unemployment to rise above two and a quarter percent. Nations must lower the work week to 24 hours a week and train people how to effectively spend their leisure time. Millions of jobs can be created within nations if people are educated on how to spend leisure time. Most people will not want to join armies if they have a decent job. That is why, for the most part, I joined the U.S military fifty years ago - to get and earn a paycheck. Who is the "we" I refer to - it is "we the people". In peace and friendship.

Vincent Lavery

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Every year when Veteran’s Day rolls around, I remember the year (1968-1969) I spent working with the homeless on Skid Row in Chicago. It seemed like nearly every one of those homeless alcoholics was a veteran, at that time mostly of the Korean War. I always wondered how many of those men would have been alcoholics anyway and how many just had not been able to readjust to society after military service. Even then, the VA was cutting back on their service to homeless veterans. It seems like our support of our veterans is scandalously non-existent. We send them to fight in questionable wars, Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan/ Iraq, and offer so little support when they return. Our support for our troops consists mainly in declaring an annual Veteran’s Day so the rest of us can have a day off work or school while we turn a blind eye to those veterans who are suffering from military service, from agent orange, and from depleted uranium. It is time to support our troops by realizing that war is always wrong and never achieves peace.

Bill Simon
President, Peace Fresno