One hundred and one years ago this morning World War I ended with what is known as an armistice. The term is derived from two Latin words which literally mean "arms," and "a sitting." The armistice went into effect at 11am on the 11th day, of the 11th month of 1918. The best guess of the number of people killed during the four plus years of the, "Great War," is 10 million military personnel on all sides and close to 7 million civilians.
The carnage was so appalling--the British alone had suffered nearly 750,000 killed--by 1919 the UK was recognizing the date as a solemn holiday. They called it, Remembrance Day. A year later the United States began observing Armistice Day. The UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, among others still call it Remembrance Day. In 1954 the U.S. changed it to Veterans Day because the "war to end all wars," thing really didn't work out thanks to Herr Hitler and the Japanese, not to mention even the most optimistic of us knew there would be a lot more of them.
Since then, Veterans Day has morphed into a moment to honor the veterans of all the military services, whether they served during a war, or not. In other words if you were in the army fixing flats in a Fort Dix motor pool in 1955 this is as much your day as it is some trooper who almost got his ass shot off, in let's say Iraq. When it comes to those who actually did get their asses shot off sometime, somewhere we observe their sacrifices on Memorial Day in May.
It has been estimated that between 42 and 50 million Americans have served in the nation's military since the founding of the country. That's a lot, although it isn't even close to the number who haven't. In fact throughout our history there has been a tradition of Americans doing everything they can to avoid going into the military during both war and peace.
Way back when, before he was President two different times, Grover Cleveland took a pass on the Civil War when he hired a substitute to take his place in the first ever war time draft. It is unknown if the guy survived, but his odds weren't good. It is estimated 360,000 Union troops died during the conflict.
On the other hand at least Cleveland's anonymous stand in got money up front for his service. When political luminaries Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Dick Cheney came of age their cash went straight into the coffers of universities rather than the pockets of the poor high school grads, drop outs, and immigrants who took their places during the Vietnam War.
Vietnam was America's first war televised live. You really didn't need to have an imagination to visualize it. And in response to all the terrible images huge numbers of high school graduates started scrambling to get out of it. Despite savage left wing condemnation the much maligned American Establishment responded to the middle class fear and loathing immediately. After all, it wasn't like the NVA was closing in on the beaches of Oahu even if some parties needed to keep people thinking they were.
If you had the grades, the money, or the right doctor the ways to avoid the nightmare in southeast Asia were myriad. The situation became so weird a friend of mine who I played varsity football with for four years was given a deferment by a physician. The Doc diagnosed him with a debilitating allergy to dirt. Knowing that, the idea of Don Trump getting a deferment for disappearing bone spurs doesn't seem that far fetched.
There is no shame, in my opinion, for those who chose not to be in the military. Unless, of course, they are a Dick Cheney type. You know, a guy who did everything he could not to serve during a war, but spent most of his political career making sure others had to.
Conversely, I do appreciate those who did serve. Yes, even that guy fixing flats at Fort Dix. Without them who knows where we'd be?
That said, I just wish we would get back to the original idea of Armistice Day. That would be remembering those who died in the, "war to end all wars," and more importantly, that precious moment on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when sanity and peace conquered mass violence.
11-11-19
As a Vietnam era veteran, I have never held it against, or resented anyone who chose not to serve and avoided military service via some legal option. My life took me down a strange and unusual path to service in the U.S. Army, and long ago I realized that each person has their own star to follow. Now, for those who avoided service by playing some manner of trump card, (pardon the pun) or exercised privilege in some way, well, they have to live with their decision as I have lived with mine.
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