UNITED STATES—It comes once a year, but in all truth, it should be a holiday for them every single day. I’m referring to Veteran’s Day. For those not in the know, Veterans Day is Tuesday, November 11. Not many Americans think about the holiday or understand the actual importance. For those, who work for the federal government its another day office. Yes, if you didn’t already know, courthouses will be closed, banks are closed, there will be no postal service running either. So if you didn’t plan ahead, that’s on you.
With that said, Veteran’s Day I have paid much more attention to after my grandfather passed away several years ago. My grandfather never fully shared his story about serving his time overseas as a World War II veteran. Yes, my grandfather at 99 (the age of his passing), was one of the few survivors of WWII. I always knew he never flew after returning to America because he was tossed out of a plane into a literal battlefield. He never got on a plane after that, nearly 75 plus years if I’m being honest.
If you want me to give you a slice of the mayhem and this is just a slice of the mayhem he endured, watch the opening scene of Steven Spielberg’s war classic, “Saving Private Ryan.” Yes, my grandfather was on that beach fighting for freedoms before my dad and I was even thought of. The fact that he survived that bloodbath, which was far worse from the stories he shared that I could gleam were disturbing to say the least.
My grandfather never wanted to talk about his time during WWII and when he did, you’d be lucky if he chatted about it for 2-3 minutes at best. He was haunted by the horrors of what happened to him during World War II. That is the one thing I regret; I wish I spent more time with my grandfather while he was alive to get as many details as possible about his story. What it was like to be a Black soldier fighting for America during a time where Blacks didn’t have many rights and didn’t get the respect they deserved.
I would have loved to ask him how he survived; what were some of the things he encountered and what motivated him to fight to get back to America, when not so many soldiers returned to their families. I believe and I’m almost certain my grandmother was a big motivator for my grandfather because he left for service before they got married. He made a promise to her that he would return to her and get married and he did just that.
This was just an opportunity for me to share my grandfather’s story, but to place a spotlight on all the veterans across this country, who tend to be overlooked and forgotten. I hate and I mean this with a passion, hate hearing about veterans who are grappling with homelessness. There is absolutely NO REASON IN THE WORLD, someone who has fought for this country has difficulty obtaining housing. It should be a mandate that anyone who fights for this country has a roof over their head. They should not want or need for anything. It should be a mission of ours as Americans to ensure that.
Yes, I love the notion of many of the restaurants in our country providing meals free of charge to vets, but we should be doing so much more. Yes, giving veterans things are great and all, but I think most veterans that I know, and I have plenty, and I mean plenty on my dad’s side who served this country from the Navy to the Army, to the Coast Guard to the Air Force, they just want the acknowledge that they exist. They want to know the American people haven’t forgotten them and they are not ignored.
Too many Americans don’t understand the sacrifice that it takes to risk your life for complete strangers. Some do not see, many don’t understand it, and some just don’t care, which is an absolute shame. Without veterans a lot of the freedoms so many of us take for advantage would NOT even exist. Think about that this Veterans Day because not many of us actually do.
