It”s a sad reality, but a reality nonetheless – people today are desensitized to several heavy, disheartening or meaningful topics simply because society allows it by enabling apathetic lifestyles.
One of these topics is the service of veterans and those still in the armed forces.
The sacrifices these people make in order to travel the world and defend their country, the lives lost fighting and the horrors they experience are stated and restated each Veterans Day. It may be my own perception, but these spiels have started to sound scripted.
Lyndsie Kiebert
It is upsetting to realize that this holiday comes and goes without so much as a patriotic Facebook post from most.
While this apathy toward military service cannot be cured by a single voice, I believe it”s worth my while to share what Veterans Day has meant to me since my early years as an elementary school student up to now.
My elementary school was very small – maybe 15-20 students per grade – and every class could fit easily in our small, carpeted gymnasium in neat rows, cross-legged, for honor roll assemblies and special presentations. Every year around Nov. 11, we would sit in those rows and give our own special presentation.
Veterans from throughout the surrounding community were invited to come sit before our small student body and hear us sing our appreciation for their sacrifice and service. Our music teacher would help us learn a few songs about freedom and gratitude in the weeks leading up to Veterans Day, and we”d perform them – always off-tune, but heartfelt nonetheless.
I”m not sure how common this show of thanks is throughout the nation, but in our small community, it was monumental for the dozen or so veterans who came and listened. I learned early on what it meant to give thanks, and my education emphasized that my privileges were granted by the bravery of these men and women.
I carried these lessons with me into junior high and high school, winning essay contests on topics related to freedom and democracy sponsored by my local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, even placing on a national level. I”ve attended a couple of my aunts” Naval retirements, where people were moved to tears by the national anthem and the respect each woman received resounded in me. My uncle will retire from the Navy this spring, and I look forward to celebrating his achievements and his selfless love for his country.
We live in a world where we can”t deny that we take these people for granted. My ability to have my opinions published is protected under rights I have done nothing to earn, but that others defend every day while I pursue my education. But still, I can”t say I remember to be grateful for that fact every single day.
The truth of the matter is that I”ve acquired an unwavering respect for people who have served or are currently serving and I understand that my life would be very different without their service.
So find time to thank a veteran. Whether it”s on Veterans Day or any other day of the year – it doesn”t matter. Teach younger people, particularly children, that veterans are not just a “fact of life.” Those in the armed forces don”t have to do what they do, they choose to.
Of all the things that Americans have become desensitized to, the people who sacrifice a comfortable life and go to war to fight for us should not be one of them.
Lyndsie Kiebert can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @lyndsie_kiebert