by Theresa Michael

Created on: December 07, 2008

I am a military spouse. You would think that I of all people would know how to properly honor our veterans and be able to help my young children learn to honor and respect them as well. After all my husband is going to be a Veteran someday. So I was shocked when I was at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii that I was not able to explain to my son just why the USS Arizona survivor was being given special treatment, or why the Viet Nam Veteran, who was also in our group to the Memorial, was being treated differently than everyone else on the boat. What really got me thinking was when my mother said "oh look they are giving that Viet Nam Vet preference as well and it's about time someone did." It made me realize that our Vetrans are almost never mentioned except on holidays that pertain to them, like Vetrans day and Memorial day. Yet here I was at a place that tries to honor all veterans, every day, regardless of the war they fought in. Veterans aren't hard to find anymore. Like all wars before, the Iraq war has taken it's fair share of military and changed them forever. Veterans are proud of their service and, like a proud parent, usually display something regarding their service in their cars or on their person. If you see a veteran, and it is likely you will, go up to them and thank them for their service. Even if you did not agree with the war they fought in, thank them. Chances are they did not agree with it either but being in the military were not at liberty to say so. Thank those Veterans for giving up time with their families year after year so that they could ensure that we remained the land of the free. Teach your children why we should all honor and respect our Veterans of all wars and encourage them to honor and respect the veterans of our current Iraq war. Take them to places that hold a significance in Military history and help them to understand why it is important that we remember things like Pearl Harbor or why we had to go to war after 9/11. Help them to understand why some of these wars were not popular with the American people and why it is that our men and women still go out into the face of danger every day during war time despite the fact that many people are speaking out against their cause. Help them to stop the cycle of dislike of our military that was evident in pre-world war 2 years, resurfaced with the unpopular Viet Nam war and is still present even today with the Iraq war. Do not let the only ones who honor our veterans only be those who will one day be veterans themselves. My husband, his shipmates and all his fellow service members will thank you later.

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