This is just my opinion but for over 30 years, I have observed and attended many traditional holidays honoring our veterans and special occasions such as D Day.
As the wife of a disabled PTSD vet and being around many veterans, I do not think it is healthy for most veterans. There are parades and laying of wreaths and speechs not to mention all the commercialized sales going on. I know these guys and gals suffer everyday but it seems to intensify on holidays and special honorary days. To me, 4th of July is in the top 3 of worst times. We should honor our veterans everyday, not just on certain days with a lot of pageantry.
I think we should not downplay the event, but to go on and on with events that brought trauma to most is in my opinion not really honoring but causing pain and suffering of a time they wish they could forget. I have lived this life a long time and the second week after Memorial Day and sales still going on right through D Day is ridiculous.
To me and of course this is just my opinion and observation, I think there are all kinds of ways to honor veterans and military personnel. How about returning to teaching civics and history and not using our veterans as props to show some sort of false patriotism when people are still dying from those wars? How about cutting the MIC funding? How about paying a water bill for a disabled vet or visiting them in a hospital instead of giving a speech like Trump did when he has no concept of war or it’s aftermath. He certainly has no empathy or appreciation for anyone or anything that I have noticed.
I deal with a PTSD vet every single day. I try to help many suffering from war and it is not just on a particuliar day or event and the pageantry and playing of Taps is not helping nor is it really saying Thank you but bringing up old memories of guilt and suffering and I for one am sick of the hoopla from all the chickenhawks who claim they honor vets but are putting them on display while they still suffer with their fears and tears. How honroable is it to stick a microphone in the face of a 94 year old WWII vet and ask them about D Day?
Want to know what it is like to have these displays of so called honors? Ask someone who lives with a disabled vet who tries to keep going in a world of insanity regarding their war trauma. It is miserable and to me just a prop for some people’s own cowardly actions. It is a vote getter and a hypocritical way to say you appreciate sacrafice. Want to impress me or a vet’s family, oh Leaders of the world? Stop making wars and investing into the military industrial complex and actually do something for a veteran and their families who suffer daily but especially on these days of rememberance.
Thanks for listening.