PROTEST OK, BUT ALWAYS VALUE TROOPS.

Byline: Steve Vlasich

AS the mournful strain of taps echoes throughout America, the citizens will pause today to give thanks to all veterans who served the flag and helped keep this a free and strong nation. As we observe another Veterans Day, young American men and women are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting a war that has sharply divided our country, much as the Vietnam War did four decades ago.

When World War I - ``the war to end all wars'' - ended on Nov. 11, 1918, a national holiday, Armistice Day, was proposed to mark the end of the most devastating war Americans had fought to that date. With a spate of wars after the horrific World War II, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day to salute veterans of all wars.

While today's soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq are not yet veterans, it would be wrong not to include them among those who will be honored on this special day. Theirs has not been an easy mission.

The unexpectedly swift advance into Iraq resulted in a feeling of euphoria that was soon tempered when a bold and daring strike put us in the heart of Baghdad. Many experts' earlier prediction - that the Iraqi army would strategically withdraw to lure U.S. troops into the big cities, where Iraqi insurgents with weapons caches and familiarity with the terrain would engage us in urban guerrilla warfare - sadly came true. In World War II, the Russians did the same when they feigned pulling back only to decimate the German army in the frozen and bloody streets of Stalingrad.

While many Americans oppose the war in Iraq, all Americans support the troops serving in the battle zone. We are mindful of the fact that our sons and daughters awake each morning to face an uncertain day that for some might be their last. Despite doubt and fear, they go forward to face the enemy as good soldiers have done before them, willing to pay the price in life and limb.

We should know that, without those willing to do what we cannot or won't do, the fate of our country would hang by a thread as fragile as a spider's web.

We who have served our country in previous wars pray that today's soldiers will soon return to their homes and loved ones to become the next generation of veterans. We know they will be proud of their service, proud of their individual units, and that they will be friends forever with their fellow soldiers. The death of each fellow soldier will haunt them with the knowledge that the lethal bullet could just as easily have ended their lives, leaving them with undeserved guilt many cannot erase.

Veterans come in all sizes and shapes, from all parts of our vast country, diverse in race and religion - some of them without U.S. citizenship. They may be your grandparents, parents, siblings, friends and neighbors. They may have been in the regular Army, in other military branches, draftees, National Guard members or reservists. Whatever their background, they stood their ground to beat the Kaiser, Hitler, North Korean communists and a collection of despots including Saddam Hussein.

If you have never served in the military, ask yourself if you would be willing to leave your current job with its pay, your hometown and those nearest and dearest to you for the life of a soldier. Would you be willing to put yourself in harm's way to defend people you don't know and those who don't know you?

The answer for most is easy: No; let the Army, the Navy, the Marines and the Air Force do it for us.

We must remind ourselves that those who stand up for us are actually ``us'' in the person of a brother, sister, friend or neighbor. In return for this extraordinary service that our armed forces provide, we can do no less than honor them and pay our respects to those who are willing to take the bullet for us.

Veterans Day 2004 gives us an opportunity to honor our veterans who served us yesterday. It also gives us a chance to honor those who serve in the armed forces today.

Upon sober reflection, the most meaningful way to honor our troops is to resolve that peace should be our first choice, and going to war should be our last, so that no more mothers' sons or daughters will be cut down in the springtime of their lives. We should remember that dissent is not immoral or unpatriotic. Two points of view can give birth to a third point of view that can be better.

When we exhaust all reasonable efforts, then we are left with little choice but to send our children off to war. As they march into the abyss, we can then say we turned the other cheek, we walked the long mile, and we did what we could to avoid this. We can also tell those who hate us: Don't underestimate us. We are willing to fight and die in defense of our beloved country.

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Photo:

In Pocatello, Idaho, Vietnam veteran Gary Richardson hammers in a cross at Irving Middle School's Field of Heroes memorial display, honoring U.S. troops killed in Iraq.

Bil Schaefer/Idaho State Journal