Veterans Day 2025

 

(Full disclosure: While I am a veteran with an honorable discharge, I never saw combat. I was never deployed overseas. I am in no way comparing my service with those who have gone in harm’s way and acquitted themselves with honor and valor.

 That said, I am not apologizing for my service. I once made a humorous, self-deprecating reference to my time in an Army band to a career Naval office. He asked me if I did everything requested of me to the best of my ability; I said I had.

 “That’s all any of us do,” he said. “They just need different things form us.)

 I attended a Veterans Day rally at Union Station in Washington DC, mainly to add a face to the crowd; I didn’t expect to hear much I hadn’t heard before.

 I was wrong. Again.

 A speaker, a combat veteran, mentioned he is sometimes made uncomfortable when people thanks him for his service. In light of the current government  and how it got there, he said he’d much rather people take that time to ask themselves if they are worth serving.

 Think about it. Thousands of jobs have been cut from the VA; services are fewer. Some military families receive food stamps. Voting for people who implemented such policies makes you complicit. How willing would you be to potentially lay down your life for someone unwilling to ensure you’re taken care of when you need it?

 There are two many people, especially suit-wearing MAGgots, who, when they say, “Thank you for your service,” leave unsaid, “so I didn’t have to go.” The Secretary of Defense – Congress has to vote to make an official name change to the Department of Defense – so much as said current service members are weak in front of a roomful of flag officers (and television cameras) while he flogged his new book. Is that someone worth serving?

 The Secretary of Homeland Security has turned ICE into a secret police force that pulls small children from school to use as hostages so their parents will have to come for them, where the parents are locked up. She signs off on raiding entire apartment buildings in the middle of the night, turning everyone into  the street regardless of age or infirmity, in the hope of finding someone undocumented. Is she worth putting your life on the line for?

 The second man in line for succession to the presidency, the Speaker of the House, had his chamber out for 54 days. None of the people’s work was done while he kept House Republicans away from Washington and refused to swear in a new representative in a cynical effort to keep from possibly having to release documents that might show his boss is a pedophile? (Make no mistake: Mike Johnson works for Donals Trump.) Is he worth enduring the depredations of a career in the military?

 And then there’s the Abasement-in-Chief, a man who has no bottom and stays up late seeking new ways to prove it. Is he worth serving?

 Millions of Americans made this possible with their votes. If you are one of them, are you worth asking someone else to die for your safety, when you showed so little concern for others? “We were lied to.” Of course you were. You knew that going in. Trump had done nothing but tell easily discerned lies since he came down the escalator. You wanted to believe them, for reasons of your own.

 “What can I do about it now?”

 Write or call your representatives. Attend rallies. Send money to resistance organizations. Work to evict those who enable this administration from positions of power. Do something. Millions of your fellow Americans, young men and women from all levels of society, are willing to take potentially mortal risks to keep you safe.

 As Tom Hanks said to Matt Damon at the end of Saving Private Ryan: “Earn this.”

 

 

Sit Rep 5 November 2025

 My spirit was willing to go to DC every day of the current five-day protest event.

 Alas, the flesh was weak.

 Yesterday I got off Metro at Union Station to check in on the 24x7 veterans’ protest, then walked to the Washington Monument for the main event. Hung out there for a couple of hours, got a hot dog, then joined the march to the Capitol. All in all I had a great time.

 My feet did not.

 Today is a maintenance day so I’ll be ready to go tomorrow when the focus of activity will be the Supreme Court, which will conference at 9:00 to decide whether to take the case that could reverse the decision that made gay marriage legal in all fifty states. There’s a veterans’-related event on Sunday but the details (when, where, what) are TBA, which means my participation is TBD. It kills me to say it, but I have reached an age where how I’m going to feel physically after an event has to factor into my decision whether or not to participate.

 Yesterday’s key takeaways:

 ·       I saw a lot more people of color than I have in the past. This can only be a good thing. I understand Black and brown folks place themselves at much more risk than I do at such an event, but they also have a lot more to lose. If they’re safe anywhere, it’s surrounded by several thousand people who they can be sure have their backs.

·       The speakers need to take some public speaking lessons. Ranting to a crowd that already agrees with you and is motivated enough to come out doesn’t do much. Repeatedly chanting, “Trump must go!” doesn’t move the ball. Tell us how you intend to do it.

·       Two notable exceptions: the DC congressional delegate and a college student who came in from Connecticut. Both were eloquent and inspiring, especially the student. I forgot my notebook so I don’t have their names, but this young man may be someone to keep an eye on.

·       I made a point along the march to thank all the groups of cops we passed, whether Metro, Park, or Capitol. Without exception they smiled and nodded. There was no friction between the protestors and law enforcement.

·       I came across a retired Army Master Sergeant in full dress blues, hash marks to his elbow, and enough medals to make him list to the left were he not such a formidable man. I thanked him for coming out, as presences such as his refute the arguments made by MAGgots about the protestors better than any verbal exchange. His reply: “I’m right where I’m needed: where the fight is.” He carried a large “Fuck Trump” flag near the head of the entire march.

·                I came to realize “Foxtrot Delta Tango” is used as a military identifier. The Beloved Spouse™ bought me a shirt with that embroidered on it; I wore it yesterday. On my way to the Mall a gentleman passed me. Without preamble he asked, “Which branch?”

“Regular Army.”

“Marines. Have a good day.”

“Hoo-rah, Marine.”

He smiled.

·       One excellent speech had its message ripped out when the speaker compared the non-violent protests we’re seeing now to the abolition movement and how their non-violent protests got slavery abolished. Had I encountered her later I would have reminded her of that whole Civil War thing.

·       A regular speaker at Refuse Fascism events is an avowed Communist who openly says he wants not only to take down Trump, but the whole “inherently corrupt system.” I ‘m all in on the anti-fascist aspects, but the oath I swore that keeps me motivated against Trump also prevents me from wanting anything to do with this guy, as I firmly believe the Constitution is fine; it’s the people executing it who are fucked up. With that in mind, I think of World War 2, where we had to partner with the Soviet Union to defeat fascism. We need to work together to defeat Turmp, then the speaker and I can go back to Cold War-ing each other.

 I’d like to do more, but I also realize physical limitations imposed by age, as well as personality issues prohibit a lot of things. (I’m not a joiner and have little patience for meetings. Decide what needs to be done and I’ll decide whether I’m in or not.) That said, I’ll be there tomorrow, I’ll be there in a couple of weeks when the next wave of protests hits, I’ll continue to write to my elected officials, I’ll forward confirmed news, and I’ll send money when I can.