Today, war is not the point. The point is that every country needs people who are willing to serve in military forces. We need people who put their minds and bodies between their country and any possible or actual threats to it. These folks train, work, sometimes fight, sometimes are damaged, sometimes recover, sometimes don’t, sometimes die hard in hard places of the world, sometimes die a little bit at a time back home, sometimes go on to live well in the country they have served. Their lives are changed in real and persistent ways by their time in service.
I’m very grateful to everyone I know who has been a member of the armed forces anywhere, including my dad, my stepfather Arthur, my stepbrother Neil, my father-in-law Eric, Ann Holmes, and my dear friend Liz.
Thank you to all veterans, everywhere.
Joining the military used to be called joining the service, and that’s exactly right. I am a pacifist myself, but someone has had to take up arms to defend my right to be one. And yet the literal horrors of war should make us very careful about whom, where and whether we choose to fight. It’s really awful when people have to die for nothing.