By Major Van Harl USAF Ret
Wisconsin –-(Ammoland.com)- “All we are saying is give peace a chance,” a classic line from a John Lennon song.
The problem with peace is that it just does not work unless you have the strength to defend your peace and the self control to not use that strength to abuse other’s peace.
I believe that man will always want more and if he can get it through non-violent, non-destructive means he will in most cases be satisfied. Cut off his pleasure and his toys and he will become agitated. Cut off his needs or more correctly his perceived needs and he will resort to violence on other men to get what he feels he must have.
You take away my cable TV and I am going to be mad. You take away my food and water and I will kill to get it back. I will kill even quicker if I think you are trying to hurt my family. And did you know that my feelings are not limited to white, northern European descended, Christian Americans?
Mess with anyone and the basic fight or flight instinct will kick in.
I assume there will always be people out there in the world who will never like me and my kind, and I assume that some of those people will always view aggression toward the US as an ongoing and unending process. Other than the 9-11 and the Pearl Harbor attack, the US has not suffered such a massive man made, deliberate destruction of American life since the Civil War.
We live very well and very safe in this country because of our strength and desire for peace. During my 56 years of close contact with the military I have met many a young troop who could not wait to get into combat. Very seldom have I ever had a conversation with a combat veteran who just could not wait to get back to the fight, a veteran who truly enjoyed the danger of close contact with death.
Oh, I am sure there are a few strange ones in our society who have some deep seated reason for enjoying the destruction of war but they are not normal. Normal veterans are those men and women who put on the uniform to defend this country in its time of need but cannot wait to get home and be a civilian again as soon as possible.
Recently in the media I have heard the question being asked of different age groups, what they feel they owe their country. Sadly many do not feel they owe anything. Now these are the same people who will dial 911 and expect the entire safely net of our emergency responders to be on-call 24 hours a day and at their door in less that three minutes after a cry for help.
Why do these people believe they are entitled to so much expensive support from police, fire and EMT responders?
Take it another step, why do these people feel they have a right to the defense of their Nation, hometown and personal home by volunteers who put on the uniform of the US military, volunteer soldiers who do give back to their country.
All of my WW II family members who were veterans are gone. The WW II, the Korean War, and even the Vietnam War veterans, I know are on an ever shrinking list that I always called on Veterans Day and Memorial Day.
There are people who hate us and will always hate us. There will never be a time when the United States does not need some type of military force to defend and protect our way of life. And sadly there will always be those in our society who just cannot see the need to support and give back to this great nation.
The Colonel and I have lost three Air Force veteran friends in the past month. Two retired and one active duty. This column is however not about Memorial Day and remembering our dead veterans. It is about Veteran’s Day and honoring our living veterans.
Please don’t just use the current political correct phrase “thank for your service” when speaking to a veteran. It is rather patronizing. Really talk to the veteran and ask them about their service to your Nation. You don’t need to know about their time in combat or the suffering they witnessed. Ask them about their training and perhaps some of the locations they served in.
Express a genuine interest. Then thank them for their sacrifice and efforts to defend and protect your family and home. Above all be thankful there are still Americans who are willing to stand up, put their life in harms way and be counted to defend our –peaceful way of life.
About Major Van Harl USAF Ret.:
Major Van E. Harl USAF Ret. , is a career Police Officer in the U.S. Air Force was born in Burlington, Iowa, USA, in 1955. He was the Deputy Chief of police at two Air Force Bases and the Commander of Law Enforcement Operations at another. Now retired, these days he enjoys camping, traveling, volunteering with the Girl Scouts and writing. vanharl@aol.com