Veterans' Day

I have somewhat mixed feelings about Veterans' Day. My dad and uncles served in WWII; my brother and husband narrowly escaped serving in Vietnam. Since I'm female and was 'way too old by the time our military became all-volunteer, I never thought seriously about whether I would be drafted or choose to serve.  If I had children, would I want them to volunteer? Probably not, I confess.

I respect those who have served their country in the military -- and those who serve in other ways, though military service is the most all-consuming and often the most dangerous. But I know that many veterans have mixed feelings about their own military memories and about how their service is seen by others. How could you NOT have nightmares about marching into a concentration camp, near the end of WWII? How could you NOT wonder about the men you perhaps killed? I respect the humanity of those mixed feelings, too. But I don't always -- particularly in the last few years -- respect the motives of those who send our military into action.  The common flag-waving rhetoric of "protecting America" does not recognize the complexity of soldiers' bravery, loyalty, and yes doubts, nor the machinations of those who command them.     

We are now losing the WWII generation, men and women, daily. My dad is gone. My mother who waited for him and wrote V-mail is gone. My in-laws are gone. Men of that generation were not expected to talk about their feelings, so they came home (the ones who did) and got on with things in their own ways. They didn't tell war stories with any relish.  My dad only talked about the war very late in his life, and then usually fairly "safe" stories.

I learned today that there is ONE surviving Lumbee WWII veteran; I'm hoping that one of my classes can do an oral history project, interviewing Robeson County vets. We maintain ourselves through our stories; we need to listen to what these men and women have to say to us, if they are ready to say it.