Veterans Day

U.S. Naval Commander, James Kent Averill, was declared "Missing in Action" during World War II when his plane crashed into the water after being catapulted from a ship in the Pacific on March 26, 1944, according to War Department records. The Naval aviator's body was not found. 

He was my uncle, the husband of my mother's sister. No, I wasn't around yet.

That generation lived a national unity of purpose which none of us who are younger have experienced. Korea was horrible, but Vietnam completely broke the spell. 9/11 might have restored it, if it hadn't been for Iraq, and Afghanistan, and so on, apparently forever ...

Many who join the contemporary U.S. military seem to enter for ethically honorable motives: love of country, desire to be part of something larger and meaningful, finding a structured purpose in a society that seems aimless. Some seem to find a life they can be proud of; others find disillusionment and disorientation. And some, of course, are just looking for a job with benefits. Too many find mediocre or just bad leadership. 

It's certainly true that we civilians don't quite grok the vets among us. They get a "day" -- actually the anniversary of the end of World War I (at least in western Europe.) No more wars seems worth working for.