What is the definition of "a veteran?"

Image by wallyg via Flickr

I got an email today that includes text from an email from a Recon Marine in Afghanistan, signed as Saucy Jack Recon, Marine in Afghanistan.

Snopes lists it as "false" and Truth or Fiction lists it as "unsubstantiated" which is closer to the truth.  No one has been able to track this to an actual person.  Seems there has been a couple of versions of this email making the rounds since November 2001.

I am writing about this because the version sent to me included the following at the bottom:
"Freedom is not free...but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share."
and
"A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'  That is Honor and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it."

That really hit home with me.  I would change payable to the USA, to 'payable to the people of the United States of America.

We tend to refer to the USA in a generalized manner that leads us to forget we are all part of this country.  We also talk about "the government" sometimes like it has nothing to do with us.  We talk about what the government should do for us as if we had no power; no say in the decision-making.  In our Constitutional Republic we are supposed to have power and a say in decision-making.  We elect people who are supposed to represent us in Washington, but I think the past year has shown us just how much our views matter, or, more specifically, just how far we have drifted from the form of government our Founders created.

I guess it also hit close to my heart because last week we spent a weekend in San Antonio at the Khe Sanh Veterans 2010 reunion.  Being in the presence of so many people who have helped "pay a portion of my share of freedom"  was humbling to say the least.  Coming to realize that there were thousands of people who were not there because they had died at Khe Sanh was even more humbling.

So, if this email was really written by a soldier in Afghanistan, fine.  But if it was not, and someone used the "cover" of being a soldier to make some sort of political statement, all I have to say is, "you should feel deep shame."

Maybe, just maybe, we should all spend more time educating ourselves about what is happening in our country instead of forwarding all those emails that might make us feel good for a moment because we feel frustrated and powerless.  You are not powerless, the elite want you to believe you are.  They believe you are not smart enough to make good decisions, so they'll just have to make them for you.  So, spend a few of those email moments each day on learning more about how our Constitutional Republic is supposed to work.  And, if you find what you believe to be accurate information that your friends and  family should know, then share it.

And, finally, thank you to all of our armed service personnel who have served and who are now serving.  I will cherish and try to preserve the freedom you bought for me and my family.