Veterans need more than just our respect

Nearly six months have passed since Memorial Day and the problem remains the same - crowds are light at veterans memorial services. Such was the case last May and it was a repeat performance Sunday on Veterans Day at the Marion VFW.

Part of the problem may have been that the service was held at 11 a.m., which is during church service. Another part of the problem may have been the weather. It was cold. The bottom line, however, was a meager turnout.

Last May, I wrote a column that detailed the angst felt by VFW officer and featured speaker Mike Gunter about the lack of attendance at services, which he feels is outright disrespectful of those who sacrificed their lives in some instances to protect our country's freedoms.

Gunter again addressed the issue Sunday before about two dozen people at the living memorial outside the VFW, saying that veterans ask for nothing but respect for their service to country.

"When we turn our back on the veteran community, we are actually turning our back on the democracy and liberty that we so richly want and deserve. We need to pay homage to those who gave that freedom and liberty to us. Today, we failed to do that."

So, is Gunter right to question our respect for veterans, or is he overreacting?

As I pointed out in Tuesday's edition of the Marion Republican, Marion hosts a citywide tribute to veterans with a parade each fall. That seems to be fairly well-attended.

Marion residents are most certainly involved in sending older veterans to see the war memorials at our nation's capital through Veterans Honor Flight every six months. Many people donate time, money and effort to the cause. Some even serve as chaperones for veterans on the road trips.

Add in the fact that hundreds of Southern Illinoisans flock to the Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois to welcome the vets home from the trips.

So, I don't think it would be fair to say people simply don't care about veterans. But I do think that because tens of millions of Americans haven't served their country, it is hard for many of us to relate - hard to understand just how much effort military men and women put into their service. That may, in a nutshell, be the real reason why the numbers are so sparse at Veterans Day and Memorial Day services.

While Gunter makes a great point about lack of respect for the veteran, there are bigger problems that need to be fixed. There shouldn't be a single homeless veteran in this rich country of ours.

At last count two years ago according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, there were more than 39,000 reported homeless vets. Nobody who served his or her country should be unemployable and on the streets with no place to live and no regular food to eat.

And it should be inconceivable that the medical facilities that treat our veterans have too often been called on the carpet for poor treatment or outright incompetency.

These are problems that need to be addressed now, not later.

Gunter's right - we should care more about our vets. Saying thank you for your service is not always enough. We should make more of an effort to attend services for veterans. More important, our nation's leaders need to make it their responsibility to take better care of our veterans. And none of us should rest easy until that happens.</group><group id="B0316AD1-B8BE-4C26-9CB3-42A48396306F" type="seoLabels"><seoLabels></seo