Spring Break
Whatever happened to Veterans Day: a Brandeisian perspective
by Zachary Matushesky
Op-Ed | 11/18/08
Posted online at 2:38 AM EST on 11/18/08
If you visited the Google home page on Nov. 11, 2008 you would have seen various U.S. military items hanging from the Google logo. That is because it was Veterans Day.
On Brandeis campus, life went on as usual. No speakers came in. The calendar for Nov. 11 had events for stem cell research plastic surgery, a community health workshop and a speaker who came to talk about Sderot.
Perhaps the failure of Brandeis to do anything to mark Veterans Day has to do with the idea that Veterans Day is solely an American commemoration of war. This is untrue.
It is an acknowledgment of lives lost, experiences felt and a day when we embrace those who served. It's a time to reflect. We see our grandfathers who fought in World War II or Korea. We see our uncles who were drafted to fight in Vietnam. If we have ties to Israel, we see friends, older brothers and cousins who served in the Israeli Defense Forces.
But what we don't see or feel is what many of them see and feel everyday: all the people who didn't come back. War kills. The irony of all of this is that days later there were tents set up informing the Brandeis community about Darfur. Among the tents was one commemorating the Holocaust, a slaughter ended by American, English and Russian soldiers and their brave partisan allies.
Admittedly, the allied community did not go far enough through the war to slow the murder. But they did open the gates at Dachau. Surely our veterans deserve the same on-campus reverence as the heroes we're remembering from WWII and the heroes in Darfur now.
This would have been an appropriate time to invite veterans to come and speak. A gathering to discuss the two wars our nation is currently fighting should have been held. Inviting our public representatives to come and talk about what they are doing to stop the war or help veterans would have signaled to them that we care and are watching. This Nov. 11 would have been a time to put up the signs about the human costs of war.
We failed this Veterans Day. But we must not ignore the men and women coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our hearts must soften and consider their needs. If they want to talk about what they saw, the nightmares that continue to haunt their lives or friends lost, we must listen. When the war is over, we must come together and give them all a collective ticker tape parade.
War is terrible. But the strength that they showed and the sacrifices they made earn them a ride on our shoulders and a cheer. I am not advocating jingoistic calls. I am requesting a celebration for those who have been fighting in our two wars.
Try to remember that while you and I are studying in Goldfarb, there is a group of people our own age scanning roads for Improvised Explosive Devices, braving it at check points and sweating it out waiting for these terrible wars to be over.
On Brandeis campus, life went on as usual. No speakers came in. The calendar for Nov. 11 had events for stem cell research plastic surgery, a community health workshop and a speaker who came to talk about Sderot.
Perhaps the failure of Brandeis to do anything to mark Veterans Day has to do with the idea that Veterans Day is solely an American commemoration of war. This is untrue.
It is an acknowledgment of lives lost, experiences felt and a day when we embrace those who served. It's a time to reflect. We see our grandfathers who fought in World War II or Korea. We see our uncles who were drafted to fight in Vietnam. If we have ties to Israel, we see friends, older brothers and cousins who served in the Israeli Defense Forces.
But what we don't see or feel is what many of them see and feel everyday: all the people who didn't come back. War kills. The irony of all of this is that days later there were tents set up informing the Brandeis community about Darfur. Among the tents was one commemorating the Holocaust, a slaughter ended by American, English and Russian soldiers and their brave partisan allies.
Admittedly, the allied community did not go far enough through the war to slow the murder. But they did open the gates at Dachau. Surely our veterans deserve the same on-campus reverence as the heroes we're remembering from WWII and the heroes in Darfur now.
This would have been an appropriate time to invite veterans to come and speak. A gathering to discuss the two wars our nation is currently fighting should have been held. Inviting our public representatives to come and talk about what they are doing to stop the war or help veterans would have signaled to them that we care and are watching. This Nov. 11 would have been a time to put up the signs about the human costs of war.
We failed this Veterans Day. But we must not ignore the men and women coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our hearts must soften and consider their needs. If they want to talk about what they saw, the nightmares that continue to haunt their lives or friends lost, we must listen. When the war is over, we must come together and give them all a collective ticker tape parade.
War is terrible. But the strength that they showed and the sacrifices they made earn them a ride on our shoulders and a cheer. I am not advocating jingoistic calls. I am requesting a celebration for those who have been fighting in our two wars.
Try to remember that while you and I are studying in Goldfarb, there is a group of people our own age scanning roads for Improvised Explosive Devices, braving it at check points and sweating it out waiting for these terrible wars to be over.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Barry Bloch '82
posted 11/18/08 @ 1:09 PM EST
Zachary: As a veteran, I want to thank you very much for your kind thoughts and words. I would only ask that you and your classmates consider the following:
"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. (Continued…)
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