Saturday, November 12, 2011

To Our Vets: Thanks (aka Gracias, Merci, Shokran, Kamsahamnida, A Sheynem Dank, etc) // VIDEO

Maryland Juice apologizes for the belated Veterans Day article. Hat tip to Coffee Party organizer (and MoCo resident) Annabel Park for sending the following Huffington Post/AOL series through the e-grapevine. The video below kicks off a 10-part HuffPo series on Veterans in America:
"Beyond the Battlefield" is a 10-part series exploring the challenges that severely wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan face after they return home, as well as what those struggles mean for those close to them.

The rest of the series is well-worth reading, so I've posted the links below:

Part 1: How Pride And Love Helped Tyler Southern Overcome The Wounds Of War
Part 2: With Better Technology And Training, Medics Saving More Lives
Part 3: Lack Of Long-Term Care Can Lead To Tragic Ends For Wounded Veterans
Part 4: Military Turning To Wounded Vets' Families As Key Part Of Healing Process
Part 5: As Wounded Veterans Struggle To Recover, Caregivers Share The Pain
Part 6: New Hope, But A Long And Painful Road, For Veterans Pulled From Death's Grasp
Part 7: Back Home, Severely Wounded Veterans Wish More Would Ask, Not Just Stare
Part 8: Unprepared For Wave Of Severely Wounded, Bureaucracy Still Catching Up
Part 9: As Veterans Fight For Needed Care, Long-Term Funding Remains A Question Mark
Part 10: Saved From The Brink Of Death, Veteran Keeps Chasing His Dreams
Part 00: A Reporter's Reflections On The Plight Of Severely Wounded Veterans

I also thought it was worth mentioning that the human cost of these two wars is a shared sacrifice among all Americans (and even among some undocumented residents - surprise, surprise):


And of course, the biggest thing to remember is that despite the shared racial and ethnic sacrifices during the course of these two wars, the cost has been disproportionately borne by young people. The single largest category of fatalities is from young servicemembers.  Indeed, 1,690 of the 6,193 fatalities (over 27%) thus far have been from enlistees under age 22.

P.S. A quick word of clarification to those in older generations. Lately some politicos have griped about a couple issues Maryland Juice has recently written about. Some quickly point to the perjorative portrayal of protesters in the 60's and wonder if this blog should consider a quieter tone. But I think it is important to avoid making surface parallels between different eras. The truth about progressive activism today is that though younger demographics around the world are driving changes, many (if not most) young people appear to still believe in the roles of both capitalism/markets and regulation and are super-respectful of our servicemembers and their sacrifices. This is youth activism 3.0, folks -- and it is not grounded in faint memories of the Cold War or the Vietnam War era.

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