American Valor – Military Tribute

I received an email from a very close friend this morning that included a link to a YouTube video and a website hosted by the Veterans Appreciation Alliance, a group involved in ongoing military tributes.

I often tell young people that are against the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or wherever, those young men and women are fighting for your right to disagree.  It is OK to be against the war, but direct your hatred for the war to the atrocity itself not to the men and women who are there serving their country. 

And so it was in another era some 40 years ago. A bunch of still wet-behind-the-ears young boys went to Vietnam.  Some volunteered, some were drafted, but they all went together facing the unknown. Sadly, not all returned home.  Those that did were not appreciated.   They were shunned, spit on, mocked, ridiculed, even hated by some.  It was as if they created the war themselves, as if they were the forces of evil.

It is not only scary, but sad as well when you look at the numbers.  2.9 million served – 58,000 were killed – 130,000 have committed suicide.  Approximately every 3.75 minutes a Vietnam veteran dies.  They estimate that by the year 2015 they will ALL be gone.

In recent years people have begun to "separate the war from the warrior. "  This movement has evolved into the "Before They Go" military tribute.

Jim Ward, a combat disabled Marine, is the heart pounding force behind this tribute. Jim is a life-long resident of Nevada. After graduating from high school in 1965, he enlisted into the United States Marine Corps. While in Vietnam, Jim was wounded multiple times by small-arms fire and shrapnel. As a result of his wounds he was permanently retired from the United States Marine Corps in 1970.

The battles of Vietnam still continue today as do the casualties, only now they live in the present, they live in the minds of those who survived, and within their families and communities. We have made monumental strides separating the war from the warrior; the Veterans of Vietnam however haven’t experienced that feeling of national pride…at least not yet.

At VAA, "Before They Go" is their way of bringing our country together. They believe a splintered conscious voice isn’t as strong as that of one collective voice.

Learn more about the Veterans Appreciation Alliance at their web site.

• Mornings at the Pentagon
• Thank You for Protecting Me
• Memorial Day Tribute
• Thank You by Lexxi Saal
• Merry Christmas to Our Troops
• Pearl Harbor Day
• A Military Tribute to Veterans
• Victor Laverne Miller Honored at last
• Veterans Day
• We Are Soldiers Still

Tags: military tribute, veterans, vietnam veterans, vietnam vets