Marking generations with veterans
The idea of a new generation of veterans returning home from Iraq at the end of 2011 has fascinated me for a while.
For years occupied by U.S. involvement in war and significant military engagements, the U.S. seems to have neatly marked off historical eras with the coinciding of the period’s military involvement as represented by that generation’s veterans. What interests me is the idea that we could be seeing that happen before our eyes with these veterans of the Iraq war.
The 1940s and ’50s has World War II and Korean War veterans. The 1960s and ’70s has Vietnam War veterans. I can’t help but feel like the next generation of veterans that will be strongly associated with a given war and historical era are recently returned from the Iraq war. In 20 years, will I be right in thinking that we’ll look back and say, “the 2000s has Iraq war veterans?”
And when can we say this about veterans returning home from Afghanistan, where something between limited military involvement and full-fledged war has been going on for nearly the whole time Iraq’s war had gone on? Will it be worth pairing such veterans with their Iraq war counterparts? Is there even a difference?
Only time can answer these questions, and I’ll save the neat categorization for those writing history textbooks that my own children might one day learn from. Nevertheless, I can’t help but wonder these things as I consider our country’s past and future.
Before I digress any further, allow me to fill you in on why these ideas are before you in this column. On Sunday, Jan. 8, we covered an event called “Grayslake Salutes Our Military.” The effort was led by Joyce Campbell, a military mother, local State Farm agent and the director of The Oasis Grayslake Youth Center. Occupying several downtown Grayslake blocks, the event welcomed home new veterans and also honored veterans of years past.
We tried to tie in the stories told by those veterans who attended this great event with the greater picture of just what they’re returning to in 2012, compared to what their predecessors returned to in their own day.
We found today’s Iraq war veterans face similar challenges as did their predecessors relating to employment, public protest and outrage over war and post-traumatic stress disorder.
We also found differences – and one very important difference in particular. Whereas veterans of the Vietnam War were on occasion greeted home with outright and unabashed disrespect for their roles in the unfavorable war, Iraq war veterans are finding a much different scene upon their return home today. Hopefully, this shows that the population has learned a valuable lesson in distinguishing political distaste from dutiful respect of those who have served.
Check out the story by clicking the link on our home page, and if you’re so moved, I’d love to hear what you think.
• John Puterbaugh is the managing editor of the Lake County Journal. He can be reached at 847-231-7522 or jputerbaugh@shawmedia.com.
