I was a teenage werewolf

Thursday was Veterans Day. It is a day when we honor the sacrifice and bravery of the men and women who've served our country on the field of battle. It is also an important to day to honor the veterans of the WWII generation. Slogging out of the Great Depression, they enlisted in a war against fascism mostly out of economic necessity and were plunged into horrific combat. We should honor them because when they returned, they used their hero status to insist upon a society that had more upward mobility. They helped build the great American middle class and a more meritocratic, just, and economically and socially stable society. For opening the door and insisting on common sense and prosperity, they should be commended. Loyal Opposition recently read an article in a hometown newspaper about Veterans Day. It was one of those touchy feely articles the newspaper writes around certain holidays to make us "think." The article was about a Vietnam veteran who spends his time delivering food and providing rides to incapacitated veterans, and the article focused on two particular Vietnam veterans. One was a nurse who'd been a POW and had the muscle under her tongue cut during her captivity--but who nevertheless could speak, albeit with a little difficulty. Although she had children, she lived alone and her only means of support was public aid. She spoke of how grateful she was and how it was wonderful to be remembered on Veterans Day. The other veteran was a former Green Beret who had also been a POW. He had recently run into a Vietnamese immigrant who'd moved to his town who remembered him giving her candy in Vietnam. After being prodded by the veteran who delivers him his aid, the former Green Beret said that his neighbor at the Hanoi Hilton had been John McCain. Loyal Opposition read this article with skepticism. To the best of L.O.'s knowledge, there never had been female POWs in Vietnam. Also, the Green Beret's story seemed a little fanciful and uncorroborated--one would think that, after the attention given to the Hanoi Hilton and to John McCain, that there'd be at least some mention of his existence previously. But, L.O. suspended his skepticism---because L.O. recognizes that coincidence and serendipity exist in the world. Sure enough, however, the next day an article validated L.O.'s skepticism. After a few readers contacted the paper with their doubts, the paper checked up on the stories. It turns out that there ARE no records of female POWs or MIAs in Vietnam. What's more---there was no record of service in the Armed Services whatsoever for either person. The veteran, as well as the two would-bes, continued to vouch for their authenticity. The woman insisted she had been a POW and told the reporter to check for her service at the Vietnam Memorial--upon being told it was for the deceased, she responded that the government thinks she's dead. The man said that all his records perished in a government building fire.

It is possible that the government doesn't know everything about POWS and MIAs or that all its records did perish in a fire. It is possible the government could just be trying to save some money by not having to disperse benefits to these folks. However, the POW issue has been an important one, and the government has tried to keep accurate records assiduously. It is possible that he actually did live with John McCain in a POW camp. But there's no one to corroborate his story and no record of his service. But in the end this is irrelevant. What this is about is the danger of self-serving and self-protecting belief and its power. The newspaper wanted to believe the stories--otherwise it ruined a perfectly structured news article that could move people and give the paper an opportunity to sermonize about how we should remember our vets. They didn't check the veracity until people complained. That is ridiculous--but its wonderful to hear people can still smell bullshit through plate glass. The Vietnamese woman wanted to believe he was the vet that was kind to her because she wanted the chance to thank him and the kindness amidst the horror, and because it gave her some familiarity and a warm memory in an unfamiliar place. The veteran believed because he wanted to believe he was being useful and providng a needed service to those who deserved it--not shelling out goodies to swindelers. And those two liars wanted to believe it. Without their veteran status they're just two older, sickly people with no real family and nothing to show for their life--just failure and illness. So no one was hurt by this symbiosis of belief, right? Sorry, wrong answer. Just like George W. Bush and the Swift Boat Liars, a mockery was being made of true heroes and true sacrifice for their own selfish benefit. It does dishonor to those who served. Service isn't always selfish and sacrifice and heroism isn't always simple. But these people putting their mouths at the trough while spouting these stories is just a con game. When L.O. read the article, he felt pity for these pathetic slobs. But then L.O. felt very angry and upset. So next time you see a veteran, give him or her a pat on the shoulder. And the next time you see one of these charlatans, tell him or her to shut the door and not to come out again until they've learned some respect for real heroes.