Scenes from Veteran's Day in Fullerton

The young marched from Jr.ROTC


Veterans from different wars gathered








Vets from WWII and Korea were there. They are all up there in their late 70's and 80's now.


The flag flew as someone sang a sad and sweet song.




From the PoliStewCafe blog:
The Marlboro Marine is a photo essay and article written by LA Times Photojournalist Luis Sinco about the young marine that he photographed in Fallouja. As it turns out, while James Blake Miller was inadvertently made an icon for the war, he --as should be expected, was fallible and human. Suffering from PTSD, Miller has had a rough road since coming back home. It has included drinking, getting married and divorced, starting and quitting a PTSD counseling program and a suicide attempt. He even went to Washington DC to share with others his experiences with PTSD. While he was met by many congressional representatives, one experience hit him hard:

"DC was a slap in the face. I even had a congressman miss a meeting, and when I showed up at the office the assistant said he didn't have time to meet with a veteran. I didn't understand why a man with that type of job couldn't take five ten minutes out of his day to speak to someone who had fought for everything this country stands for."

I'm asking you to read and watch the article and photo essay. We have to see beyond the hoopla of "Support our troops" and really demand more than chest thumping. There are issues, and I'll touch on two of them.

We need to challenge the language of groups like Code Pink, who have called those who support the military "killers", recruiters liars and also have done the same to some soldiers. I understand passion, and I understand peace. I want both for the military. But it is inconsistent to consider yourself a messenger of peace and use violent and untruthful language. The decision of some of their followers to use it shows immaturity and that they're extremists who think nothing of humiliating and denigrating other human beings. We simply cannot tolerate the language of hate from one impassioned side against the other. Disagree with war, disagree with politics, disagree with one group's world vision, but don't take it out on the soldiers.

Or as the Dalai Lama has said:
"The practice of morality --guarding your three doors of body, speech, and mind from indulging in unwholesome activities --equips you with mindfulness and conscientiousness. These two factors help you avoid gross forms of negative, physical, and verbal actions, deeds that are destructive for both onself and others."

We also need to work beyond party politics and insist that our men, women and families get the very best of care after they leave the major Army and Navy medical centers and return home. There needs to be community hospitals that contract with TriWest to give them ongoing psychological and psychiatric treatment, orthopedic and neurological treatments, physical therapy and occupational training. I have asked the Chief of Surgery at a major medical center why civilian hospitals don't contract with TriWest --especially since our VA's cannot possibly handle the numbers they already have, and in many areas, there aren't any. He thought it was a great idea. I will try to meet with the CEO in the upcoming months to see if their IPA can't indeed serve more men, women & families by contracting as a TriWest provider. They already do this with programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. But this can only be done if others get as upset as I am, and look to solutions beyond what all politicians (regardless of party) just can't see, because that's not what they do.

Tomorrow we will commemorate Veteran's Day. If you want to do something beyond taking a few moments to give thanks, consider this: there are many James Blake Miller's coming back home to futures that are uncertain. Donate time, money or services to a local mental health clinic, and remember ---some of these men and women have families. The children need your attention. Volunteer at a school where there are military kids, offer to tutor, serve as a mentor showing compassion, patience and kindness. If there's a Boys & Girls club, get involved.

There are many aspects to the words "support our troops." Consider writing the NMFA a BIG FAT CHECK to send kids to camp.