For Veterans Day 2009, many newspapers and magazines carried an advertisement by a well-known insurance company. The ad featured a uniformed World War II soldier standing in profile and saluting. Part of the caption read, "Being a veteran has its advantages." To see that ad, you would know that respect was not one of them.
The advertising agency hired to create the layout must have been ignorant of protocol when they pictured the soldier saluting with his left hand. I am fairly certain that the geniuses behind this faux pas were thinking aesthetically… not with historical correctness. Whether due to a dissatisfaction with the veteran’s profile or the way his image fit the page, they reversed the negative. How nice it would be if we could reverse the poor healthcare our veterans have been receiving for years as easily as the PR firm flipped that picture.
Although the ad in question ran 14 years ago, I think of it every November. How, I wonder, did no one recognize the insult they were perpetrating? Since elementary school, we have all been taught to place our right hand over our heart when pledging allegiance to the flag and our right hand to our temple when saluting. It is only right to use the right hand when depicting our veterans in the very pose that signifies respect. This, I believe, is the very least we can do for our men and women in uniform.
Thinking back, I might not have noticed that blatant insult even though the ad was full page. I might have skipped right past it as I do so many advertisements that take space away from actual news. But… it was Veterans Day – the one day a year we recognize our soldiers, recent and past, for the sacrifices they made and continue to make.
These brave men and women deserve to be acknowledged on a daily basis, but they are lucky to be given 24 hours. During my childhood, every town had a parade. Schools were closed and kids understood why they were waving the American flag on Main Street. Today, the loss of life and limb in defense of our freedoms is treated with nonchalance… like it is no big deal. Americans tend to have short memories, which is why history keeps repeating itself.
This coming Veterans Day, let us not forget that we are once again sending our men and women in uniform to fight on foreign lands. Let us not forget that not everyone will come home safe and sound. Should you meet a soldier in the course of your travels, be sure to express your gratitude for his or her service. Respect starts at home. You can be the catalyst for change merely by extending your right hand. Go one better… make every day Veterans Day and say “Thank you” at every opportunity.
My thanks to all our fighting men and women, home and abroad, who put their lives on the line each day so that I can enjoy a peaceful night's sleep in the comfort of my own bed. God bless you, keep you safe, and bring you home soon.