"Woo-hoo! No school today!"

Did you think that when you got out of bed this morning? Did you sigh with relief when you realized that you have, not two days free, but three, this weekend? Did you think about why you had that extra day to lie about?

I did. Today was Veteran's Day. All week I have been thinking about the veterans I have known (both combat and non-combat), and I thanked those I could for serving this country. Those people who joined the military, for whatever reason, sacrificed years of their lives, their freedom of speech, their freedom of action, and any hope of sleeping in on a weekday until they've left military service. Combat veterans are sent into dangerous situations. They risk their lives to protect us. They lose friends; they lose their own lives as well. These people give so much to this great country and what do they get in return? A day. A day where school-aged kids scream "woohoo! no school!" and don't even take the time to think about why -- unless they are hearded into a "Veteran's Day Assembly".

That's about all they get. A lot of soldiers, the ones who came back from Vietnam and Korea, and the ones who are now coming back from Iraq; they don't get thank yous. They don't get parades. They come home to a populace who don't understand what they've been through; and not only do we not understand, nor try to understand, we haven't sacrificed anything for them. Our soldiers, seamen, and Marines are the ones who are being asked to sacrfice everything for this retarded war, and those people who claim to support them the most have cut their VA benefits, have ignored symptoms of things like Gulf War Syndrome. The GI Bill was slashed.

And the pentagon doesn't even listen to the top generals who scream and yell for more troops, for armor for the humvees, for helmets for the infantry. Soldiers have had to dig around in landfills to find bits of scrap to strap to their vehicles to at least try to deter the blast from an IED. They've had to drink unclean water, eat rotten food; while contractors hired by Haliburton get to eat at PizzaHut. And what did Don Rumsfeld say when the soldiers asked why they didn't have what they needed? "You got to war with the military you have, not the military you wish you had."

Not only are these dedicated Americans being treated poorly while deployed in Iraq, and being forgotten, ignored, and mistreated when they come home; their service is being abused. They have been asked to follow illegal orders: torture, for instance. There are some military personel who claim that being ordered to deploy to Iraq is an illegal order in itself, because the war and subsequent occupation in Iraq is itself illegal.

But that's not even the point. Our military personel have given up their time, postponed their ambition, and too many have lost their lives while the rest of us sit back and say "woohoo! no school today!".

So if you haven't already, thank those who have served, thank them personally and honestly. And tell them "you fought for me, so I will fight for you". Contact your congresscritters and demand that veteran's benefits not only cease to be cut, but are increased. Demand that the VA be allowed to devote more time and money to exploring Gulf War Syndrome. Demand that stem cell reseach be furthered so that those soldiers who have experienced traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis, will be able to walk again.

And most of all, demand that they be brought home and treated as heros. Real heros. Let them tell their stories. Let them grieve for those friends who died next to them.

Bush lied, nearly 3,000 United States military personel have died in Iraq. More than ten times that have lost limbs, had traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries, or have been injurred in many other ways.

Troops home now.