This is a re-post of my original article with a few modification...you may find the original in my forum: Stand Up 4 Veterans

Yesterday our country spend a lot of time and effort mourning the life of a celebrity...a celebrity which the media constantly changed its view...seeing him as much a villain as a philanthropist and entertainer. Because of the tremendous focus on this individual a controversy arose--comparing the price of this person's life to that of a soldier. This is my reply to such thoughts...

Mourning those who stood bravely and gave their lives for our freedom and liberty is not something which is merely reserved for Veteran's Day every year. They are mourned daily when we are faced with that empty place setting at our tables each day. They are mourned every time we vote, sing our anthem, and pledge our Allegiance to our flag.

However they are among the faceless millions which are ignored for being "unpleasant" to think about, and appear meaningless to those that have never lost a family member, friend, or colleague that served our country.

When our soldiers come back in boxes or perhaps worse, return with images of agony they cannot escape from, our great nation typically turns it's back on them. Sure we give them medals. We drape flags over the boxes. But more often than not these broken soldiers return to a reality which places them into a position of being liability.

Veterans are often that "inconvenient truth" our media glazes over and our politicians view only as chess-pieces. Our citizens demand protection and the promise that our beliefs, freedoms, and values be upheld at any cost--as long is it one that they do not personally have to pay.

Every program to help veterans in ANY way is always the first to be placed upon the budget chopping block. Soldiers continue to be victimized by their own country even after paying a price which many citizens would refuse to pay...their lives, their future hopes and their sanity.

Thousands of soldiers returning from war suffer from brain injury. This is from the impact of bombs bursting around them, heads recoiling from the surge of destruction, and this is permanent damage which never heals. Our military is discharging these men and stamping a category on them which pushes blame unto the soldier themselves...as if these millions of soldiers were injured prior to their service...and as unlikely as that may be, it allows our country to walk away.

These soldiers may appear to look normal and functional but they aren't. This is not merely post traumatic syndrome...this is actual brain damage. They have been dumped into society without medical care, often left to wander our streets in despair.

It is the mentality of those that refuse to look into those faces and honor the life which they left behind in some sand in a far away country...which perpetuates the continued abuse of our soldiers. Yes this is abuse. To continue to ignore them today is the equivalent of defecating on the graves of those we have buried.

Our nation has a history of bailing out on veterans. There is a history of ignoring the damage, refusing to help, and ultimately turning away for the unsightly mess forced upon a soldier who gave that ultimate price few are willing to pay. We are allowing our government to demand that sacrifice without supporting the broken ones which come home.

Many Americans today take their freedom for granted. If you have never traveled abroad then you probably have no idea just how precious that freedom is. Our forefathers died for us to have that freedom. Our soldiers today continue in that fight. We may not agree with why they are in another country fighting...but they represent America and they stand tall in their mission as ordered by our government. We simply cannot allow them to be forgotten, pushed aside as if they are unworthy of valor.

Americans have been looked down upon by all those who are not American--viewing us as being selfish, superficial, spoiled, elitist, and forcefully superior. When our country and its citizens put more effort in mourning the loss of any person above that of someone who gave their lives to protect our freedom; we cheapen that price paid by a soldier. That very act perhaps confirms those views by others when placing judgement on all Americans and seeing us critically.

Any life lost any place in the world is precious. Human life is not trivial. We never place one life above another. We view each person as unique and valuable.

The difference between a citizen and a soldier is the reason they died. While a person may accomplish great and wonderful things, entertain and foster change; when we mourn them passing it is normal to acknowledge those things...and ultimately...at what price have we have paid when loosing them--or what price they paid with their life. It is at this point we view a soldier's death a greater value because it was a life SPENT to protect and serve others. It was not a death at the hands of an accident, an abusive history or a tormented past.

A soldier's death preserves our rights, beliefs, and freedoms---a price freely offered and given. It is obviously a life we cannot allow to be trivialized. Soldiers are forever changed by the price they pay. Their families continue paying that price their entire life. It is a price BEYOND any comparison.