Before you thank a veteran, consider your support for the candidate who called the fallen ‘suckers and losers’
Today, watching a broadcast of the Paris Olympics, I chanced upon “In the Company of Heroes,” produced by the Best Defense Foundation and narrated by Matt Damon.
Interviews with WWII survivors of D-Day and the fighting in Europe to liberate France and the West from the Nazis. As the son of a WW II USMC southwest Pacific veteran, it brought tears of pride to my eyes.
Today, when people recognize my former service and thank me, I always say “Thank You” and tell them of the pride and privilege I still feel in having worn my country’s uniform for over 20 years and being allowed the opportunity to honorably serve.
Now, after my thanks, I also ask them if they believe that my service, my father’s sacrifice (the author’s father, Theodore Cogswell is seen above in a UPI photo taken circa 1942, as provided by Brent Cogswell) and that of all my fellow veterans, many of whom gave “that last full measure,” makes us or them “suckers and losers?”
Usually, they answer (sometimes reluctantly) in the negative ... and then I remind them that the candidate of a major political party has voiced exactly that sentiment.
I’m not reluctant to say this. I admonish them that, if their “thank you” is sincere, they will remember the sacrifice of my fellow veterans and their families when they step into the voting booth this fall and remember that this nominated individual and anyone who has supported and/or endorsed him is not worthy of their vote.
Brent Cogswell of Rapid City is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who served as a Minuteman launch officer in both the ground and airborne systems, including six years with the Strategic Air Command’s Airborne Looking Glass command post and six subsequent years in England. He’s a graduate of the University of Colorado with a degree in political science and graduate study in international relations with the University of Southern California’s European extension program. Cogswell has worked as a travel agent, an airport limo driver and seasonal ranger with the U.S. Park Service, and has served on the Board of Rapid City’s Veteran’s Honor Banner Project. Brent returned to Rapid City in 2014 and lives with his wife, Judy Vidal and their Corgi, Banjo. He blogs at the idlehandsdept.blogspot.com.
