Veterans Day: Then and now

Today marks 11/11/11—a palindromic phenomenon surrounded by superstition and speculation. It will serve as a memorable wedding date for many couples, a novelty birthday for others and could mean the possible end of the world of civilization to certain doomsday prophets.  

But to those who have fought, died and sacrificed for this country, November 11 is recognized as Veterans Day.

On this date in 1918, an armistice was signed between German forces and the allies, putting an end to World War I and jumpstarting a push for global peace. Once World War II and the Korean War were over, it became a day dedicated to all veterans.

Our grandparents remember those times as hard but prideful. The Great Depression was becoming a painful, distant memory, but tensions between Japan and Russian gave way to fresh fears of nuclear attack. America was rapidly expanding its industrial, agricultural and technological resources to meet the demands of its military. It was a country driven by war.

Ninety-three years after the guns went cold in Germany, though, Veterans Day is just as commercialized and cheapened as Valentines Day or Christmas.  Streets that once held patriotic jubilees honoring our soldiers remain vacant, merely littered with ads for the Veterans Day sale at Macy's.

Perhaps there was more at stake back then. America had a promising future; it was a country determined to pull itself up by the bootstraps after an exhausting war. The soldiers weren't just protecting our freedom on those front lines; they were preserving everything America stood and worked for.

Now, we see our nation as a former shadow of itself. We're more enthralled with the wars waged in Statehouses and on Wall Street than we are with war in Afghanistan, which has been ongoing for over a decade. The country's ego has been beaten by a poor economy and a failing government system. Why would America take pride in its veterans currently if the nation believes there's nothing worth fighting for?

However, what we have yet to realize is that there is just as much at stake today than there ever was in the past.  With the strides we've made in civil rights, comes greater freedom. And with the trials and tribulations birthed from a corrupt government and struggling economy, comes the opportunity to rise higher.