For ‘suckers and losers,’ a hollow Veterans Day

As a former career Army officer (22 years active duty) entering the later stage of my life, I struggled to find the reverence and honor that seemed to touch me on previous Veterans Days. A day of remembrance for those who served and those who sacrificed in service. The rise of fascism after the Great War (WW I) was the genesis for World War II. The horrific human toll that resulted was not restricted to military combatants and collateral civilian life but included an entire race of people targeted for extermination.

I was fortunate to be in Honolulu on the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Even more fortunate was the opportunity to shake the hands and thank the many veterans, both U.S. and foreign service members, who still bore the wounds and remembered better than any of us, how important that war was in stopping the global threat of fascism. Along with the devastating toll on themselves and their fellow service members.

This past election saw the American electorate put a convicted felon who referred to fallen service members as “suckers and losers” into the highest office of our country. Indeed, the man who has repeatedly disparaged and denigrated U.S. military members, from POWs to the highest ranking and decorated military leaders, will be the next Commander in Chief. For a second time no less!

For me this represents a cultural shift in American values and morals that I will struggle to reconcile for the remaining days I have on this earth. Be it a failure of our educational system, some form of societal decay or any other straw man we wish to blame, the U.S. will no longer be a shining city on the hill. That light is now the fire burning from the worst of our human nature incinerating our better angels.

We will be a poorer nation in many ways after this self-confessed, wannabe dictator takes his place next January. The politicians of the MAGA party that has replaced the former GOP (my condolences to those remaining Republicans) will likely enable his worst instincts and further reveal how far the country’s leadership has strayed from the doctrine of antiauthoritarianism that was a central pillar of our national defense.

The oath I took when entering the service over thirty years ago included the phrase “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic.” The domestic enemy has been shouting at the American public through a bullhorn for much of this election cycle. Before you thank a veteran for their service, try to understand what that service represents and reflect on the box you checked for president in this last election. Elevating fascism, or even the potential for it to take root, is a dishonor to all those who served.

I will continue to have great faith in this country and will always believe that good will triumph over evil in the world. For that to happen requires those of us that still believe in our constitutional democracy to continue to challenge those that would threaten to destroy it.

Col. (ret) Jim Sheets of Solon is a U.S. Army veteran.