We just expected patriots to rise out of the ashes

We just expected patriots to rise out of the ashes
by
Chaplain Kathie

Less than one percent answered the call to serve this nation after 9-11. What did we do? We just expected patriots to rise out of the ashes of the Twin Towers ready to fight the enemy that sent the terrorists.

Bay Area military families reflect on the reason so many enlisted: 9/11

By Angela Hill
ahill@bayareanewsgroup.com
Posted: 09/07/2011

Statistics from the Department of Defense show that between 2001 and 2011 about 3.1 million Americans have entered military service -- enough to assemble the country's third-largest city. Roughly 2 million deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. More than 6,000 have been killed in the wars -- including 644 from California -- and about 44,000 have been wounded.

In September 2001, U.S. Army Sgt. Romeo Horvath was just about to go home. He was in the last two months of his five-year enlistment -- an MP stationed in Kosovo on a peacekeeping mission, planning to return to the States and pursue a career with the FBI.

That was before the world changed, and Horvath changed his mind. Angry at the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. and eager to fight in the war on terror, the San Jose man immediately re-enlisted, this time in the California National Guard, and deployed to Iraq several months later.

"When it sunk in -- the thought that America could be attacked -- it made me mad," Horvath, 33, said last week, remembering when he and his buddies had watched the Sept. 11 attacks on a TV in their unit from another war zone and an ocean away. "I wanted to be involved. I wanted to serve my country."

He was one of many -- but not the throngs originally believed -- who stepped up after Sept. 11 to defend the country. Indeed, initial reports painted a patriotic picture of young men and women storming recruitment offices in the ensuing months after 9/11. And while inquiries swelled and there was a brief spike in enlistments, they leveled off, leaving the real work to those who volunteered to put their lives on the line -- and followed through.
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For a start, all the flags that we hung outside our homes came down a couple of months later. The magnets on our cars faded. News coverage became less and less and most of us didn't even notice. Even the protestors forgot about the troops in Afghanistan when they screamed about having troops in Iraq. Politicians forgot about Afghanistan too when all the speeches were about Iraq. Sure they used 9-11 when they thought they could score some emotional points but that was just about all they had to offer that horrible day. Some saw no point in holding hearings on what happened that day when ever defense this nation had all failed at the same time. Some didn't see the point in debating sending troops into combat or if they would have everything they needed or not.

For the rest of us we were only reminded of two wars when one of our neighbors came home in a coffin with a flag on it. We loved to say that we were all united after 9-11 but the truth was, we weren't. Less than one percent of the population of this nation were willing to step up and do something about it. They were willing to risk their lives, endure being away from home, their families, jobs and comforts for the sake of the rest of us.

In return they ended up with wounds and memories needing to heal but what they got was a long line at the VA and claims that took too long to be approved. They no longer had pay checks from the jobs they gave up to go and their military paychecks stopped after discharge but the VA wouldn't pay them until their claim was approved, yet no one seemed to care. As they lost their homes because of no income we passed off their suffering as if they were just financially irresponsible. It didn't matter to us that even the veterans able to work couldn't find jobs or that the few employers willing to hire anyone didn't want them.

We saw families fall apart with all the added stress of redeployments and financial burdens they didn't deserve to fall on their shoulders. We were too busy whining about the deteriorated state of our own lives.

As the numbers of the fallen went up and more and more military funerals were held we didn't want to notice the ones without a press release. More and more died because of combat after they came home but no one wanted to count their suicides as linked to their service.

When they got in trouble with the law, we viewed them as criminals giving the military a bad name instead of noticing this was the same person willing to die for the sake of others before they returned as a "burden to society." Our pride didn't want to face the fact that we were just not taking care of them by giving them the help they needed to recover from where they were sent. Even today as there are Veterans' Courts showing treatment provides more justice for them than jail, it depends on where they live if they end up locked up or helped back up again.

We are a nation of over 300 million people yet we can't take care of the less than one percent willing to die for all of us. This is what I am reminded of when I think of 9-11. We lost less than 3,000 that horrible day and spent trillions of dollars as politicians expected the people would approve of any amount being spent on combat but they didn't seem to feel the same way when it came to taking care of the veterans coming home and needing help because of it.

I still believe in the people of this nation and I believe when they are told about what our veterans are going through, they will respond united in making sure these patriots do not become buried in the ashes of our neglect.