Veterans Irritate Us

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We don't even wear a poppy during Veterans' Week, 
which precedes Canada's Remembrance Day in November,  and it's free.

Veterans irritate us. We are not happy to see them because they reopen old wounds, that they became crippled or lost a limb in wars we voted for. Men and women running for Congress promised to keep the world strong, to defend democracy and Christianity.

Veterans irritate us because we don’t have anything to show for the war in Afghanistan, but NATO is in Ukraine now fighting for what, exactly? We cannot ask veterans because they don’t have a voice. Do they sign an oath of silence, that whether they lose a leg or an eye, they will not tell the world what happened overseas?

But I think, veterans don’t talk to us because they can read the irritation in our eyes. Now what? That is what we say. What are we going to do with them? They see the irritation at home, if families accepted them back. Maybe, so-called loved ones are just interested in the small veterans’ allowance. Families are cruel if you don’t contribute to daily expenses. But how can men who were crippled fighting NATO (American) wars, be expected to contribute at home? What better contribution tops laying down your life for your country?

Veterans irritate us because they make us feel guilty that we enjoyed life to the full, while their friends disappear before their very eyes from landmines and enemy soldiers that are silent like a cat and deadly like a tiger.

We wish the government can put veterans somewhere, where we cannot see them. In the meantime, we’ll send more troops and drones to Ukraine, to fight for what, exactly?

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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