, a slim bandage slapped over a gaping wound of indifference , pity or guilt . Our towns and cities throw parades on this day , often out of tradition and in an attempt to demonstrate anything but apathy toward their war fighters . Unlike parades past -- parades not held during wartime -- these gatherings do not celebrate victory . They directly celebrate service while indirectly celebrating survival . Even that is a messy , ongoing process . A returning veteran stepping off a plane onto U.S. soil is not evidence that the veteran survived the war -- about 20 % of all suicides in the United States are committed by veterans . For some returnees , simply making it through another day is their new objective . Life back home can seem remote , confusing or even pointless . Now there is some discussion of restructuring the military pension system and raising the cost of health insurance for future service members to cut costs . That our country needs to get its fiscal house in order is not in question ; what should be examined is the tendency of our government to view military service as something comparable
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- This Veterans Day , like the nine that preceded it , does not come at a time of peace . We are no longer saying thanks to veterans of wars past such as our grandfathers , uncles or those guys who fly black POW/MIA flags twice a year . Now we are thanking our children , our friends from high school and our younger cousins . Every day , someone new is introduced to the hardships of wartime military service or the horrors of combat . These are wars with no clean victories . There are no sailors in New York waiting to grab a passing dame to celebrate victory with a kiss . In the way that people offer their thanks , there is an echo of guilt -- just an echo -- of our country 's mistreatment of its Vietnam veterans , and that only a select few have borne this generation 's burden of war . That awkwardness with which the thanks is delivered , coupled with some veterans ' anxieties about what they have seen or done , can make Veterans Day seem like a show of empty patriotism -- or worse