MAYOR’S COLUMN -- John J. Collins

Veterans Day is an interesting holiday.

It triggers a sequence of routine events including the laying of a wreath

by the president of the United States at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,

politicians waxing poetic about those who have died to maintain our

freedom and kids having a day off from school because of the fact that

“wars were fought.”

I agree that these unvarying and customary procedures are important in

helping us keep in mind the sacrifice of many brave men and women who

gave their lives in order that we may enjoy our democratic freedom. Like

many others who are in their 50s, I too had friends and classmates who

died in Vietnam. I honor the fact that they paid the ultimate price for

my enjoyment of rights to speak, assemble, and vote.

My concern is that the general public’s awareness of veterans seems to be

limited to those who died. I am a “Lifetime Member” of the Veterans of

Foreign Wars, an organization of U.S. veterans who have served in foreign

wars founded in 1899. I recall my personal anxiety and uneasiness when,

as a 23-year-old lieutenant in the U.S. Army, I was sent 13,000 miles

away from my family and home in Boston.

Nobody ever shot at me, and I never did shoot at anyone else.

My apprehension was minuscule compared to many others. Many veterans

carry physical and emotional souvenirs with them today as reminders of

their military service.

As a 10-year member of the board of directors for the Southwest Community

Center, a Santa Ana-based organization that helps to feed homeless and

get them back into mainstream society, I have had the opportunity to talk

with many homeless people.

Many of them are veterans. And, yes, many of them are afflicted with

mental illness, suffer from alcohol abuse or drug addiction or an

exasperated feeling that they can’t get along in society. While I can’t

claim my conclusions are statistically valid or psychologically sound, a

recurring theme seems to be present in many of their conversations: The

emotional scars of their military service have affected their everyday

life.

There are many veterans who function very well in society and have not

surrendered to drugs or alcohol, but still have to “deal with” emotional

mementos of their time in the military. There are also many veterans

alone and forgotten in VA hospitals across the country. There is no

wreath of gratitude being laid at their door. Yet, our enjoyment of

freedom is due to their efforts as well.

If you have an opportunity this weekend to run into someone selling Buddy

Poppies, I encourage you to make a financial contribution and wear your

poppy with pride and remembrance of the sacrifice made by many men and

women. This fund-raising campaign benefits disabled and needy veterans

and also provides assistance to the widows and orphans of deceased

veterans. By heightening our awareness, the poppies can benefit us as

well.

This Veterans Day, let’s pause to remember all those who served in the

military. Some have sacrificed their lives and some a portion of their

life, so we may enjoy living in freedom.

John J. Collins is mayor of Fountain Valley.