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We have a special holiday coming up next week, one that might be easy to overlook between the election aftermath and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
I'm talking about Veterans Day. It's a tradition that goes back to the World War I armistice. For more than a century, we've set aside a special day to recognize soldiers who sacrificed for our freedom.
Each year I participate in a Veterans Day observance. I sing in the Boulder Estates choir, which performs several songs as part of a Veterans Day program.
We currently have 17 veterans at Boulder Estates, fewer than in the past. The program is a way to thank them, to recognize them as heroes. Sometimes our community goes the extra mile. A good example is the Quilts of Valor program that provides area veterans with homemade quilts.
I only have an average singing voice. I'm glad to make a small contribution to the choir, to perform throughout the year mostly for senior citizen audiences. Veterans Day is one of the special occasions.
One of the reasons that makes it special in 2026 is that we're involved in a war. The war in Iran has led to casualties, a significant number of soldiers killed and wounded. I'm concerned that we haven't had very many headlines and feature stories.
Instead we have a president who answered a question from a reporter on Election Eve by saying that Iran is "just a little war".
I have to remind myself that Trump has made dozens of controversial statements in the past 10 years. Even with that in mind, I see the Iran comment as a new low.
The reality is that there's no such thing as a "little war." Any conflict that sends soldiers to risk their lives is a serious thing. It shouldn't be downplayed.
What Trump should have said is that he considers the Iran war necessary because Iran is a threat, an economic and military threat. It would have drawn a mixture of support and opposition. It would have been politically prudent.
I don't know where he was coming from with the statement he made. I wonder if he, as a wealthy insider, really does see the war as a little thing and really does consider the military casualties a minor consequence.
We should maybe give him the benefit of the doubt by just considering it a poor choice of words. Even if that's the case, he dishonored veterans. He owes the Iran war families a public apology.
They probably won't get one. It shows that times have changed when it comes to the public mindset about wars.
World War II was considered by almost everyone to be necessary. It involved everyone as ration books and war material drives became part of daily life. Veterans came home and joined large Legion and VFW clubs. Their buildings became fixtures in many communities.
The national pride created by World War II carried over in the Korean War of the early 1950s. Vietnam led to widespread objection to war that included alienation of soldiers who returned home.
In recent years there's been a basic respect for the military but not a total dedication to war efforts. We've carried on with daily routines throughout long conflicts in the Middle East. Now the war in Iran is flying low on the radar screens of the general public.
Veterans Day is a time to give thanks to soldiers from the past 60 years. We have very few World War II and Korean War veterans left. It's important to make sure that younger veterans receive the same sort of gratitude that was a tradition years ago.
Soldiers in Vietnam and other recent wars didn't come home to victory parades. Many of them faced difficult transitions back to civilian life in which their wars were seldom talked about. Suicide rates among veterans remain higher than statistics for the general population.
Any show of support is good. Any effort to let them know that what they did matters can make a difference in their lives.
Hopefully Vietnam veterans who were ridiculed upon returning home are feeling appreciated in their elderly years. Younger soldiers who weren't widely ridiculed in the 1990s or after the millennium still need a show of support. They need more than lip service. They need evidence that we truly care.
-- Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent