Second Chance to Answer a Child’s Question, ‘Why Do We Need Veterans?’

Last week The Huffington Post published a series of articles focusing on issues affecting the families of those who serve, as part of Military Families Week.

One story that I was touched by was one written by a fellow retired Air Force colonel, Richard Klass.

It wasn’t because it is such a well-written story—it is—nor because it is about our troops and our veterans—although that is part of it. Nor is it because it is about the glory of war or the heroism of those fighting our wars. As a matter of fact, the writer tells us that “[t]his unromantic, un-heroic view of war must be understood by the citizens and their political leaders so that the nation never again sends our young men and women into that cauldron for other than the most serious and necessary purposes. We need veterans to remind us of the costs and consequences of war and of its gravity.”

I was struck by the story because Klass tells us how he answered a question posed by an 8-year-old boy about three years ago, and how he would answer the same question today, 30 months after the 2008 elections; almost three years into a period of lack of civility and honor in the public discourse; almost three years into an increasingly divided electorate; almost three years of continuing ego and ideology worship, with “congressmen and senators throwing temper tantrums and threatening to take their ball and go home if they don’t get their way.”

Please read how Klass would, today, answer the question by eight-year-old, Ben, “Why do we need veterans?”