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<DOCID>Dishonored_Veterans.doc.txt</DOCID>
<AUTHOR>Chris Barrette</AUTHOR>
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Dishonored Veterans

	For those who didnt know or have forgotten, Veterans Day was November 11.  It is a day to honor all who have bravely worn the uniform, alive and deceased, who have served in wartime or peacetime.  These individuals risked life and limb to give us every freedom that we possess today.  They are not only those who have risked these, they are those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to allow me the privilege to write this and you to read this.  These individuals have fought, lived, and died heroes.  It makes me ill to be a member of a university that makes no effort to show thanks or offer remembrance to those individuals who so greatly deserve it.  I guess I in part, as a LSSU student, shoulder the blame for no recognition being made to our service members past and present.

I have been looking for any mention of this federal and state holiday on campus or online, wanting to give the university the benefit of the doubt.  I was able to locate only a handful of faculty members who took the time to express their thanks.  I did however find, in numerous locations around campus and online, the big news of the going on sale of a former hockey players pictures.  Im in no way trying to take away from that individual as I am sure he was a fine hockey player.  I just wonder why we can honor a former hockey player and none of our current service members or any of the following individuals:



-World War I- 126,000 died fighting for our country and our freedom

-World War II- 400,000 died fighting for our country and our freedom

-Korea- 33,600 died fighting for our country and our freedom

-Vietnam- 58,239 died fighting for our country and our freedom

-Persian Gulf- 269 died fighting for our country and our freedom

-Operation Iraqi Freedom- 350 died fighting for our country and our freedom

-War in Iraq- 2,839 and counting died fighting for our country and our freedom

	

	These individuals are duly honored during Memorial Day, yet they also deserve to be recognized on November 11.  These numbers dont include the missing and mentally or physically injured individuals.  Veterans Day is designed to honor all who have worn the uniform and continue to wear it today.  It shouldnt be too painstaking to take a moment to remember and give thanks to the most deserving individuals in the world.
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