Just Wondering ??

After recently resigning from the local Royal Canadian Legion; I got to wondering who is actually supporting our Legion and the Legion members in the current times.

As all veterans are more than amply aware, there are getting to be fewer and fewer members that would be classed as 'veterans of the World Wars'. Heck, there are getting to be fewer and fewer veterans of the Korean War conflict. Age is just catching up to all and sadly, old age is taking our 'World War' veterans from us at a very quick rate. That is not to say we don't still have military veterans that are still needing our assistance and help.

I did find it very frustrating, that an older person who was a member of the military during World War II who actually never left his home and served for a maximum of 5 years (usually less) in the Armed Forces, is treated with a way more respect than a member of the more recent Armed Forces who spent years in Bosnia, Cyprus, Vietnam, Israel, etc and has served for close to 20 years year in the military. Now I'm not taking away anything from the older 'vets'. They were willing to go, but just were not called up for one reason or the other. But the younger military person is/was also ready 'to go' where his country desired and into some very dicey situations. Some of the postings the newer members of our Armed Forces have been sent to are certainly no walk in the park, yet until recently, the general public has had no real respect for our military.

It is only recently when our military members have been killed in action in Afghanistan, that the people of Canada are taking a closer look at our military members. I'm sorry, but our military has been serving in very hostile spots since the Korean War, just the average Canadian has no idea or information on their service. Try a nice 3 year transfer to the city of Moscow (or Berlin or Saigon) in the early 70's. Do you think this would be an easy place to live with what was going on with the Cold War at the time? These people lived in 'hell' at the time, but no one worried about them. How about manning the barricades in Cyrpus (the Congo, Israel, Somalia, etc) in the steaming heats for months at a time with no contact with your family. Just a cake walk as at least there was no snow! Then we did get to a spot in Bosnia where our soldiers were actually involved in fire fights,etc. Many of the soldiers of the time ended up with PTSD and other medical problems, but of course it wasn't recognized as a real medical problem, so they ended up with no help. There are numerous places that our military members served with no real recognition and suffered more than most can even imagine.

So now we get to a point in the 'real world' where the Royal Canadian Legion's are trying to help our 'veterans'. Up until recently the recent military members were not even a blip on the Legion's radar. However, at least we had some former military members involved in the Legion to bring our current vets problems to the forefront. Sadly, as more and more veterans pass on or give up their interest in the Legions, the Legions are turning to Associates and Affiliate members who have no prior military background. Some of these people have no idea of the trials and tribulations our military members have gone through during the years. Sadly some are involved in the Legion just for the social element and have no thought to help our veterans. Now don't get me wrong, there are many, many Associates and Affiliates members that are doing a super job of carrying on the tradition of the Legion and their mandate. But, there are getting to be more and more that are just in the Legion for the social aspect of the organization or to put on a show that they 'give their all for the community and our veterans'. Sorry, but the sham shows through to those veterans and others that actually put their lives and careers on the line for their country.

From all I have read, eventually the Royal Canadian Legion as we know it, will be no more. There will be no more veterans of the World Wars left. The current veterans of conflict are not joining the Legion ranks to any great degree. So who is left to carry on the traditions and the usefulness of the Legion? The Associates and Affiliates and current military members, that's who. The only problem is that the majority of these people have no idea what a real military member (then or now) goes through to protect Canada and our allies or they don't have any inclination to be a part of the Legion (ie former military members). Certainly the un-military can read a bit and talk to a few veterans, but to actually 'walk a mile in a veteran's shoes' is what is really needed. Hopefully, the world will be able to settle our conflicts without having declared or undeclared wars. If that is the case, then eventually the 'reason for the existence of the Royal Canadian Legion' will cease (ie to assist our Veterans).

At that time, the 'wanna be's' will have to find another organization they can join so they can say they care and are there for our veterans. The only problem is that the military will still have veterans that will need our help (probably more than we now have). They just don't require a place to have a beer or two and a place to socialize. They need real help in a hospital or out patient for PTSD or other medical problems that the average Canadian has no idea even exist or existed. The ordinary citizen of Canada has no real interest in their problems or even care to be associated with a 'trained killer' from the Canadian military. They want to say they are helping our military members, but they don't even recognize the new military let alone help them.

What a crock :(

So what I was wondering about, is what happens to our military members of now. How do we look after them in the future when they can no longer serve the country due to sickness, infirmity, etc. Hopefully the Legion will be able to change and move towards helping these people as they have so aptly done for our veterans of the World Wars and Korea and the past. And hopefully the military members of today will accept the help of an organization such as the Royal Canadian Legion to assist them in their future trials and tribulations of life.

I/we can only hope.