Director's Notes – 145 – The Veterans

(NOTE: As always, Director's Notes contain spoilers)

I've mentioned before I'm a big football fan. It's hard to give up the NFL, despite their objectively terrible politics. 

You can't really watch an NFL game without the belabored marketing of American pride. Many games open with a military band or veteran honoree, a field-sized US flag – the official logo of Patriotism™, and an Orwellian focus on who is or isn't Respecting the Anthem.

The NFL, not to mention thousands of other public-facing corporations and politicians, hooks its trailer to veterans. It is not difficult for most people to aver their appreciation and esteem for military service-people. Acknowledging their sacrifice is, quite literally, the least a civilian can do. 

But what of the treatment of veterans once they have returned home? Parades and surprise return-home video memes are lovely, I'm sure, for those being honored. So are a few of the remunerative benefits – college funds, discounted insurance, etc. Our country has come a long way in how it handles its veterans. Vietnam vets returned home to bared teeth and relentless public criticism. Add to that an endlessly scrolling list of unreconciled injuries – both physical and emotional. And while we think of WWII soldiers as being roundly celebrated, my grandfather volunteered twice for service, in Europe and North Africa, only to be removed completely from his family's inheritance (a large dairy farm in upstate New York) because he abandoned them. 

In the 21st Century, we have the widespread acknowledgement of PTSD, which is a step forward, and many non-profits have lead a charge to help struggling soldiers adapt to new realities. But many still cannot afford or even get medical help. My uncle, a Vietnam draftee, survived the war, but cannot easily access health care. His local VA doesn't have the resources to assist him, so he must make appointments more than an hour from his home. Even then, the waitlist and paperwork are seemingly endless. There is still a long way to go. 

This isn't a political call by me to get you to support veteran organizations (but by all means, if you feel called to action, do it!) In fact, given the enormous platform dedicated to veterans in commercials, in political speeches, and in sporting events, it often feels like veterans have received more than enough attention, but what's really happening is cheap marketing boosts to help PR and sales. Which brings me to the questions I had while writing this episode.

What is the moral core of the NFL's or any corporate entity's love of military veterans? It's certainly not a call to bolster healthcare for those in need. The NFL celebrates the violence of their game while denying medical reimbursements for its own veterans. Our government does the same. By saying "we love our vets" with flags and marches and commercials and welcome-home videos, we can relieve ourselves from looking more closely what it means to send people to war in the first place, and what it means to pay for its aftermath. "Thank you for your sacrifice" is a platitude, a slogan. It is rarely a meaningful response from someone who has truly explored what it means to sacrifice or even what it means to be thankful.

This episode doesn't tackle all of these issues, and even if it did, that wouldn't illuminate, let alone solve, anything important. Night Vale usually incorporates satire in small doses, and I didn't feel like pro-healthcare, anti-war agitprop best served this story, but it's meaningful part of it. 

I still watch my Dallas Cowboys, and I still roll my eyes at the manipulative framing of America the Brand while wondering how many hours of physical and mental therapy could have been afforded for the cost of an F-16 flyover. 

- Jeffrey Cranor
April 1, 2019

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