This Veterans Day has a certain numerical resonance. World War I ended on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. Today, we recall the end of that horrific conflict, and those that have followed it, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of a new century.
Unfortunately, World War I was not the "war to end all wars." American soldiers continue to be thrust into unnecessary conflicts, fighting and dying in recent years in the undeclared wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United States has not learned much about avoiding unwarranted wars.
And it has not learned much about respecting the veterans of wars.
Just as in the aftermath of World War I veterans were abused when they made reasonable demands for economic justice at home, so veterans are today abused when they make the same sort of demands.
After World War I, veterans seeking bonuses they had been promised were shot in the streets of Washington.
This fall, veterans were who survived the fighting in Iraq were wounded on the streets of Oakland, as they joined protests inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The veteran who was most seriously harmed in Oakland was Wisconsin native Scott Olsen, who was twice deployed to Iraq with the Marine Corps. Olsen returned to a country that has neglected Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and although he had found a good job, he remained concerned about the unemployed and homeless men and women with whom he served.
Olsen joined two of the most vital vets groups in the country today: Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and Veterans for Peace (VFP).
While still living in Wisconsin, he participated in last winter's protests at the state Capitol against the anti-labor policies of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, which he recognized as being especially harmful to vets who continue to serve their country as public employees.