Dear Veteran

A letter to a Veteran.

Dear Veteran,

Please forgive my selfish heart. We sat together at the airport, and I only observed you during my layover. I regret not getting up and buying you a meal. You see, I was bitter at the two-hour inconvenience on my time. Yet, your military service took at least four years of your life. I should have at least said hi. Although I intended to work on my laptop, my eyes kept settling on you. You seemed abandoned as you slumped in your wheelchair. Your unkempt hair and dirty veteran jacket made you look like you were rescued from the street, only to be abandoned at gate B12.

I never saw one person approach you as if you had a disease they feared catching. The seats around you remained empty, although many people stood as if they would have liked a place to sit. Did you feel the people avoid you? Does that happen often?

What was your story? You were probably a badass during your day as you protected our country. I imagine you running around in your prime, hanging with your buddies, and chasing girls. What countries did you see?

Were you a young boy drafted into the service right out of high school? Did you leave a girl at home? Maybe you decided to enter the military and made it into a career. You could have had a family that followed you from base to base, feeling desperate to establish roots yet never could.

I hadn’t taken the time to notice what branch you served in. I should have. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in the belly of a submarine. If you did, did you miss the sun? Of course, you could have been a tank driver, rolling the metal beast over anything that dared get in your way.

When you went to war, did you get shot? Chances are, you went to fight as a boy but came home as a man, possibly a broken man. Did your small town throw a homecoming party for you? I hope you have had the chance to lead liberty parades where you have been honored.

I don’t know if you are in a wheelchair because you stepped on a land mine in deployment. Could you have spent time in a dingy hospital in another country as foreigners nursed you to health? I bet that would be scary. Maybe you were a medic in the war and pulled your brethren out of the grips of death. Or, you could have been locked in a cell, a prisoner of war, unsure if you would ever hug your mom again. Speaking of your mom, how many sleepless nights did she spend on her knees praying for your safe return?

What did you sacrifice as you served our country? Did you leave for war during your college education, never having the chance to resume it when you returned? I picture you shivering in a foxhole as your comrades died around you. -or fighting in a field, not knowing if you would live for even an hour more. You certainly have experienced more fear than anyone at the airport. Were you ground-auxiliary or flying in the sky?

Are fireworks hard for you to listen to, triggering a horrific episode of PTSD?

As I watched you at the airport, the more my heart broke for you. No one seemed to notice you or even care. You seemed more like an abandoned piece of luggage than a human. You, who once fought for us, have been degraded to a wheelchair. At one point, you likely were the poster soldier for fitness. The world has forsaken you. Even I rejected you.

If I had to do it again, I would have taken you to one of the restaurants and bought you a meal. As you told me about your incredible adventures, I would have looked you in the eyes. I wonder when the last time someone looked you in the eyes was. Maybe if I had met you on the street, I would have wheeled you into a barbershop and gotten you a nice haircut. We could have gone on a shopping spree, where I would have bought you clean new clothes. You deserve to look sharp and be respected.

Who am I kidding? I probably would never do those things, even though I should have. Please forgive me for my self-centered behavior. Please forgive me for not getting to know your story.

Thank you for your service and sacrifices. Thank you for doing what I was too scared to do for our country. And if I ever have the chance to see you again, may I take the time to get to know you.

May God bless you for your service.