“Do you
have school off this Tuesday?” The question took me by surprise. I didn’t think
we did but wasn’t too sure. Lately I’ve been living one day at a time – it
turns out to be a pretty efficient way of doing things, if shortsighted. Then,
a barrage of questions whipped through my head: DO I have school off next
Tuesday? If I don’t have school on Tuesday, what can I put off that I was
planning on doing Monday? On Tuesday? Then the most important question: WHY
would I have Tuesday off in the first place?
As is
usually the case, the answer lay in the circumstances of the question. The man
that asked me was a veteran. Instantly I went from hopeful for a day off from
class to being ashamed. “It’s veterans day,” he offered after a moment, saving
me from the mumbling, bumbling response that is often the result of my both
trying to think and talk at 1000 miles per hour. But I wasn’t just ashamed that
I hadn’t immediately known that it was veteran’s day or that I had failed to
put two and two together when he asked me the question. Instead, I was most
ashamed that, when I finally realized what was being asked and why it was being
asked, I had to say “No.”
I don’t
consider it a secret that our nation has failed and is failing veterans
returning from serving our country. According to a study conducted by
researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs, 22 military veterans kill
themselves every day. Some people think that number is too high and that most
of these suicides are the result of normal factors and have nothing to do with
time served. Others think the number is too low. That it is THE number at all
is indeed troubling. Coming up with a way to curb this metric is complicated,
it is probably expensive and there may be no right answer – not to say that
this means a solution shouldn’t be pursued. Instead, I say this because giving
people the day off to celebrate and commemorate our veterans is none of those
things.
When I
first realized that we didn’t have Veterans day off, I began to ask myself why.
Maybe it was because there weren’t enough veterans at our school to warrant a
day off. Surely that wasn’t the case. In 2009 the Post 9/11 GI Bill went into
effect. In three short years this bill helped nearly 860,000 veterans get their
foot in the door on the path to higher education. The numbers were there. Following
this pattern, there was no question that I could ask that led me to an adequate
answer for UNC not observing Veterans Day. My final reasoning ended up being
that the school probably felt they couldn’t give up a full day of instruction
and operation in the home stretch of the semester. And that’s a damn shame.
There are
many solutions to this problem. Start school a day early, on a Monday instead
of Tuesday, end school a day later – a Thursday instead of a Wednesday. There
are several days we have off that we don’t really need – but to not take
Veterans Day off is inexcusable. I am ashamed to attend an institution where
student-veterans are supposed to attend class on a day they should be
celebrated. Even if you don’t agree with the conflicts the US has been involved
in, recently or historically, that doesn’t mean that you should not appreciate
the men and women that have answered the call of duty. There is a difference between being political and being patriotic; celebrating Veterans day is certainly the former and should never be mistaken as the latter. We need to realize that almost none of the
institutions that we take for granted would be possible without the brave men
and women that have fought for our freedom for the last 200+ years. To feel
that taking one day off to commemorate the heroes that have returned home from
battle and those that have lost their lives is not a worthwhile cause is
contradictory to the American ideals that have been instilled in me by
teachers, my parents and friends for the past 21 years.
According
to the Department of Labor, Labor Day “constitutes a yearly national tribute to
the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being
of our country.” Labor Day is also a federally mandated national holiday. I can
think of no group that has contributed more to the strength, prosperity or well
being of our country than the military. Veterans Day should be a national
holiday, no ifs ands or buts about it. Until it is, every school and office
should voluntarily shut down to honor those that have laid down their lives so
that we can lead the comfortable lives that we do.
To be
honest, the only reason I knew Veterans Day was coming up was because it was on
my iPhone calendar by default. That’s completely my fault and I take full
responsibility for it. But it’s also society’s fault for not putting Veterans
Day at the forefront of public discourse and forcing people to acknowledge it
if it isn’t going to be nationally observed. So remember to thank a veteran
today because our country and institutions certainly aren’t going to do it for
you.
