There is a certain amount of patriotism fatigue that set in. I don't remember all of the particulars, but only 3-5 years ago, there was a hub bub with Jerry Jones charging some extra $ at a Cowboys game for some "troop appreciation" ceremony. By that time we had already been at war for 10+ years with no end in sight.
Perhaps I am a little bit skeptical, being that I played in high school and college bands during the Reagan and Bush I years and during that time of the waning cold we we kind of had to manufacture some battle weary troops, and we did. Now there is no shortage. Not to mention we still have holdover first responder fatigue from 9/11. I had a cousin of mine who was female firefighter that died in a McDonald's fire in Houston back in 2000. She has all but been forgotten.
I guess the Pixar film "The Incredible's" said it best : "when everyone is special, no one is special."
I am not even really sure what I am trying to say except that when you are at war all of the time on one front or the other, you kind of lose your bearing.
I am not a rah rah flag waiving kind of guy, but I respect military sacrifice. In fact here is a story:
CSB: I had an uncle that died a few years ago that was an old Navy guy. He was in his 80s, lived a good life and raised a great family. His wife (my aunt)asked me to play TAPS at his internment, which I did, but it was not easy. I had been out of practice for a few years as I had switched instruments to classical guitar from trumpet. I had been given enough notice to get my chops in shape. I was kind of pissed about it because my oldest son is a pro trumpet player, but he was not going to be able to make it. On top of that there were expectations. Even though I was never a professional trumpet player, I had played for many family weddings free of charge. So I practiced every day for weeks.
So finally the day came and I get to the cemetery and am immediately escorted over to the color guard where I have to hang out and get the schedule. The color guard were a bunch of old dudes who do this stuff all of the time, but I could tell this was pretty much old hat and no big deal for them. Pretty much paint by the numbers for them.
It was a Catholic ceremony and when the time came I did my deal and tried to give a really meaningful rendition of TAPS. This was my uncle after all and I really liked the guy and I had put in a bunch of hard work to do this.
As I played, I could feel the gravity of the event. The fact that it was me playing it, and not some hired gun, did make a difference. It was all I could do to not get choked up while playing. Once that was done there were a few more words and the ceremony was over.
Once we were done, the whole family was scheduled to go down to Port A for a family reunion, so I was expecting a few light comments and a few lets get the fuck out of here to go drink beer on the beach type of thing. What happened was something completely different. I was greeted by person after person with red eyes and snot running sown their noses to thank me for paying an adequate tribute to a good family man that never saw combat. Even the salty color guard guys came up to me afterwards with tears in their eyes with compliments.
The point is not that I gave a stirring rendition of TAPS. The point is that our vets mean something to this country and that they deserve better than some jack off ceremony at Cowboys stadium or some paint by the numbers color guard bullshit....and they certainly deserve better than the Commander in Chief minimizing their contributions.
Upon reading, I know this it almost sounds like one of Trump's BS stories or an aggy visiting team story, but it is not. It was real and spectacular in unexpected ways and I am glad to have been a part of it as it lessened my doubt in humanity. Fuck Trump and God bless the USA and our military personnel and Fuck you Surly Horns if you think this is just BS. Out.