In Batavia last night Jon Powers, candidate for Congress in NY-26, hosted a screening of the film “Gunner Palace” at the Batavia Elk’s Club. Several members of The Greatest Generation (WWII Veterans and citizens) were in attendance. After the screening, Powers took questions and what struck me the most is how fired up these aging veterans were about the current war in Iraq. Far from being unpatriotic, these are members of arguably our most exalted community, WWII Veterans. The questions asked ranged from “When are we ever getting out of this war?” to “What would you do (Powers) to get us out of this war?” Each question was asked with a measure of palpable frustration. Would anyone dare call these men and women “unpatriotic”?

So many Republicans assert that it’s unpatriotic to critique the war and yet here are members of The Greatest Generation speaking out, able to discern the important distinction between critiquing a war and its impetus and the noble soldiers fulfilling their duty. Our soldiers have done what was asked of them over and over. Our leaders in Washington have not.

I maintain, along with many Democratic candidates and leaders, Powers included, that it is unpatriotic not to advocate for the best for our soldiers. It is unpatriotic to be silent in the face of such egregious mismanagement and undermining of our veterans’ health and economic well-being. Despite what the Bush Administration propagates, Americans are savvy and more and more immune to the spin of the lockstep Republicans and their fall-in-line mantra.

Americans, and perhaps especially WWII Veterans, recognize the tangible effects of this ill-begotten war, which are the erosion of our military in myriad ways, erosion of our economy and, consequently, the erosion of everyday Americans’ ability to attain the American Dream.

Powers answered the veterans’ questions in thorough detail, at one point demonstrating the often overlooked causes and symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by using three chairs as a model for a Humvee formation. Powers said the IED hits the first Humvee but the shockwave hits the second and third Humvees like a rock making ripples on the water. The shockwave then causes air bubbles to dart around inside the soldiers’ heads due to the shockwave reverberating under their helmets, thus causing sustained brain damage. He pointed out that in many cases a soldier’s condition goes unnoticed until after his or her eligibility for care through the V.A. has expired.

Powers also said that soon we will have more soldiers dying of suicide than in combat in Iraq. That is a different kind of shockwave altogether but one that we all will feel. We need to listen to The Greatest Generation and get fired up. Powers, for one, is listening to them. Here’s hoping those in Washington will listen as well because our soldiers from all generations are speaking out, some with words, others with actions.

Image courtesy of Michael Parks.