I’ve written about my recent troubles with Veterans Day. I was proud to have served in the Army National Guard and in the war in Afghanistan. I was devastated when President Joe Biden decided to betray our good mission in Afghanistan and hand the victory, plus tens of billions of dollars in American weapons, to the evil Taliban. I’ve written about the years I spent working to save my Afghan friend and Enduring Freedom novel co-author, Jawad Arash, and his family from the Taliban who hunted them, and I’ve told you of my reluctance, after the Biden betrayal of Afghanistan, to attend Veterans Day events. It was hard to hear “Thank you for your service” after Biden threw away everything my fellow soldiers and I fought for. But America recently emphatically rejected Biden and his appointed replacement, Vice President Kamala Harris, in a decisive election, making this Veterans Day the best one in years.
On Friday the 8th, I went to my daughter’s elementary school Veterans Day program wearing my combat engineer hat, and I stood with my fellow Army veterans as the Army song was played. I felt more of the old pride stirring, and I waved at my daughter and smiled as if to say, “Your father, and the whole country, is on the way back from dark and difficult Biden years.”
On Veterans Day proper, I went with my neighbor retired Marine Col. Rick Brown to my local Red Robin location for a free, tender, juicy Red’s Big Tavern Burger and unlimited fresh hot fries. It being the day after the Marine Corps birthday, Rick proudly wore his Marines hat, and we enjoyed our treat with crisp cold beer in a restaurant packed with veterans. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, one could identify many of them by their service-related hats or even by the identical delicious burgers we were all enjoying.
Rick and I marveled at the election, both at President-elect Donald Trump’s remarkable achievement of being elected to two nonconsecutive terms, a feat not accomplished since Grover Cleveland’s win in 1892, and in Biden’s humiliating campaign replacement followed by his replacement’s defeat. We raised our glasses to salute the birthday of the Marine Corps, the service of our fellow veterans, and victory over Biden and Harris, who destroyed everything we fought for in Afghanistan. We spoke of those we’d seen express election grief online and talked about how their despair was insignificant compared to the terror and anguish experienced by our betrayed Afghan allies Biden had condemned to a new Taliban hell.
There was a generally upbeat spirit among the veterans in the restaurant. Eventually a man named Paul Edwards, wearing a crisp blue shirt and red Marines tie, sat at the table next to us. “Happy birthday, Marine!” he said to Rick.
Paul loves being around his fellow veterans so much that he visits as many places observing the holiday as possible. He was first on the scene for free breakfast at a popular Spokane restaurant. He’d been to the program at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, pleased to see a big crowd and people who’d served in various eras and wars. After Red Robin, he would be on his way to Olive Garden to talk to more veterans and enjoy one of the items from a special menu of free delicious meals. I admired both his commitment to the Marine Corps and his brave determination to try to get through the crowd into Olive Garden.
We swapped old service stories the way veterans do, and we spoke of hope for peace in a troubled world. Sometimes a veteran would thank another for his service. More often, a simple nod between old warriors was enough. I felt good celebrating my fellow veterans, relieved by the knowledge that America had not rewarded, with reelection, the people who abandoned our Afghan allies to the Taliban and betrayed our mission in Afghanistan.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Trent Reedy, author of several books including Enduring Freedom, served as a combat engineer in the Iowa National Guard from 1999 to 2005, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
*Some names and call signs in this story may have been changed due to operational security or privacy concerns.