Being Thankful For Our Freedoms And The Veterans Who Fought For Them
By Jack Killion, Mayor of Pennsauken Township
This time of year, we all try to give some serious thought to all the things we’re thankful for. And on Nov. 11, we focus on our veterans, thanking them for their service to our country and what they all gave up in order to maintain the freedom and prosperity that we enjoy here in the United States of America.
As your mayor, a member of Township Committee, and from working alongside folks like State Senator James Beach, who chairs New Jersey’s Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I’ve seen the highs and lows our veterans encounter on a daily basis. On the first Saturday of November, I was on hand to help welcome home Lance Corporal Kyle Hohwald of the United States Marine Corps, who recently served a tour of duty in the Middle East. I’ve also learned that many of our veterans have difficulty adjusting to civilian life. They come back with physical injuries, making it difficult to get out of bed, let alone handle the pressures of family or a job. Others suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Fighting in war torn places like Afghanistan and Iraq, these brave men and women come back much different than they left.
On a more personal level, I’ve seen the cost of war first hand. My oldest brother never got a chance to become a veteran; he died in the Vietnam War. I remember coming home off the bus from school on a November afternoon to see far too many cars in front my home and my mother and father distraught over the loss of their son. And when these young men came home from Vietnam, they did not get parades and warm welcomes like their counterparts did after World War II. They were hated; people spit on them and called them “baby killers.” All for fighting in a war they didn’t start.
Fortunately, today’s veterans don’t get that awful reception. But the soldiers of the 21st Century come back with baggage we can’t possibly begin to understand unless we were in the trenches ourselves.
So what can we do? In the big picture, we need to make sure that veterans coming home from the battlefield get all the support that they need, whether it’s medical care for their physical, mental and emotional injuries, or job training and placement services to get back to work in the private sector. There are a lot of these support services already in place, but we can always do more.
On a local level, we need to continue to welcome home our soldiers back from war and military service with open arms. If they need assistance, we as a community need to encourage veterans to take advantage of the benefits available to them. We all know they’ve more than earned it.
We can also support local initiatives that help support current members of the military serving in harm’s way. Joseph Marietta, a member of the Pennsauken Police Department and a military veteran, started the Movies in Theater project, which has collected over 2,000 DVDs and 20 DVD players for military personnel serving overseas in hostile regions of the world.
And while we may never know what they have gone through, we can just be there for our loved ones who are veterans. It’s important for them to know they’re not alone and that people truly care for them.
On behalf of myself as mayor and the entire Township Committee, I thank our veterans for their service and wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.
