tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/memorial-day-17226/articlesMemorial Day – The Conversation2021-11-03T12:28:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1684442021-11-03T12:28:07Z2021-11-03T12:28:07ZHow crosses and mementos help some Marines remember fallen comrades<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429520/original/file-20211101-27-drof03.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C1194%2C862&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crosses in honor of fallen Marines stand atop a hill near Camp Pendleton, California.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katrina Finkelstein</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many members of the public don’t have a clear understanding of what service means to people in the military. How do they honor their own? What kind of spaces and activities help them reflect and remember – beyond Veterans Day and Memorial Day?</p>
<p>We are <a href="https://derekalderman.com/">cultural geographers</a> who study how people’s emotions and connections with the past are <a href="https://geography.utk.edu/about-us/people/graduate-students/katrina-finkelstein/">represented physically</a> in landscapes. Recently, our research has focused on <a href="https://aag-annualmeeting.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/27/details/16371">commemorative place names</a> in the military – particularly names associated with the Confederacy, which the U.S. armed forces are now <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/05/pentagon-confederate-name-bases-455180">reviewing and renaming</a>.</p>
<p>In 2021, one of us (Katrina Finkelstein) visited <a href="https://www.pendleton.marines.mil/About/Introduction/">Camp Pendleton</a> in California to research commemoration on Marine Corps bases and understand how active-duty Marines and veterans interact with those spaces. In addition to official memorials and monuments sanctioned by the military, there are more informal and intimate examples of commemoration.</p>
<p>These ongoing, “living” memorials can be especially meaningful for service members processing their experiences and remembering those they lost, and physically represent the emotional weight they carry every day.</p>
<h2>A living memorial</h2>
<p>Camp Pendleton, one of the U.S. Marines’ busiest bases, sits between San Diego and Los Angeles on miles of undeveloped coastline.</p>
<p>Thirteen hundred feet above the base, more than 30 crosses stand on a hillside – a memorial site established in 2003. Before deployment to Iraq, a group of seven service members – two Marine officers, two enlisted Marines, two Navy corpsmen and one Navy chaplain – carried a cross made of an old telephone pole up to the site. It was an effort to remember a peer they lost and to prepare for the mission ahead of them. <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2012-jan-03-la-me-church-state-20120103-story.html">Three of the seven were later killed in action</a>.</p>
<p>Today, the hilltop is still used for physical training and events before and after deployments. Meanwhile, its informal commemorations have expanded and changed, as many active-duty military and veterans develop a relationship with the space.</p>
<p>Destroyed in a fire in 2007, the original cross was replaced, and dozens of others added. Some are more intentionally constructed, engraved and carried up the steep hillside, while others might have been made from sticks on the way. </p>
<p>Contributing to the memorials has become an ongoing tradition. In August 2021, for example, after 13 service members were killed in a blast at Kabul airport – including nine Marines and one sailor <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-marines-whose-comrades-died-defending-kabul-airport-return-home-2021-10-03/">based at Pendleton</a> – new crosses appeared on the hillside. Others were erected <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CTK1_mMry2t/?utm_medium=share_sheet">at different Marine Corps bases</a>, echoing the spontaneous way the first Camp Pendleton cross was installed.</p>
<p>This living memorial receives frequent attention, despite its isolated location and despite several <a href="https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/memorial-continues-to-grow-at-camp-pendleton-as-remains-of-service-members-back-in-us/">official memorials</a> throughout the base.</p>
<p>In an <a href="https://commons.emich.edu/oral_histories/72/">oral history interview</a>, one of the original cross bearers from 2003, chaplain Scott Radetski, attributes the site’s popularity to the “life” that exists on the hilltop. Because of its more intimate nature — secluded from the public and requiring an hourlong hike to visit — it has become especially meaningful for service members. The crosses are not a public memorial, he said, but “a warrior memorial.”</p>
<h2>More than crosses</h2>
<p>On the journey to the Pendleton crosses, people carry mementos to leave at the top. At first, they were small rocks, but have evolved to include sandbags, combat knives, insignia, unopened beer and liquor bottles, and helmets, all piled at the base of the crosses.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A cross stands on a hillside, with personal items like helmets, liquor bottles and insignia piled in the foreground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429605/original/file-20211101-13-1ynx928.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429605/original/file-20211101-13-1ynx928.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429605/original/file-20211101-13-1ynx928.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429605/original/file-20211101-13-1ynx928.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429605/original/file-20211101-13-1ynx928.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429605/original/file-20211101-13-1ynx928.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429605/original/file-20211101-13-1ynx928.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marines carry personal items to the top of the hillside, contributing to the living memorial.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Katrina Finkelstein</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At times, officials have moved to tidy it up, such as removing cans of alcohol. But some service members <a href="https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/07/05/what-makes-a-war-memorial-marines-upset-over-removal-of-beer-cans-around-camp-pendletons-horno-crosses/">have objected</a>, stressing that these items are deeply meaningful and carefully chosen. For them, these items they’ve carried to the top of the hill represent not only their comrades, but the emotional weight that veterans carry each day because of their experiences.</p>
<p>“Those mementos represented that suffering, that pain, that loss, that anguish, that angst, whatever it was” that service members needed to leave behind, Radetski said. The site is not always clean and neat, but he suggests it reflects the messiness of war and the traumatic experiences of the veterans who visit the site regularly.</p>
<p>In October 2021, before the battalion that sustained most of the losses at the Kabul airport returned to Camp Pendleton, the group <a href="https://recycleforvets.com">Recycle for Veterans</a>, which brings veterans together for cleanups on the West Coast, held an event to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CU3ijjYJ3Sa/">provide maintenance of the site</a>. The group removed debris and empty bottles, but left mementos behind, leaving it ready for more commemorations in the future.</p>
<h2>On ‘common ground’</h2>
<p>While many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-008-9201-5">memorial landscapes can seem “fixed”</a>, representing a single moment or individual, the crosses at Camp Pendleton show that such spaces can actually change. The crosses reaffirm the idea that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1464936042000252769">public memories</a> are not static, and neither are spaces dedicated to them; new features are added as others are removed.</p>
<p>The crosses are not without controversy. A decade ago, after the Los Angeles Times <a href="https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/marines-cross-camp-pendleton.html">ran a story</a> about the memorial on Veterans Day, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers <a href="http://militaryatheists.org/news/2011/11/camp-pendleton-cross-privileges-christianity-marginalizes-non-christians/">filed a complaint</a>, arguing that their presence relegated “all non-Christians who have fought and died for our country […] to second-class citizenship.” Base officials <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sdut-memorial-to-fallen-stirs-controversy-2011dec26-story.html">reportedly conducted a review</a>, and the memorial still stands.</p>
<p>For Marines who support the memorial, however, the site can serve multiple purposes: a destination during physical training, a way to prepare for a deployment, or a journey to come to terms with their experiences upon returning home.</p>
<p>Often, these activities <a href="https://fox5sandiego.com/news/retired-marine-becomes-on-line-sensation/">are collective</a>. Veterans organize semiannual hikes, meaning that the site does not become obsolete or forgotten. As the site of an ever-expanding memorial, the hillside is an example of how veterans continue to return to their own community, to a place that Chaplain Radetski called a “common ground,” for remembrance and healing.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For some military members, a hillside in California embodies the sacrifices of serving.Katrina Stack, PhD Student, University of TennesseeDerek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/971992018-05-25T12:51:37Z2018-05-25T12:51:37ZThe forgotten history of Memorial Day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220362/original/file-20180524-51091-3z8wr9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Preparing to decorate graves, May 1899</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library of Congress</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the years following the bitter Civil War, a former Union general took a holiday originated by former Confederates and helped spread it across the entire country. </p>
<p>The holiday was Memorial Day, an annual commemoration was born in the former Confederate States in 1866 and adopted by the United States in 1868. It is a holiday in which the nation honors its military dead.</p>
<p><a href="https://armyhistory.org/general-john-a-logan-memorial-day-founder/">Gen. John A. Logan</a>, who headed the largest Union veterans’ fraternity at that time, the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/gar/garintro.html">Grand Army of the Republic</a>, is usually credited as being the originator of the holiday.</p>
<p>Yet when General Logan established the holiday, he acknowledged its genesis among the Union’s former enemies, saying, “It was not too late for the Union men of the nation to <a href="https://archive.org/details/reminiscencesas02logagoog">follow the example</a> of the people of the South.”</p>
<p>I’m a scholar who has written – with co-author Daniel Bellware – a <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Genesis_of_the_Memorial_Day_Holiday.html?id=jdIArgEACAAJ">history of Memorial Day</a>. Cities and towns across America have for more than a century claimed to be the holiday’s birthplace, but we have sifted through the myths and half-truths and uncovered the authentic story of how this holiday came into being.</p>
<h2>Generous acts bore fruit</h2>
<p>During 1866, the first year of this annual observance in the South, a feature of the holiday emerged that made awareness, admiration and eventually imitation of it spread quickly to the North. </p>
<p>During the inaugural Memorial Day observances which were conceived in <a href="https://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/flowersforjennie.htm">Columbus, Georgia</a>, many Southern participants – especially women – decorated graves of Confederate soldiers as well as, unexpectedly, those of their former enemies who fought for the Union. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220335/original/file-20180524-51095-uajbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220335/original/file-20180524-51095-uajbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220335/original/file-20180524-51095-uajbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220335/original/file-20180524-51095-uajbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=721&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220335/original/file-20180524-51095-uajbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220335/original/file-20180524-51095-uajbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220335/original/file-20180524-51095-uajbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Civil War Union Gen. John A. Logan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library of Congress Glass negatives</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Shortly after those first Memorial Day observances all across the South, newspaper coverage in the North was highly favorable to the ex-Confederates. </p>
<p>“The action of the ladies on this occasion, in burying whatever animosities or ill-feeling may have been engendered in the late war towards those who fought against them, is worthy of all praise and commendation,” <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/gardinerphd/daily-national-intelligencer">wrote one paper</a>. </p>
<p>On May 9, 1866, the <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/image/71039330/">Cleveland Daily Leader</a> lauded the Southern women during their first Memorial Day. </p>
<p>“The act was as beautiful as it was unselfish, and will be appreciated in the North.” </p>
<p><a href="http://sites.google.com/site/gardinerphd/new-york-commercial-advertiser">The New York Commercial Advertiser</a>, recognizing the magnanimous deeds of the women of Columbus, Georgia, echoed the sentiment. “Let this incident, touching and beautiful as it is, impart to our Washington authorities a lesson in conciliation.”</p>
<h2>Power of a poem</h2>
<p>To be sure, this sentiment was not unanimous. There were many in both parts of the U.S. who had no interest in conciliation. </p>
<p>But as a result of one of these news reports, <a href="http://www.nycourts.gov/history/legal-history-new-york/history-legal-bench-court-appeals.html?http://www.nycourts.gov/history/legal-history-new-york/luminaries-court-appeals/finch-francis.html">Francis Miles Finch</a>, a Northern judge, academic and poet, wrote a poem titled “<a href="http://www.civilwarhome.com/blueandgray.html">The Blue and the Gray</a>.” Finch’s poem quickly became <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044097054316;view=1up;seq=5">part of the American literary canon</a>. <a href="https://archive.org/details/historicalreadi00hanigoog">He explained</a> what inspired him to write it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It struck me that the South was holding out a friendly hand, and that it was our duty, not only as conquerors, but as men and their fellow citizens of the nation, to grasp it.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Finch’s poem seemed to extend a full pardon to the South: “They banish our anger forever when they laurel the graves of our dead” was one of the lines. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220353/original/file-20180524-51091-1xs5yx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220353/original/file-20180524-51091-1xs5yx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220353/original/file-20180524-51091-1xs5yx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220353/original/file-20180524-51091-1xs5yx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220353/original/file-20180524-51091-1xs5yx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220353/original/file-20180524-51091-1xs5yx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220353/original/file-20180524-51091-1xs5yx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220353/original/file-20180524-51091-1xs5yx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not just poems: Sheet music written to commemorate Memorial Day in 1870.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/may-30/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Almost immediately, the poem circulated across America in books, magazines and newspapers. By the end of the 19th century, school children everywhere were required to memorize Finch’s poem. The <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/03/the-blue-and-the-gray/388511/">ubiquitous publication of Finch’s rhyme</a> meant that by the end of 1867, the southern Memorial Day holiday was a familiar phenomenon throughout the entire, and recently reunited, country. </p>
<p>General Logan was aware of the forgiving sentiments of people like Finch. When <a href="http://suvcw.org/logan.htm">Logan’s order establishing Memorial Day</a> was published in various newspapers in May 1868, Finch’s poem was sometimes appended to the order. </p>
<h2>‘The blue and the grey’</h2>
<p>It was not long before Northerners decided that they would not only adopt the Southern custom of Memorial Day, but also the Southern custom of “burying the hatchet.” A group of Union veterans explained their intentions <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/gardinerphd/salem-register">in a letter</a> to the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph on May 28, 1869:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Wishing to bury forever the harsh feelings engendered by the war, Post 19 has decided not to pass by the graves of the Confederates sleeping in our lines, but divide each year between the blue and the grey the first floral offerings of a common country. We have no powerless foes. Post 19 thinks of the Southern dead only as brave men.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Other reports of reciprocal magnanimity circulated in the North, including the gesture of a 10-year-old who <a href="https://www.nps.gov/ande/learn/historyculture/flowersforjennie.htm">made a wreath of flowers</a> and sent it to the overseer of the holiday, Colonel Leaming, in Lafayette, Indiana, with the following note attached, published in The New Hampshire Patriot on July 15, 1868:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Will you please put this wreath upon some rebel soldier’s grave? My dear papa is buried at Andersonville, (Georgia) and perhaps some little girl will be kind enough to put a few flowers upon his grave.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>President Abraham Lincoln’s wish that there be “malice toward none” and “charity for all” was visible in the magnanimous actions of participants on both sides, who extended an olive branch during the Memorial Day observances in those first three years. </p>
<p>Although not known by many today, the early evolution of the Memorial Day holiday was a manifestation of Lincoln’s hope for reconciliation between North and South.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on May 25, 2018.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Gardiner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Memorial Day was born out of generous gestures after the Civil War: Southerners decorated graves of Confederate soldiers as well as those of former Union enemies.Richard Gardiner, Associate Professor of History Education, Columbus State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/782412017-05-25T11:03:48Z2017-05-25T11:03:48ZIraq and Afghanistan: The US$6 trillion bill for America’s longest war is unpaid<p>On Memorial Day, we pay respects to the fallen from past wars – including the more than <a href="https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf">one million American soldiers killed</a> in the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea and Vietnam.</p>
<p>Yet the nation’s longest and most expensive war is the one that is still going on. In addition to nearly 7,000 troops killed, the 16-year conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost <a href="http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2016/Costs%20of%20War%20through%202016%20FINAL%20final%20v2.pdf">an estimated US$6 trillion</a> due to its prolonged length, rapidly increasing veterans health care and disability costs and interest on war borrowing. On this Memorial Day, we should begin to confront the staggering cost and the challenge of paying for this war.</p>
<p><a href="https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/workingpapers/citation.aspx?PubId=8956">The enormous figure reflects</a> not just the cost of fighting – like guns, trucks and fuel – but also the long-term cost of providing medical care and disability compensation for decades beyond the end of the conflict. Consider the fact that benefits for World War I veterans didn’t peak until 1969. For World War II veterans, the peak came in 1986. Payments for Vietnam-era vets are still climbing. </p>
<p>The high rates of injuries and increased survival rates in Iraq and Afghanistan mean that over half the 2.5 million who served there suffered some degree of disability. Their health care and disability benefits alone will easily cost <a href="http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/lbilmes/files/the_financial_legacy_of_afghanistan.pdf">$1 trillion in coming decades</a>.</p>
<p>But instead of facing up to these huge costs, we have charged them to the national credit card. This means that our children will be forced to pay the bill for the wars started by our generation. Unless we set aside money today, it is likely that young people now fighting in Afghanistan will be shortchanged in the future just when they most need medical care and benefits.</p>
<h2>A forgotten war</h2>
<p>While most Americans are keen to “support our troops,” we aren’t currently shouldering the financial or the physical burden of our nation’s warfare. Except for a short period between the two world wars, the percentage of the general population now serving in the U.S. armed forces is at <a href="https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/censusatlas/pdf/12_Military-Service.pdf">its lowest level ever</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, the war in Afghanistan barely features on our front pages. During the past two years it has not even made it into <a href="http://tyndallreport.com/yearinreview2016/">the top 10 news stories</a>.</p>
<p>There is not much pain in our pocketbooks either. In past wars, taxpayers were forced to cover some of the extra spending. During Vietnam, marginal <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates">tax rates</a> for the top 1 percent of earners were hiked to 77 percent. President Harry Truman raised <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates">tax rates</a> as high as 92 percent during the Korean War, <a href="https://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/viewpapers.php?pid=823">telling the country</a> that “this is a contribution to our national security that every one of us should stand ready to make.” In fact, taxes were raised during every American conflict since the Revolutionary War, especially for the wealthy. </p>
<p>This time around we have borrowed the money instead. Thanks to the Bush-era tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, nearly all Americans now pay <a href="http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-highest-marginal-income-tax-rates">lower taxes</a> than before the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. And unlike previous wars, Congress has paid for the post 9/11 conflicts using so-called “emergency” and “overseas contingency operations” spending bills, which bypass Congress’ own budget caps. This has allowed the government to avoid any uncomfortable national discussion on how to balance war spending against other domestic priorities.</p>
<h2>A bipartisan effort</h2>
<p>We cannot simply undo the trillions of dollars that have already been added to the national debt as a result of these wars, but there is an important step we can take to commemorate those who have given their lives or their health to this 16-year-long quagmire. We owe it to them to ensure that there is sufficient money set aside to pay for the benefits we have promised to them and their families.</p>
<p>The solution is to set up a Veterans Trust Fund. Trust funds are an established mechanism for the federal government to fund long-term commitments. We already have more than <a href="http://www.mcs.anl.gov/%7Eanitescu/EXTRAS/READING/GAO-FTF.pdf">200 of them</a>, including the best-known, Social Security. While trust funds do not force the government to set aside money, the federal government would be required to prepare an accounting of how much money is owed to veterans’ and take steps to provide funding to pay claims as they come due. </p>
<p>This process has already been adopted for the Military Retirement Trust Fund, which pays pensions to career service members who retire after 20 years’ service. Since Congress established the fund in 1984, it has been amortizing the retirement benefits that are already due and transferring an annual amount into the fund to cover them. We need to adopt a similar approach for today’s all-volunteer veterans – who fight multiple, lengthy tours of duty but usually leave the military before <a href="http://www.defenseone.com/business/2013/12/heres-why-proposed-military-retiree-benefit-cuts-are-no-big-deal/75587/">20 years are up</a>.</p>
<p>Four members of Congress, Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Don Young (R-AK) and Walter Jones (R-NC), recently introduced a bipartisan <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1790/text">Veterans Health Care Trust Fund Act</a>. This proposal would establish a fund for veterans’ benefits, paid for in part by a small income tax surcharge. Those serving in the military and their families would be exempt from paying.</p>
<p>Such a fund cannot solve all the problems of today’s veterans. But on this Memorial Day, let’s not forget to provide for the men and women who have borne the brunt of the nation’s longest and most expensive war.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78241/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda J. Bilmes is a board member of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.
</span></em></p>In past wars, taxes were increased to cover some of the extra spending. That’s not the case for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the costs are adding up fast.Linda J. Bilmes, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Public Finance, Harvard Kennedy SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/777582017-05-25T03:31:44Z2017-05-25T03:31:44ZWhat veterans’ poems can teach us about healing on Memorial Day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170872/original/file-20170524-31366-1wzk00u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A visitor pauses at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/J. David Ake, File</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Memorial Day, a national holiday to honor the <a href="http://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/fs_americas_wars.pdf">1.17 million men and women who have died</a> to create and maintain the freedoms outlined in our Constitution, is not the only Memorial Day.</p>
<p>The holiday <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674008199">emerged from the Civil War</a> as a celebration almost exclusively for veterans of the Union Army to remember those who had died. Veterans and their families from Confederate states held their own celebrations. Thus, it remains fraught with conflict and ambiguity.</p>
<p>In 2017, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-04-24/what-to-know-about-confederate-memorial-day">seven states</a> – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia – chose to also celebrate some form of Confederate Memorial Day. It’s usually celebrated on April 26 – the day associated with the surrender of <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780759116320/Memory-in-Black-and-White-Race-Commemoration-and-the-Post-Bellum-Landscape">General Joe Johnston</a>, nine days after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox at the end of the Civil War.</p>
<p>How can we overcome these deep divides? </p>
<p>Having served 28 years in the U.S. Army and as a teacher and <a href="http://veteransinsociety.wordpress.com">researcher who studies the roles veterans and their family play in society</a>, I believe poems written by veterans that focus on honoring those who have died may give us a clue.</p>
<h2>Bridging divisions</h2>
<p>Tension between North and South remains. We see it not only on days dedicated to remembrance. It surfaces daily as communities such as <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robert-e-lee-statue-removed-new-orleans/">New Orleans</a> wrestle with whether or not to keep memorial statues honoring Confederate leaders like Robert E. Lee.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170875/original/file-20170524-31352-1euq0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170875/original/file-20170524-31352-1euq0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170875/original/file-20170524-31352-1euq0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170875/original/file-20170524-31352-1euq0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170875/original/file-20170524-31352-1euq0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170875/original/file-20170524-31352-1euq0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170875/original/file-20170524-31352-1euq0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170875/original/file-20170524-31352-1euq0s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seaman Daniel Odoi of the Navy Operational Support Center of New York City presents the American flag on Memorial Day 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/John Minchillo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One poet who does not ignore these divides is <a href="https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/yusef-komunyakaa">Yusef Komunyakaa</a>, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 and earned a Bronze Star. He is now a professor at New York University.</p>
<p>In “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/core-poems/detail/47867">Facing It</a>,” a poem about visiting the Vietnam War Memorial, Komunyakaa, an African-American, confronts the wall and issues linked to war and race. He writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“My black face fades / hiding inside the black granite.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But he is also a veteran honoring those who died; he is balancing the pain of loss with the guilt of not being a name on the wall: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I go down the 58,022 names, / half-expecting to find / my own in letters like smoke. / I touch the name Andrew Johnson; / I see the booby trap’s white flash.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The poem ends with two powerful images that offer a glimmer of hope: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“A white vet’s image floats / closer to me, then his pale eyes / look through mine. I’m a window. / He’s lost his right arm / inside the stone. In the black mirror / a woman’s trying to erase names: / No, she’s brushing a boy’s hair.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The image of the speaker becoming a “window” addresses how two vets, one white and one black, bridge the racial divide and become linked through shared acts of sacrifice and remembrance. Yet even with such a positive affirming metaphor, the speaker’s mind and heart are not fully at ease.</p>
<p>The next image creates dissonance and worry: Will the names be erased? The concluding line relieves that worry – the names are not being erased. More importantly, the final image of a simple act of caring calls to mind the sacrifices made to protect women and children by those whose names are on the wall. As a result, their image in the stone becomes a living memorial.</p>
<h2>Memory and reflection</h2>
<p>We can also learn from Brock Jones, an Army veteran who served three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He named his award-winning book “<a href="http://www.uapress.com/dd-product/cenotaph/">Cenotaph</a>,” the name for a tomb to honor those whose graves lie elsewhere. By using the name of a monument for those not present, a monument with historical ties to ancient Greece and Egypt as well as our own culture, Brock highlights how honoring the dead goes beyond culture and country. </p>
<p>Jones’ poems do not focus outward toward social strife, but inward. They address language’s inability to capture or express loss linked to memories of war. They also point to how those remaining alive, particularly those who have not served, might come to understand the depth of the sacrifice expressed by memorials and, by extension, Memorial Day.</p>
<p>In “Arkansas,” a poem that takes place at the Arkansas pillar, one of 56 pillars at the <a href="http://www.wwiimemorial.com/">National WWII Memorial</a> in Washington, D.C., the speaker remembers a journey with his grandfather:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“dead eight years ago this summer / to the Atlantic pavilion engraved / with foreign names he never forgot. / Bastogne. / Yeah, we was there. / St. Marie Eglise. / We was near there.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The poem ends with the grandfather described as “a hunched figure, in front of ARKANSAS. Still, in front of ARKANSAS.” The grandfather is burdened by memories he carries, memories that render him “still” (motionless), memories that will remain with him “still.”</p>
<p>“Memorial from a Park Bench” offers a broader perspective, one that any visitor sitting on a bench in front of a memorial might experience. For the visitor, the memorial becomes “an opened book,” a place where “A word loses its ability to conjure / trapped inside a black mirror.” </p>
<p>The words are “names,” which “could be lines / of poems or a grocery list. / They could be just lines.” But they are not “just lines.”</p>
<p>At poem’s end, when all is contemplated, “Here are names and black stone / and your only reflection.”</p>
<p>Jones shifts the emotional and intellectual burden from the person on the bench to the poem’s readers, and thus to broader society. These words cannot be just lines or lists; they become, by being memorialized in a black stone, a “mirror,” the reader’s and thus society’s “reflection.” All on the bench are implicated; the names died for us, and, as a result, are us. </p>
<h2>Memorial Day and mindfulness</h2>
<p>Memorial Day may have “official” roots honoring Union dead, but veteran poets of recent wars serving a United States have found ways to honor all those who have died in battle.</p>
<p>Our country may be divided, but by taking a moment to pause and reflect on names etched on monument walls or gravestones, everyone on benches may see their own reflections, and in so doing further the task President Abraham Lincoln outlined in his 1865 <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres32.html">Second Inaugural Address</a> “to bind up the nation’s wounds…to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”</p>
<p>By being mindful, we might understand what Robert Dana, a WWII vet wrote in “At the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.”: that “These lives once theirs / are now ours.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77758/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Dubinsky received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to put on a three-week Summer Institute for faculty on Veterans in Society. He is affiliated with Virginia Tech Veterans Caucus. </span></em></p>An Army veteran and professor of rhetoric explores poetry written by veterans about a divisive holiday born of the Civil War.James Dubinsky, Associate Professor of English, Virginia TechLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/779212017-05-23T03:47:29Z2017-05-23T03:47:29ZWant to support veterans? 4 tips for finding good charities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170424/original/file-20170522-7358-lkxsci.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Finding a well-run veterans' charity isn't hard with some due dilligence.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/181635383?src=dIU3LaMOXxVqgiFeWWRf8w-1-17&size=huge_jpg">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many Americans donate to charities that help military veterans as a way to honor them for their service to the country. It can, however, be daunting to choose from the more than <a href="http://www.guidestar.org/downloadable-files/us-veterans-organizations.pdf">8,000 such groups</a> operating nationwide.</p>
<p>Donor trepidation is magnified by the <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-xavier-becerra-sues-charities-falsely-claiming-help-veterans">scandals</a> that have embroiled vets’ groups. In fact, more than 10 percent of the charities tagged as “<a href="http://www.tampabay.com/americas-worst-charities/">America’s Worst Charities</a>” by the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting in 2013 focus on veterans.</p>
<p>As a professor who researches nonprofit organizations and teaches about their finances, I have observed that while some veterans’ charities do squander donors’ dollars, others make the most of donations in meeting their mission. Fortunately, a little research goes a long way toward spotting the difference between a good cause and a lost cause. </p>
<p>The following four tips will help you vet these charities.</p>
<h2>1. Learn what exactly the charities do</h2>
<p>Be wary of vague statements about a group’s activities. While language indicating that a charity “supports” or “honors” veterans does not always signal a problem, it does mean you should seek more specific information. Many of the <a href="http://www.wrdw.com/content/news/ConsumerReports-Best-and-worst-charities-to-donate-to-402992406.html">veterans’ charities</a> that have <a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/09/06/13330/some-charities-claiming-support-veterans-spend-heavily-overhead-instead">faced criticism</a>, such as <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4295">Paralyzed Veterans of America</a> and <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7591">National Veterans Services Fund</a>, have had vague mandates to <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/americas-worst-charities/charities/national-veterans-service-fund-inc">educate the public</a> about what veterans need.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191890/original/file-20171025-25518-tw8tmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191890/original/file-20171025-25518-tw8tmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191890/original/file-20171025-25518-tw8tmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191890/original/file-20171025-25518-tw8tmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191890/original/file-20171025-25518-tw8tmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191890/original/file-20171025-25518-tw8tmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191890/original/file-20171025-25518-tw8tmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/191890/original/file-20171025-25518-tw8tmb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s hard but not impossible to decide which veterans’ charities deserve a thumbs-up – and your donation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Kevin Lamarque</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A detailed description of a group’s mission and activities can instill confidence that veterans truly benefit from its work. An exemplary charity is the <a href="https://www.honorflight.org/">Honor Flight Network</a>, which flies veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit military monuments and honor fallen colleagues. The benefits are self-evident, as I’ve seen firsthand as a flight volunteer. <a href="https://www.fisherhouse.org/about/">Fisher House Foundation</a>, which provides temporary housing to families of veterans receiving treatment at VA facilities, is another good example. There are many ways that organizations can and do directly serve veterans. To find them, look for clear-cut programs you find meaningful and significant.</p>
<h2>2. Find out what share of the money raised for organizations actually supports them</h2>
<p>Another common pitfall: for-hire fundraisers that siphon too much of the donated funds. </p>
<p>Michigan’s attorney general determined that only 39 percent of <a href="http://www.michigan.gov/documents/ag/2016_CFS_Final_Report_557262_7.pdf">funds raised by professional solicitors</a> for charity in the state in 2016 actually supported those groups. The fundraising contractors kept the rest of the money. The picture is even more lopsided for veterans’ charities in the state, with only <a href="http://www.michigan.gov/documents/ag/2016_CFS_Final_Report_557262_7.pdf">23 percent of donations</a> making it into their coffers. The track record in Michigan is no anomaly – <a href="https://www.charitiesnys.com/pdfs/Pennies_Report_122216.pdf">New York</a>, <a href="http://www.mass.gov/ago/docs/nonprofit/professional-solicitations-reports/pro-solicit-report-2015.pdf">Massachusetts</a> and other states have found similar patterns. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170419/original/file-20170522-7329-1w409kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170419/original/file-20170522-7329-1w409kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170419/original/file-20170522-7329-1w409kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170419/original/file-20170522-7329-1w409kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170419/original/file-20170522-7329-1w409kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170419/original/file-20170522-7329-1w409kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170419/original/file-20170522-7329-1w409kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170419/original/file-20170522-7329-1w409kw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Operation Homefront, which Consumer Reports has named as one of the best veterans’ charities, clearly states on its website how much it spends supporting its mission.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://operationhomefront.wordpress.com/tag/jim-knotts/">Operation Homefront</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Professional solicitation is not inherently problematic – but outsourced fundraisers keeping most of the money raised for a charity is a real concern. The federal government does not track this information but most offices of state attorneys general maintain databases that indicate how the organizations raising funds in their states stack up.</p>
<p>Since national campaigns also show up in these databases, even if your own state doesn’t make all the details easily accessible, you can use the online tools other states offer to evaluate different charities. <a href="https://www.charitiesnys.com/pfcmap/">New York’s</a> database is especially user-friendly.</p>
<h2>3. Check out IRS 990 forms</h2>
<p>OK. I know perusing IRS forms is not everyone’s favorite activity. But it’s the best way to discover how donor dollars are actually spent. Finding a charity’s tax form is easy, even if groups don’t post them on their own websites, thanks to databases like Propublica’s <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/">Nonprofit Explorer</a> and the Foundation Center’s <a href="http://990finder.foundationcenter.org/">990 Finder</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170398/original/file-20170522-7337-vk6jrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170398/original/file-20170522-7337-vk6jrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170398/original/file-20170522-7337-vk6jrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170398/original/file-20170522-7337-vk6jrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170398/original/file-20170522-7337-vk6jrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170398/original/file-20170522-7337-vk6jrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170398/original/file-20170522-7337-vk6jrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170398/original/file-20170522-7337-vk6jrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Semper Fi Fund 990 form from its 2016 fiscal year suggests that the group does not spend an excessive amount of money on fundraising and administration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://semperfifund.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/FY-2016-Form-990-Public-Inspection-Copy.pdf">Semper Fi Fund</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you do check out a 990 form, be sure to go to page 10. That’s where nonprofits classify their <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f990.pdf">expenses</a>, both by function and type. There, you can see where donated money primarily goes. If the organization has a stated focus on providing financial assistance to veterans, for example, you should see lots of grants to individuals on line 2, and not so much in the way of advertising, travel and postage listed on the other lines. </p>
<p>Consider how the <a href="https://semperfifund.org/about-us/financials/">Semper Fi Fund</a>, a group that provides financial and other aid to injured and ill post-9/11 veterans and their families, stated its functional expenses for its 2016 fiscal year. The numbers indicate that the group spends over 90 percent of its funds on its mission. Three-fourths of that mission spending is direct grants to individuals – a good sign.</p>
<h2>4. Inquire about donor privacy policies</h2>
<p>When you make charitable donations, you give away both money and personal information. What charities do with your personal data is part of the picture and how they handle this information varies widely.</p>
<p>Consider how the <a href="https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org">Wounded Warrior Project</a>, among the nation’s most visible veterans’ organizations, has handled donor data. The group came under fire in 2015 and 2016 for alleged <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-investigates-wounded-warrior-project-spending/">waste</a>, as well as routinely selling <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/08/vet-charity-s-new-fight-to-waste-your-cash">personal information culled from its donors to other nonprofits</a> and defending this practice. The controversy resulted in a <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wounded-warrior-project-michael-linnington-ceo-cbs-news-investigation-inspires-reforms/">shakeup at the top</a>.</p>
<p>Other groups do a better job of protecting donor privacy. <a href="https://www.fisherhouse.org/about/faqs/">Fisher House Foundation</a>, which clearly states a policy of not sharing or selling donor lists, offers a good example of how to do this. If an organization doesn’t state its privacy policy on its website, take the time to ask.</p>
<p>When it comes to vetting charities, a little work goes a long way. These four steps should help you find veterans’ charities with goals that match your own and that you can trust to make the most of the money you give away.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77921/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Mittendorf has no formal affiliation with any charities mentioned in this article but he has served as a volunteer guardian for Honor Flight Network.</span></em></p>Some veterans’ charities make the most of their donors’ dollars, while others squander that money. Vetting these groups will help ensure your money is well-spent.Brian Mittendorf, Fisher Designated Professor of Accounting, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/776692017-05-22T02:05:55Z2017-05-22T02:05:55ZWhat is moral injury in veterans?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169615/original/file-20170516-11959-3hycnv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What is moral injury?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/truthout/5098046422/in/photolist-8LuPA7-7jR8fh-8sDT28-7kgfkL-DDoLBW">Truthout.org</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Nov. 11 each year, Americans honor military veterans who have transitioned to civilian status from active duty. </p>
<p>The cultural transition back to civilian life goes smoothly for some, but for others it is a challenging and sometimes lengthy process. Those who have deployed overseas or spent a substantial amount of time in the military may even deal with <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738399114001323">“reverse culture shock”</a> – that is, upon return, their home culture can feel distant and disorienting.</p>
<p>Along with the cultural transition, veterans may be coping with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2891773/">post-traumatic stress disorder</a>. More recently, clinicians who work with veterans have identified <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1534765610395615">an additional cluster of symptoms</a> that are related to military deployment but do not fit the criteria for PTSD. </p>
<p>These symptoms fit with what has been called “<a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Achilles-in-Vietnam/Jonathan-Shay/9780684813219">moral injury</a>.” </p>
<h2>What is moral injury?</h2>
<p>Moral injury can occur when a personal moral code – one’s understanding of “what’s right” – <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/492650/summary">is violated</a>. Most individuals develop this code in childhood based on instructions from parents, teachers and religious leaders. </p>
<p>This sense of morality can incorporate fundamental values of religious and legal doctrines such as <a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/command.htm">“Thou shalt not kill</a>” and “<a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/goldrule/">Do unto others as you would have them do unto you</a>.” Most of us occasionally stray from what our code says is right, but military service – especially in combat zones – can expose people to situations in which every available choice has morally fraught results. </p>
<p>One combat veteran who served in Afghanistan, for example, told my psychology of war class that he had shot and killed a child soldier who was about to fire on his men. He knew he had made the “right” choice, but the responsibility for a child’s death was still a heavy moral burden. </p>
<p>The moral conflict created by the violations of “what’s right” generates moral injury when the inability to reconcile wartime actions with a personal moral code creates lasting psychological consequences. </p>
<p>Psychiatrist <a href="http://www.helleniccomserve.com/bioshayjonathan.html">Jonathan Shay</a>, in his work with Vietnam veterans, defined moral injury as the psychological, social and physiological results of a <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/492650/summary">betrayal of “what’s right”</a> by an authority in a high-stakes situation. In <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Achilles-in-Vietnam/Jonathan-Shay/9780684813219">“Achilles In Vietnam</a>,” a book that examines the psychological devastation of war, a Vietnam veteran described a situation in which his commanding officers used tear gas on a village after his unit had their gas masks rendered ineffective due to water damage. The veteran stated, “They gassed us almost to death.” This type of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/22/american-troops-friendly-fire-iraq">“friendly fire”</a> incident is morally wounding in a way that attacks by an enemy are not. </p>
<p>Psychologist <a href="https://www.bu.edu/psych/faculty/litzb/">Brett Litz</a> and his colleagues expanded this to include self-betrayal and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272735809000920">identified</a> “perpetrating, failing to prevent, bearing witness to, or learning about acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations” as the cause of moral injury. </p>
<h2>Guilt and moral injury</h2>
<p>A research study published in 1991 identified <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/21138169_Suicide_and_guilt_as_manifestations_of_PTSD_in_Vietnam_war_veterans">combat-related guilt</a> as the best predictor of suicide attempts among a sample of Vietnam veterans with PTSD. Details of the veterans’ experiences connected that guilt to morally injurious events. As the authors noted,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“One man, for example, shot and killed a woman who was advancing toward his patrol and did not heed his order to stop. She turned out to be wired with explosives, but the veteran ruminated about whether he could have stopped her by firing a warning shot or wounding her in the legs.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A more recent study of active duty service members found that the connection between guilt and suicidal thoughts was strongest <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.11.044">among those with combat exposure</a>. Another review of research concluded that service members who committed acts that violated accepted bounds of behavior were more prone to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sheila_Frankfurt/publication/303502453_A_Review_of_Research_on_Moral_Injury_in_Combat_Veterans/links/5769ade608ae2d7145ba85a0.pdf">substance abuse and suicidal behavior</a>.</p>
<h2>Can moral injury be healed?</h2>
<p>The truth is that military engagement will always involve morally problematic actions. However, healing from moral injury is possible. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169618/original/file-20170516-11956-1bnbg59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169618/original/file-20170516-11956-1bnbg59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169618/original/file-20170516-11956-1bnbg59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169618/original/file-20170516-11956-1bnbg59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169618/original/file-20170516-11956-1bnbg59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169618/original/file-20170516-11956-1bnbg59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169618/original/file-20170516-11956-1bnbg59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Veterans and volunteers participate in Dancing Well, an evening of community dance designed for veterans and families affected by PTSD.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/ David Stephenson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mental health treatment can help. Preliminary evidence suggests that <a href="https://psychcentral.com/lib/in-depth-cognitive-behavioral-therapy/">cognitive-behavioral therapy</a> <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005789411001298">modified to treat issues related to moral injury</a> can reduce depression as well as guilt- and shame-related thoughts. Treatment can come in other forms as well. Psychotherapist <a href="http://questbooks.com/index.php?route=product/author&author_id=1118">Edward Tick</a>, for example, organizes trips to Vietnam for U.S. veterans to meet their Vietnamese counterparts, for the healing of decades-long wounds.</p>
<p>However, we don’t need to be trained therapists to make a difference. Everyday social connections can also help the morally injured heal. For his <a href="https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/22670">dissertation</a>, an author of this article (William M. Schumacher), conducted a series of interviews with veterans exposed to potentially morally injurious events and found consistent differences between those with higher levels of depression and suicidal thoughts and those with fewer symptoms. Veterans who weren’t doing so well felt isolated and lacked support by friends, family and peers. Veterans with few symptoms felt supported by family, friends, peers and by their community. That’s the rest of us. </p>
<p>When we discover that someone has a military background, replacing the perfunctory “Thank you for your service” – which rarely leads to a meaningful exchange – with questions that start a conversation can create a new connection. The hopes, dreams, insecurities and mistakes of those who have served may be somewhat different based on their military background; many won’t be different at all. </p>
<p>More positive social connections aren’t just psychologically healthy for veterans and their families. They are good for all of us, on Veterans Day and every other day of the year. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a piece published on May 21, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The inability to reconcile wartime actions with a personal moral code can create lasting psychological consequences for veterans.Holly Arrow, Director, Groups and War Lab, University of OregonWilliam M. Schumacher, PTSD Postdoctoral Fellow, New Mexico VA HCS, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/600922016-05-30T01:01:02Z2016-05-30T01:01:02ZSometimes the best medicine for a veteran is the company of another veteran<p>Many take time on Memorial Day to remember the Americans who have given their lives in service to our country.</p>
<p>For veterans and their families, that sentiment of remembrance is felt year-round. Many veterans suffer lifelong anguish over the loss of their brothers and sisters in arms. For them, Memorial Day is a day like every other day – a day they remember those who died at war. </p>
<p>This shared grief is just one way some veterans are affected by their military service. Veterans are also molded by military culture – a unique set of values, traditions, language and even humor. Military culture has unique subcultures, but it has enough consistency across different branches, ranks and time periods to make most veterans feel a kinship.</p>
<p>Recognizing this kinship has led veteran service and health care organizations to encourage veterans to build <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/prj/35/6/470/">trusting relationships</a> and support each other. Researchers have learned that veterans are more likely to share personal information and ask advice about many things, including <a href="http://www.dcoe.mil/content/Navigation/Documents/Best_Practices_Identified_for_Peer_Support_Programs_Jan_2011.pdf">health care</a>, from fellow veterans. That’s why the VA <a href="http://www.vacareers.va.gov/peer-to-peer/">offers employment</a> to veterans as peer specialists. </p>
<p>I’m a mental health services researcher at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. I focus on increasing the availability of social supports and improving the efficacy of mental health treatment options for veterans and their families. Last year I had the opportunity to study the Texas-funded <a href="http://www.milvetpeer.net/">Military Veteran Peer Network</a>, a statewide program that provides peer-to-peer support in 37 communities. </p>
<p>My research supports the idea that veterans are an important resource who can be trained to support fellow veterans in need. What’s more, I’ve learned that civilian care for veterans can be improved when civilians are trained in military culture. The MVPN offers military-informed care training to civilian providers and law enforcement personnel throughout the state. </p>
<h2>Understanding the need</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124385/original/image-20160528-903-9nb660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124385/original/image-20160528-903-9nb660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124385/original/image-20160528-903-9nb660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124385/original/image-20160528-903-9nb660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124385/original/image-20160528-903-9nb660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124385/original/image-20160528-903-9nb660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124385/original/image-20160528-903-9nb660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124385/original/image-20160528-903-9nb660.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bond that soldiers share can help them stay mentally strong.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/nEKsHK">143d ESC/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mental health issues are acute for a significant number of veterans.</p>
<p>As many as 25 percent experience <a href="http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/PTSD-overview/reintegration/overview-mental-health-effects.asp">some form</a> of mental health concern, such as depression. The VA reports that veterans have <a href="http://www.publichealth.va.gov/epidemiology/studies/suicide-risk-death-risk-recent-veterans.asp#sthash.7gh2jBpy.dpuf">a higher risk of suicide</a> compared to the U.S. population. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra012941">Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)</a> is another well-known concern. Estimates of the prevalence of <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra012941">PTSD</a> vary widely due to the variety of study samples and assessment tools. A conservative measure suggests <a href="http://www.psychiatrist.com/jcp/article/Pages/2014/v75n12/v75n1214.aspx">PTSD affects eight percent</a> of service members returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. </p>
<p>Veteran peer support shows promise in addressing these common mental health issues. An example is the Vet to Vet program, a VA program developed by Moe Armstrong, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, in 2002. Research <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10597-008-9146-7">has shown</a> that veterans who receive peer support have greater levels of empowerment and confidence, improved functioning and reduced alcohol use compared to those who didn’t receive peer support. </p>
<p>Researchers are increasingly understanding the value of incorporating veteran peers into health care teams. Given the large numbers of veterans returning from prolonged combat, the <a href="https://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content/PEP13-RTC-BHWORK/PEP13-RTC-BHWORK.pdf">documented shortage</a> of trained behavioral health providers to treat mental health problems, overly <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/us/wait-lists-grow-as-many-more-veterans-seek-care-and-funding-falls-far-short.html?_r=0.">long wait times</a> for treatment and <a href="http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/ps.2010.61.6.582">stigma felt</a> by veterans regarding seeking help, veteran peer support offers great promise in improving treatment outcomes.</p>
<p>While peer counseling is not new – it was formally recognized in the 1970s –
its value in treating veterans has gained recognition since President George W. Bush’s <a href="http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/mentalhealthcommission/reports/reports.htm">New Freedom Commission on Mental Health</a>, which was released in 2003. </p>
<p>President Barack Obama has also seen the value of peer support. His <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/31/executive-order-improving-access-mental-health-services-veterans-service">Executive Order 13625</a> of 2012 sought to improve access to mental health services for veterans, service members and military families by including the hiring of peer specialists. As of 2015, the hiring of peer specialists <a href="http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2487">has exceeded</a> the goal set in the executive order. In 2015, President Obama renewed his support by calling for more peer support as part of the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/203">Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act</a>. </p>
<p>Research on the role of veteran peers has shown their positive impact in assisting homeless veterans to <a href="http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/appi.ps.201200100">transition to housing</a>. </p>
<p>There is <a href="http://justiceforvets.org/veteran-mentors">early evidence</a> that veterans charged with misdemeanors and arraigned in Veteran Treatment Courts receive <a href="http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/nejccc35&div=17&id=&page=">invaluable support</a> from veteran peers throughout their probation and treatment for mental health, substance use problems and receive help with housing, transportation and employment. </p>
<p>These are two among many other areas that veteran peers are providing effective supports.</p>
<h2>Getting civilians into the act</h2>
<p>The mental health care provided by civilians for veterans can also benefit from lessons learned from these veteran-driven programs. </p>
<p>Understanding the unique culture shared by military members and their families can be a daunting task for Americans who have not experienced the military lifestyle. Given the volunteer nature of our armed services and the historically small size of our current force, this culture is familiar to only a small proportion of American citizens. Instead of assuming this cultural gap cannot be breached, we are learning the powerful impact that civilian health care professionals can make when they become trained in military culture and practice military-informed care.</p>
<p>Research efforts are underway to understand how to best train practitioners to better understand the clinical impact of this <a href="http://www.jenonline.org/article/S0099-1767%2813%2900411-X/pdf">cultural competency</a>. Research can assess, for example, whether this knowledge can help improve veterans’ engagement in care, increase their treatment completion and improve their clinical outcomes. </p>
<p>The VA has hired <a href="http://www.vacareers.va.gov/peer-to-peer/faqs.asp">800 peers as of 2013</a> with 100 more planned annually. In addition to Texas, New York, Michigan and California, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom, have veteran peer support programs.</p>
<p>Although most of us can never truly understand what war is like, we can honor all veterans, including those who didn’t make it home, by valuing the special knowledge and connection that veterans bring to bear in therapeutic care settings. By prioritizing veterans’ experiences and knowledge, we can build a society that promotes real healing and a respectful homecoming.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elisa Borah receives funding from the Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute. She is a Research Associate at the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. </span></em></p>The culture all veterans share may provide the best support for those struggling with mental health issues.Elisa Borah, Research Associate, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/420812015-05-25T12:10:38Z2015-05-25T12:10:38ZSitting on a scoop: the story behind the V-E headlines of May 1945<p>There’s quite a story behind the story of the end of the fighting in World War II in Europe. As we observe another Memorial Day, it is worth remembering the events of that busy May of 1945, when the Allies achieved victory in Europe.</p>
<p>While much fighting remained to be done in the Pacific, by early May, the military leaders of the Allied forces could see that Germany’s defeat was at hand. So, the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF) command selected 17 correspondents from the world’s press and flew them to Reims, France, to witness the German surrender on behalf of the rest of the press corps and the people of the world.</p>
<p>There were very few Americans in the group. The ones who were there represented the big wire services and syndicates. In fact, not a single reporter representing a US newspaper was present.</p>
<p>According to the Allied military commanders, the news was to be embargoed, and the reporters were coerced into accepting a deal. In exchange for access to the event, they had to agree to hold the news until the Army said they could release it.</p>
<p>On the flight from Paris to Reims, the SHAEF press officer declared: “I pledge each one of you on his honor as a correspondent and as an assimilated officer of the United States Army not to communicate [the news] until it is released on the order of the Public Relations Director of SHAEF.”</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82433/original/image-20150520-11417-dxjerd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82433/original/image-20150520-11417-dxjerd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82433/original/image-20150520-11417-dxjerd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82433/original/image-20150520-11417-dxjerd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82433/original/image-20150520-11417-dxjerd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82433/original/image-20150520-11417-dxjerd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82433/original/image-20150520-11417-dxjerd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">V-E Day headline.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Public Domain</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It remains unclear what constitutes an “agreement” under such conditions – what were the correspondents supposed to do ? Get up and walk out of an airplane? – but they proceeded to witness the ceremony.</p>
<p>The surrender by the German high command came in the early hours of May 7. Ordinarily, you might expect that the surrender would touch off immediate celebrations.</p>
<p>Not so fast.</p>
<p>The press officer announced that orders had come “from a high political level” to impose a news blackout until 8 pm the next day, when the news would be announced simultaneously in Paris, London, Moscow and Washington. (Turned out, Stalin was insisting on the delay so he could make a show in Berlin.) </p>
<p>In other words, all the correspondents who had been eyewitnesses would lose their scoops. Instead, some desk-bound rewrite man or editor would get all the glory. The reporters protested to the SHAEF press officer, but to no avail. The political leaders had decided.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82441/original/image-20150520-11453-1i5o2bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82441/original/image-20150520-11453-1i5o2bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82441/original/image-20150520-11453-1i5o2bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82441/original/image-20150520-11453-1i5o2bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=927&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82441/original/image-20150520-11453-1i5o2bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82441/original/image-20150520-11453-1i5o2bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82441/original/image-20150520-11453-1i5o2bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1165&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ed Kennedy’s biography.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among the press corps, one of the most upset was Edward Kennedy – not the late Democratic senator from Massachusetts but a man by the same name who was the chief correspondent in Europe for the Associated Press (AP). Bear in mind, Kennedy was in a special position. He had been burned earlier in the war when he cooperated with military brass. In 1943, Kennedy had agreed to suppress a story about Gen. George Patton and had been scooped by someone else. (I describe the incident in my book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Covering-America-Narrative-History-Journalism/dp/1558499113/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325343692&sr=1-1">Covering America</a>.) </p>
<p>Kennedy also knew that his account of the German surrender could probably reach more people on the planet more swiftly than any other news agency or government, since the AP supplied news stories to thousands of newspapers, radio stations and other customers worldwide. He knew, too, that the AP – then and now – thrives on being first and that AP correspondents had gone to great lengths to be first to deliver the news.</p>
<p>Besides, he figured, no embargo on such a momentous story could hold for that long. (Nor, perhaps, should it.)</p>
<p>He was still fuming when the correspondents were marched back onto the military plane. They were flown from Reims to Paris. Still, the world knew nothing of the surrender. Still, soldiers in Europe kept shooting at each other.</p>
<p>When the press contingent landed, Boyd Lewis of United Press got into the first jeep from the airport to the Hotel Scribe in Paris, which had been serving as the outpost for most of the press corps. When Lewis got to the press center, he tried to tie up all the available telegraph outlets. Next in line was James Kilgallen of the International News Service, who had beaten Kennedy to the hotel by throwing his portable typewriter at Kennedy’s legs, slowing him down.</p>
<p>Kennedy was beside himself. Then he heard that SHAEF had ordered German radio to announce the surrender. Kennedy went to the censors and announced that he was breaking the embargo. Using a telephone, he called the AP bureau in London and dictated the following lead:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>REIMS, France, May 7_Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Western Allies and the Soviet Union at 2:41 am French time today.</p>
<p><em>The surrender took place at a little red schoolhouse that is the headquarters of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower…..</em></p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82435/original/image-20150520-11435-1fdw12c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82435/original/image-20150520-11435-1fdw12c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82435/original/image-20150520-11435-1fdw12c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82435/original/image-20150520-11435-1fdw12c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82435/original/image-20150520-11435-1fdw12c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82435/original/image-20150520-11435-1fdw12c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82435/original/image-20150520-11435-1fdw12c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kennedy couldn’t sit on his scoop.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Public domain</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within minutes, the news was flashed to the world, and wild celebrations began, marking V-E Day.</p>
<p>At SHAEF, the top brass were furious and suspended AP filing facilities throughout Europe.</p>
<p>The rest of the press corps was furious, too. More than 50 correspondents signed a protest to SHAEF Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower, calling Kennedy’s action “the most disgraceful, deliberate and unethical double cross in the history of journalism.” </p>
<p>AP’s president apologized to the nation. AP executives told Kennedy he could keep his job if he admitted he had done wrong. He wouldn’t, and he was fired. (Three years ago, the AP formally apologized to Kennedy, who died in a car crash in 1963.)</p>
<p>What might seem amazing today – aside from the lack of cell phones and other forms of instant global communication that we now take for granted – is how unanimously the correspondents fell in line with the military. </p>
<p>Today, I daresay, US reporters would be at least split about the ethics of holding off on reporting something they knew to be both true and life-saving.</p>
<p>Two weeks later, writing in The New Yorker on May 19, AJ Liebling, the great World War II reporter and press critic, took up the issue of Kennedy’s firing in his column “<a href="http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1945-05-19#folio=056">The Wayward Press</a>. Liebling’s take:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The great row over Edward Kennedy’s Associated Press story of the signing of the German surrender at Reims served to point up the truth that if you are smart enough you can kick yourself in the pants, grab yourself by the back of the collar, and throw yourself out on the sidewalk. This is an axiom that I hope will be taught to future students of journalism as Liebling’s Law.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Liebling’s media criticism continued:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I do not think that Kennedy imperiled the lives of any Allied soldiers by sending the story, as some of his critics have charged. He probably saved a few, because by withholding the announcement of an armistice you prolong the shooting, and, conversely, by announcing it promptly you make the shooting stop. Moreover, the Germans had broadcast the news of the armistice several hours before Kennedy’s story appeared on the streets of New York… The thing that has caused the most hard feeling is that Kennedy broke a "combination,” which means that he sent out a story after all the correspondents on the assignment had agreed not to. But the old-fashioned “combination” was an agreement freely reached among reporters and not a pledge imposed upon the whole group by somebody outside it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In my journalism classes at Boston University, I teach “Liebling’s Law” as a cautionary tale about what can happen when news organizations get too cozy with governments and forget to put their audiences first. Seventy years later, it’s a lesson worth remembering. </p>
<p><em>For more on Kennedy, see his <a href="http://lsupress.org/books/detail/ed-kennedys-war/">memoir</a>, Ed Kennedy’s War: V-E Day, Censorship, and the Associated Press.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher B. Daly does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As we commemorate Memorial Day, the drama behind the headlines announcing Germany’s surrender in World War II.Christopher B. Daly, Professor of Journalism, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.