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We are often detached from our soldiers MARK GUYDISH OPINION

Tuesday November 10, 2009 | 12:00 AM

I know the big news is that the juvenile justice hearings are in town, and there’s a lot to write about regarding the questioning and testimony. But tomorrow is Veterans Day and, personally, I can think of little else that deserves more notice right now.

There are more than 23.4 million U.S. veterans among us as of Sept. 30, according to an estimate from the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics. Of those, 8 percent – 1.8 million – are women. Pennsylvania is home to more than 1 million veterans. Nationwide, a bit more than 10 percent of those who served – 2.58 million – are World War II vets, a group that is dying off at a rate of 900 per day.

Regular readers know my late father was a World War II tech sergeant who took shrapnel in his left bicep that damaged nerves, resulting in a hand he could never fully open. There are more than 3 million veterans receiving some amount of disability compensation. Overall, in 2008 the VA spent $3.3 billion in the Keystone state alone.

For a long time, veterans seemed to fade from the public psyche, probably because we had a good stretch of peace. Lots of soldiers overseas, but few in harm’s way. My older brother was stationed in Germany for a while back in the 1970s; another never left the country. Then al-Qaida attacked, and the long war began. Interest in – and gratitude to – veterans escalated.

But it often feels that we are a nation detached from our professional soldiers, a culture dependent on their sacrifice but not intimate with it.

I suspect that’s why the annual Veterans Day parade, held in Wilkes-Barre Sunday afternoon, always seems under-attended to me. At the St. Patty’s event, you can find yourself struggling to get a curbside view, sometimes craning to see over rows of people. At the Veterans Day march? Pick a spot and find a front-row location within a few feet, every few feet.

Some compelling moments

True, there is – in one respect – less to see. The November event boasts fewer clowns, a relative shortage of bands and a paucity of Mummers in their gloriously gaudy outfits.

It struck me as odd that one of the largest contingents Sunday seemed to be a caravan of vehicles representing a local tax service, famous for using the Statue of Liberty as its advertising icon. When they came to a traffic light, attendants guiding a large inflatable statue riding in a truck tugged the torch arm and crowned head back and down. Yes, Lady Liberty did the Limbo. (I’m posting photos on my news blog at www.timesleader.com.

But there are more important, more compelling things to watch this time of year, moments that grip your heart and can wring out a few unintended tears, moments that let you feel, for at least a short spell, connected to the men and women who volunteer to defend us all.

The most compelling, for me, always comes after the military contingents have marched past, rounded Public Square and finished their formal steps-in-time. They head back across the Market Street Bridge to Kingston where the parade set up.

You can catch long lines of soldiers walking casually who, with hardly a word, stop, turn right, and salute.

Someone carrying a large flag in the parade marches by, and the military men and women hold their pose and poise until that flag gets beyond the last person in their line.

Then turn west and resume their walk, until the next large flag comes.

It is a simple gesture, a minor discipline occurring outside of the actual parade.

And a reminder of their dedication to us all.

About the Author

Mark Guydish covers education for the Times Leader. Reach him at (570) 970-7161 or mguydish@timesleader.com.

A West Hazleton native, I worked as a service technician repairing electronic mailing and shipping systems, a bike shop owner and an Emergency Medical Technician (among other jobs) before landing a reporter job at the Times Leader Hazleton Bureau in 1995. I started by covering primarily politics in Hazleton City and outlying municipalities, eventually became "social issues" team leader in the Wilkes-Barre office with the accent on education, and headed the Hazleton Bureau for a spell before returning to full-time reporting, my preferred position. I'm an avid cyclist and rode across the country in 1990, a trip of more than 5,000 miles from New Jersey to Seattle and down the coast to San Francisco. Years in the Boy Scouts made me a life long backpacker and camper, and I've yet to find a better way to enjoy the quiet lure of winter snow than cross country skiing.

Mark also writes a regular blog for timesleader.com.