ChampagneKitty

It’s that time of the year for my least favorite cultural tradition in our country — grown ass adults uttering this statement: “LGBTQ people get an entire month but veterans don’t.” I’m being generous in that sentence construction; it’s typically said with far less grace and humanity. I’m a veteran. I’m a proud veteran. I’m also queer and proudly so. Every June, I celebrate Pride. Every November, I celebrate veterans. Because veterans do, in fact, have an entire month. It’s November. It is every November. Every November is National Veterans and Military Families Month. Have I sufficiently made clear the existence of a monthlong observance in honor of our nation’s veterans, particularly to folks who, apparently, are also not aware of the existence of Google? We’re not done. We’re not close to being done. Every April is Month of the Military Child. Every May is National Military Appreciation Month and Month of the Military Caregiver. We’re still not close to being done. There are the military branch and component birthdays/observances: Army (June 14th), Army Reserve (April 23rd), Navy (Oct. 13th), Navy Reserve (March 3rd), Air Force (Sept. 18th) Air Force Reserve (April 14th), Marine Corps (Nov. 10th), Marine Corps Reserve (Aug. 29th), Coast Guard (Aug. 4th), Coast Guard Auxiliary (June 23rd), National Guard (Dec. 13th), and Civil Air Patrol (Dec. 1st). There are the various days specifically honoring military families, caregivers, and surviving loved ones: Gold Star Spouses Day (April 5th), National Military Brats Day (April 30th), Military Spouse Appreciation Day (Friday before Mothers Day), Children of Fallen Patriots Day (May 13th), Gold Star Mother’s Day (last Sunday in September), National Day of the Deployed (Oct. 26th), and—because families carry the greatest burden here, I’ll include it in this section—National POW/MIA Recognition Day (third Friday in September). Then there are are the days honoring those who earned specific military decorations: National Medal of Honor Day (March 25th), Silver Star Service Banner Day (May 1st), and National Purple Heart Day (Aug. 7th). And also the days honoring specific groups of veterans and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice: K-9 Veterans Day (March 13th), National Vietnam War Veterans Day (March 29th), National Former POW Recognition Day (April 9th), V-E Day (May 8th), Women Veterans Day (June 12th), National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (July 27th), National Buffalo Soldiers Day (July 28th), Agent Orange Awareness Day (Aug. 10th), Navajo Code Talkers Day (Aug. 14th), V-J Day (Sept. 2nd), and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (Dec. 7th). Outside of those distinct categories, there are some others: Four Chaplins Day (Feb. 3rd), USO Birthday (Feb. 4th), National Salute to Veteran Patients (week of Feb. 12th), Seabee Birthday (March 5th), American Legion Birthday (March 15th), National Rosie the Riveter Day (March 21st), National Hire a Veteran Day (July 25th), Department of Defense Birthday (Aug. 10th), National Airborne Day (Aug. 16th), Veterans of Foreign Wars Day (Sept. 29th), and Wreaths Across America Day (Dec. 18th). Oh, and Armed Forces Day (May 20th), which falls at the end of Armed Forces Week (which begins on May 13th). I hope I didn’t miss any? Just kidding! I did, in fact, intentionally exclude the Big Three, out of curiosity to see how many folks wouldn’t notice: Memorial Day (last Monday in May), Veterans Day (Nov. 11th), and, you know, Independence Day. At least 120 days on the American calendar are dedicated to honoring our fallen service members, our military, our veterans, and their families. That’s about a third of the full year. I think that’s great. I think that’s necessary. Our military, our veterans, and their families deserve that recognition. I also think that’s ironic given how much our military, our veterans, and their families are left behind in this country when it comes to health care, housing, education, and so many other areas which it seems Donald Trump and the Republican Party willfully ignore and/or intentionally worsen. Trump and the GOP ignore the fact that we have Active Duty service members and their families who qualify for food stamps — and use them. Because they lack appropriate compensation. They ignore that military families, for some strange goddamn reason, in the richest country in the world, have to pay partially out-of-pocket for childcare on military bases. They ignore that there are six million military caregivers in our country—loved ones who directly care for veterans with service-connected disabilities—and struggle to provide necessary support that the VA should be entirely covering — but isn’t. They ignore that that the VA is ludicrously under-resourced and struggling to provide necessary, lifesaving support for veterans and their families. They ignore the personal, direct consequences of sending our military into stupid, unnecessary wars—the struggle and incalculable loss experienced by our troops being killed or severely wounded in these wars—because the lives and livelihoods of our service members and their families never rank on the list of priorities for Trump and the Republican Party. They aggressively pursue a clear agenda—openly set by Trump and Hegseth—to purge officers from the top ranks of our military because they are not white men. Need I remind on the long history of Trump denigrating our fallen service members? It is clearly evident that Donald Trump is overseeing the most anti-military presidential administration in American history, and that doesn’t need more than a few moments of good faith reflection to consider. It’s obvious. Our military, our veterans, and their families are thought by Trump and his cronies to be little more than props in service to his flaming narcissism. Even their performative antics are openly shameless: “inviting” Active Duty service members to that UFC event being hosted on the White House lawn but refusing to pay for travel and lodging. Oh, and no family members. Oh, and don’t be overweight. Oh, and you have to wear your uniform. Treated. Like. Props. Maybe we need a National Lip Service to Military Appreciation Day, recognizing politicians and their supporters who only seem to care about our military, our veterans, and their families when they can their service can be cynically exploited as a cudgel against people that Trump and the GOP hate. The past 18 months have seen members of the military and veterans who are women, Black, Latino, APPI, and LGBTQ broadly erased from any recognition by the Trump Administration and the Department of Defense specifically. Who doesn’t remember the government website purges touted by Trump and his cronies? Last year, thousands of transgender service members and their families were kicked out, their lives uprooted, their service cruelly degraded, their characters slandered, all because of a senseless and bigoted policy created to placate anti-trans extremists, signed by a coward who avoided military service. I’m proud of my service and grateful to all who have served and their families, and there’s plenty of time throughout the year to express that. June is all for LGBTQ people, veterans and non-veterans alike. Before you’re eager to offer a ridiculous comparison in recognition between veterans and LGBTQ Americans, I’d encourage at least a tiny bit of effort toward research and understanding regarding our military, our veterans, and their families. It’s not difficult. ---- Link to full essay available here for easier sharing: charlotteclymer.substack.com…