Cross posted at Vet Voice
Since deploying, Christmas has been bittersweet for me. Like many other veterans I know, I can't help but think of the men and women who are overseas right now facing combat patrols, ambushes, rockets, mortars, and IEDs. If they're lucky like I was, they are not the ones who pull the triggers, but they are still much farther from the families that they miss so much. I don't enjoy Christmas nearly as much as I did a few years ago. But as my appreciation for Christmas has dwindled, my love of New Years, and the hope it represents, has only grown. No one can know what this year will bring, but I have hope and faith that I will look back on 2008 as a year to remember.
Of course there are personal reasons. Since shortly after Basic Training in July of 2002, I've looked forward to 2008 as the year that I get out of the army. I am lucky enough to escape a third deployment and the stop loss that would come with it, so my ETS date continues to advance quickly. But there is much more due to happen in 2008 then my own return to civilian life. I feel good about so much of it.
It just a short week, we will officially be in the midst of primaries. A year from now the nation will be anticipating the inauguration of a new, hopefully Democratic, president. 2008 is the year that the Democratic party takes back the white house and realizes that it already occupies capitol hill. And with those new occupants will come a renewed commitment to veterans' issues. I know that it's not a lock, but I choose to believe that those things are true because I must.
I believe that 2008 will be the year that the American people begin to truly understand the pressures being applied to the armed forces. In 2008, groups like VoteVets will become more and more influential and vocal in their demands for attention. The conservative media will be forced to recognize that veterans will not be ignored. Throughout the coming year, the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly will be confronted with more and more soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen who demand more then just lip service. We are all going to show them what it means to be a real soldier. We are all going to show them that they are the phony soldiers, not us.
2008 will be the year that America begins to recognize the importance of the Afghanistan/Pakistan struggle. As a people, we will begin to recognize that invading Iraq was a mistake that lead our nation and our military away from the goals that we set after 9/11. With that recognition will come a renewed since of purpose regarding the reconstruction of Afghanistan, the defeat of al Qaeda, and the capture of bin Laden.
In short, 2008 will be the year we've been hoping for. It will be a year of renewal and rebuilding.
At least, here's hoping...