Veterans Day was formerly called Armistice Day, having been inaugurated in 1918 at the end of World War I. Originally "Veterans Day" honored the veterans of that terrible Great War and was dedicated to the cause of world peace. Commemorations were subsequently enlarged to include veterans from World War II and Korea. Today the day honors all who served our nation while in uniform, though little is mentioned about world peace. In the aftermath of so many wars of the Twentieth and early Twenty-First centuries, including the Cold War and ongoing Global War on Terror, Americans appreciate explicitly the connection between our existence as a free people and country, and the hard work and sacrifice of veterans and their families. American generations each put forward their best and oft-times brightest, America’s young men and women—quite literally the promise and future of the nation, in order to bear the burdens and risk of defending and protecting our cherished way of life. Veterans Day in this respect is our first day of Thanksgiving held each year in November.

Last week the constant drone of news noise gave way to breaking news that got people’s attention. On 5 November a single shooter at Ft. Hood shot and killed thirteen people in the Soldier Readiness Center and wounded thirty others. Sergeant Kim Munley was the civilian police officer stationed on post, who shot and stopped the gunman and was seriously wounded herself taking that action. The gunman was identified as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, unmarried, a lifelong Muslim and psychiatrist serving in the Army since 1995, who was about to be deployed to the Middle East. He was born in Virginia to parents who emigrated to the U.S. from Jordan. At a mosque in Silver Spring, Maryland he frequented, however, he identified himself as Palestinian. The Army’s investigation will no doubt reveal more about his motive and the mechanics of what happened (two hand-guns, so many rounds of ammunition, etc.), but it is hard to explain tragedy, much less explain it away.

Recently someone impressed with my prior military service and the fact that I was able to live and work around the world asked me, "Do you find people are much the same everywhere…aside from their government, culture and laws?"  I remember thinking to myself that government, culture and laws are fairly substantial differences (!), but ignoring these, how should one answer? Although the question is difficult and interesting, the short answer has to be "No." Americans need to think about it carefully too, because it means a lot in terms of immigration policy as well as the magnitude of foreign policy objectives that we assign ourselves abroad. This may fly in the face of so much universalistic rhetoric employed by liberal and conservative idealists alike throughout American history—and even contrary to greats, such as Thomas Jefferson if/when he is taken out of context. To the point, however, it is difficult to put a finger on human nature, and those ethno-cultural patterns are not easily separable from a person’s given identity and especially from his or her "will-to-action."  There is a human condition to be sure (finite/sensory) and some would add to this Original Sin, which I would argue is validated by events of the last week.

In addition, there is such a thing as the human spirit, which our better poets have described as indomitable (enduring/reaching/surviving). The seriously wounded and the family members of those slain will evince this human characteristic. Gratefully many will know the inexplicable touch of the Divine Comforter, who comes to hold them and carry them through the searing pain and grief. Finally I must entertain that there is broad common humanity among all people everywhere (related perhaps to common experience and to emotions) and strong gender patterns that cut across ethnic and cultural lines too.  What I’ve found most of the time, however, is that people individually and one-to-one are the most similar they are going to be, whereas family and social constructs take over almost immediately as soon as three or more are gathered together. Crowds and armies are ever quite distinct. 

Notwithstanding, the American people have a more individualistic ethos than any other significant group on the planet.  Our most common mistake is to presume that everyone is just like us, when in fact they really aren't.  I’ll be so bold as to say that some people aren’t even fit (that is to say, ready) to be free or democratic.  That isn’t my moral judgment or my wish, just the cold recognition that not everyone will rise to the occasion as it were, or even accept and value that responsibility. Free peoples can also be radically different from each other, and contrary to the self-delusion of some who have held office, free people can and do go to war against each other. Someone’s lone criminal or terrorist act is to some extent, the free choice of one who thinks quite differently from the rest of us. Of course, we’ll probably put a sanitizing label on his behavior, like Sudden Jihad Syndrome, and enter the insanity plea on his behalf with or against his will, in order to avoid offending anyone else "just like us."

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