A Growing Anti-Veteran Bias Threatens the Country on This Memorial Day

With its roots in the Civil War, Memorial Day was established as a way to honor the fallen, to grieve their loss, and to be thankful that these soldiers—with their hopes and dreams for the future—died so that we all may have our own dreams for the future. It was originally called Decoration Day because the activities of this special day included spending a few hours at the cemeteries, clearing away the weeds from the gravesites of departed loved ones, and decorating the graves with flowers and flags to commemorate their sacrifice.

As a child, growing up in New England, I remember bringing geranium plants for fallen family members’ graves and then joining dozens of relatives for an elaborate picnic lunch. There were lots of families who did this in our small Connecticut town. But, like many family traditions, as one or two generations passed on, the traditions ended. Today, Memorial Day is a time for celebration of the start of summer and a day off from work. It is rare to see anyone at the cemeteries anymore—even as families like ours still visit and decorate the graves on this important day. 

Part of the reason for our national neglect of the fallen is that we seem to have forgotten the important role that soldiers have played—and continue to play—in ensuring our freedom. Those who have lost loved ones in wars know best that freedom really isn’t free—it involves sacrifice and sometimes the ultimate sacrifice. Yet, we seem to take for granted those who gave some of the best—and most productive—years of their lives in service to our country. Worse, there is growing evidence that demonstrates that there is an emerging bias against military veterans in this country.   

This is surprising. After the terror attacks of 9/11, we were especially grateful to those soldiers who volunteered to root out and destroy the terrorists who attacked us. Soldiers who deployed to the Middle East were viewed as heroes—often treated to coffee and accolades in the airports as they returned from deployments in their desert camo and boots. 

Those days are over. The growing hostility and anti-Israel protests on college campuses often single out soldiers as the enemy. The protestors hold that American military and law enforcement agencies are forces of evil. The emerging bias in this country is similar to that which greeted the returning veterans from the Vietnam War. As soldiers in an unpopular war that was mismanaged by craven politicians, Vietnam War veterans suffered greatly. 

This anti-military bias was even evident at the Vatican in the recent cause for sainthood for a Vietnam War military chaplain. An advisory panel of theological consultants recently voted to suspend the cause for sainthood for heroic military chaplain Fr. Vincent Capodanno. Writing to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Vatican body responsible for canonization decisions, the theologians claimed that Fr. Capodanno, a member of the Maryknoll religious order and a U.S. Navy chaplain who served faithfully and courageously in the Vietnam War with the United States Marine Corps, did not deserve consideration for sainthood—despite the fact that he died on the battlefield while shielding a Marine from enemy machine-gun fire. This anti-military bias was even evident at the Vatican in the recent cause for sainthood for a Vietnam War military chaplain. Tweet This

In an especially shameful statement of cowardice, one of the Vatican consultants involved in the sainthood cause for Fr. Capodanno wrote: “With ongoing military actions in the world today (think Ukraine), raising someone from the military for veneration may not be appropriate for our Church.”

Indeed, this is key to understanding the growing anti-military bias in our own country and our own Church. The Vatican consultant is worried about the “message” it would send to raise a soldier to sainthood. He is worried that others would criticize the Church for honoring someone in the military—even though the Church would be honoring someone who gave his life protecting and ministering to his soldiers. 

In 1969, Fr. Capodanno received, posthumously, the Medal of Honor. In interviews for The Grunt Padre: The Service and Sacrifice of Fr. Vincent Robert Capodanno, Vietnam, 1966-1967, those who deployed with Fr. Capodanno said that the priest put “the well-being of Marines above his own personal safety…moving among the wounded and dying on the battlefield to provide medical aid, comfort, and Last Rites.” 

Anti-military bias has been documented in recent research and is likely shaped and exacerbated by social media and popular culture. In Los Angeles, a controversy recently emerged over a mural that was commissioned for a metro station adjacent to the Veterans Administration campus. The artist who was hired to create the mural has exhibited an anti-veteran bias in the past—equating a U.S. soldier with a terrorist who wears a suicide vest.    

This bias is growing. Research conducted for the Pew Research Center revealed that civilian respondents largely disapproved of the U.S. combat efforts in both Afghanistan and Iraq and believed that over half of post-9/11 veterans suffered from PTSD. This figure is wildly out of line with the reality of between 10-20 percent prevalence rate typically reported for PTSD and double the rate of any type of reported substance abuse, depression, or PTSD.

These biases have consequences. A 2023 study by the Federal Reserve Bank revealed that veterans earn about 12 percent less than nonveterans and are 4 percentage points more likely to be out of the labor force than comparable nonveterans.

It is likely that these income disparities will continue to grow as the nation’s biases against the military are allowed to flourish in the current political climate. When there is yet another terrorist attack on American soil—as is likely in the tenuous position we find ourselves in right now because of our open borders—we will once again realize that a strong defense needs to be nurtured. It is then that we will once again be grateful for the selfless soldiers who have so courageously defended us in the past and will be willing to do so in the future.