The Iraq War Vets should get a parade too

Last Sunday, in between bouts of funny commercials and the Madonna concert I changed over to The Simpsons for, the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Given my that neither my pick or my team made it, I'm rather pleased with the outcome - after all, any day I get to see the smile get wiped off of Tom Brady's smug face is a good day. It's also of little surprise that New York City is quite happy with the results of the Super Bowl as well, giving Eli Manning and the Giants the traditional ticker-tape parade down the Hall of Heroes last Tuesday, and it is well deserved. However, there is another group of heroes who deserve their long overdue parade as well.

The Iraq War finally came to a conclusion with the withdrawal of our last troops at the end last year, bringing an end to a conflict that has gone on for almost a decade, involved over one million troops deployed there, often times more than once, and 4,487 of those soldiers not coming home at all. Typically, upon conclusion of a war, our men and women in uniform get to have their own ticker-tape parade down the Hall of Heroes, which earned it's name from these very victory celebrations. It's as universally American as apple pie or the 4th of July, and in spite of this, no parade has been held, and there are no current plans to do so.

Regardless of your personal feelings on the war, or your personal politics, there is no denying such a snub is a shame, and that giving these soldiers their day in the sun is long overdue. After spending years away from home, only to return to record unemployment and scared with wounds both physical and psychological - and some will likely come home just to be redeployed to Afghanistan - what these valiant men and women have sacrificed is immeasurable. Our nation itself is hurting, reeling from a bad economy and an incompetent government more intent on infighting or personal agendas than on the nation as a whole. Both our veterans and our citizens could use a reason to celebrate, to remind our soldiers that we support them and remember their sacrificed blood, toil, sweat and tears.

It is true that we have soldiers still deploying and fighting in Afghanistan, and in time, they should get their own parades. It is true that both soldier and citizen have a myriad of problems and issues to deal with and face. That doesn't change that we as a nation owe our soldiers their long due place of honor for their courage and sacrifice, and remind ourselves of the sacrifices and hard choices we all need to face to overcome the issues facing our nation and ourselves.

My dear readers, I ask you to please go to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America website and sign the petition for a national day to celebrate and honor the soldiers and veterans who served honorably in Iraq. If the New York Giants can get a parade, our soldiers should too.