The ocean tides ebb and flow. So does honor, respect and recognition for military veterans.
During a major storm, and often in its aftermath, the ocean tides come in higher, often much higher. After the storm is over and the task is getting back to normal, the tide may ebb, and be pretty much ignored.
War is a different kind of storm, but in a major storm like World War II, the honor paid to veterans came in like a rising tide, often overwhelmingly so. After "the Big One" ended, the task was to get back to normal.
So, when "getting back to normal" was interrupted by a small, inconvenient "storm" on the Korean Peninsula - one which really sort of fizzled out rather than being won - there was not a great deal of interest in honoring, or even welcoming home the veterans.
Then the major attention was drawn to watching for rising tides from a massive storm called the Cold War. There simply wasn't time to pay much attention to lesser storms like Korea, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam or Cambodia.
The tide turned with the storm of attacks on the nation itself on Sept. 11, 2001. Suddenly, veterans were respected, and the American flag came in for renewed recognition and honor.
It's been 13 years now. While many appear to be of the opinion that the current "storms of war" are not worth the effort, the tide of honor is still rising for the veterans.
And it's good to see.
Honoring the returning veterans of the various theaters of war is encouraging not only to the men and women being recognized, it is encouraging to veterans of Korea and Vietnam to see that just maybe the sacrifices made by the members of the armed services are appreciated.